When anyone in the media wants to make the video game industry appear bigger than it is, they inevitably compare total sales of video games to total Hollywood box office receipts. John Markoff slips in this bogus comparison in an articles in today’s New York Times. According to Markoff,
Sales of game software alone reached $6.4 billion last year, putting the game industry in striking distance of Hollywood, which had box-office sales of $8.35 billion in 2001. And video game executives predict this year will be even stronger.
So what? A better comparison would be comparing game software sold and rented to total revenues from video and DVD sales and rentals. The reason no one ever cites that figure in comparison is that sales and rentals of VHS/DVD totaled more than $16.8 billion in 2001.
If you include video game systems, accessories, software and other items, total videogame-related revenue is at $9.4 billion. Sounds impressive until you realize that Americans spent almost $3.2 billion last year just buying VCRs and DVD players.
There is simply no comparison between the video game and movie industries as far as revenues are concerned. Total revenues to movie studios is in the high $30 billion range.
Source:
Recession? Don’t Tell the Video Game Industry. John Markoff, New York Times, May 24, 2002.