> http://www.latimes.com/business/cutting/lat_fantasy010508.htm
This reads like a post-E3 spectral burst of neo-national radiation. The 3D videogame has been one of the most potent sources of aesthetic innovation since its emergence in 1993, with id Software's immortal shareware classic "Doom" paving the way for "Quake" and "Half Life", but it's interesting that the 3D game is now starting to drive the movie biz, instead of the other way around. The Wall Street Journal ran an article today on the videogame industry, the Informa Media Group did this survey and came up with the following numbers:
Category Revenue -------------------------------------- console hardware $9.19 billion console software $9.64 billion PC software $7.12 billion handheld (e.g. Gameboy) $5.62 billion arcades $13.86 billion
(B7, Friday, May 25 WSJ, article by Pat Maio)
We're talking a global market of almost $50 billion per annum, growing like gangbusters, and now spreading to digital TV, cellphones, etc. Maybe the numbers are a bit exaggerated, but even if they're off a little, we're clearly in the first stages of a sweeping cultural transformation, due to the fact that East Asia dominates the videogame biz.
-- Dennis