Source: Forbes.com

The next time someone looks at you like you’re painted purple and riding a unicycle when you tell them your hobby is video games, send them a link to the article above from Forbes. Reports now indicate that the video game industry took in nearly 40 Billion dollars in 2007, thanks largely to blockbuster hits like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, and…. (could this be true) Wii Play?Yup. Among the top ten selling games of last year, five of them included less-than-buzzworthy titles like Wii Play, Spiderman 3 (meh), and a pair of Pokemon games (pronounced ‘Kid-Crack’). As studios step up the production values on their Triple A titles, gamers are reallocating their lunch money and entertainment funds to buy more games. This shoots an armored-car-sized-hole in the theory that gamers have only so much to spend on games, and that in order for a game to succeed, it has to take revenue AWAY from another property. More after this orange thing here… –>

Don’t think this message will be/has been lost on the big developers. It’s not so much about how much hype you put behind a game, or when it is released. It’s about the quality, creativity, and impact of your title. Make a great game, and we will find SOME way of buying it. (I’ve traded my whole collection of games in twice this year to afford stuff I wanted.)

At this rate of growth, soon you’ll be able to look down your pale nose at the coin collectors, scrap bookers, model builders, and car buffs who dare to scoff at the idea of video games being anything other than a fad. Our hobby is getting more and more mainstream.

I am so proud to say that of that 40 Billion dollars, my personal spending accounted for EXACTLY .00001% of the earnings. Now I feel REALLY important.

Proof positive. You CAN vote with your wallet… As long as you have about 100 milllion like-minded friends.

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