Gaming Growth

“2007 was a banner year for video gaming, and the industry has the figures to prove it. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today that total sales for 2007 were $18.85 billion, with $9.5 billion of that spent on games (both PC and console) and $9.35 billion on consoles.”

Some stats:
– PC games accounted for only 9.5 percent of total gaming sales.
– Portable software sales (e.g., PSP and DS) hit a record of $2.0 billion
– Consoles accounted for $6.6 billion in sales.
– Approximately 267.8 million games were sold across all platforms.
– An astonishing 9 games were sold every second of every day of the year.
– Wii was by far the most popular console, Xbox came in second with 4.62 million, the PS2 third and the PS3 finished
– The age of gamers is trending up and more females are playing.
– Handheld sales go, the Nintendo DS ruled the roost with 8.5 million, with the PSP selling 3.82 million.
– M-rated titles only accounted for 15.5 percent of 2007 sales. Titles carrying the E rating were most popular, followed by T-rated games.
– The Motion picture industry saw modest growth in 2007, reporting a total box office take of $9.66 billion, a modest increase over 2006’s $9.49 billion.
– The RIAA has not yet released its 2007 report, but we did learn from the IFPI that global music sales fell about 10 percent for the year.
Lots of clues here about trends for libraries
Stephen