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Video Game Growth Crushes Music, Movies

By all accounts, 2007 was a monster year for the videogame industry. Last week, the Entertainment Software Association announced that total sales hit $18.85 billion, with a near-even split of $9.5 billion spent on software and $9.35 billion spent on game consoles like the Nintendo Wii. Console games definitely won the war versus PC-based titles like "World of Warcraft," as PC sales accounted for just 9.5 percent of the total. Portable software sales were $2.0 billion while console video games raked in an impressive $6.6 billion. Approximately 267.8 million games were sold.

Nintendo won the console wars, selling 6.29 million Wiis in 2007. Microsoft sold 4.62 million Xbox 360s over the same period, while Sony's PS3 finished last with 2.56 million units sold. On the portable side, Nintendo sold 8.5 million DSs, while Sony sold 3.82 million PSPs.

"The video game industry set the pace over all others in 2007, with record-breaking sales, off-the-charts consumer demand, and innovation reaching from galactic exploration to guitar simulation," said ESA CEO and president Michael D. Gallagher. In fact, videogame growth far outpaced that of other retail sector media, like movies and music. Console video game sales surged 28.4 percent, while movie sales inched up 1.8 percent. Music of course had a terrible year, with sales down an estimated 10 percent.

Read the whole story at Ars Technica »

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