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US Game Sales Trump DVD Sales For First Time In 2007

Video games have been outstripping box office numbers for a while now, but what about the mother of all movie mediums right now? What if we compared game sales to DVD sales? DVD sales have almost always trumped game sales in the US, but according to an annual report by the Entertainment Merchants Association, those days could be over.

According to GameSpot, and using the NPD Group's year-end statistics, the retail gaming industry in the US dragged in $18.85 billion in 2007, which is almost twice as much as the Motion Picture Association of America and Nielsen EDI's record-breaking box office haul of about $9.6 billion. This, we expected to happen, but did games really conquer the mighty DVD? Yes, in fact: DVD sales in 2007 hit about $16 billion, which, as you can see, is short of that $18.85 billion number. However, if you factor in movie rentals, the movie industry as a whole still wins the war; rentals ups the total amount to around $33 billion, although we have no numbers for game rentals just yet. GameFly may not be as popular as NetFlix, but give it time...it'll get there. And when the PS3 issues its downloadable movie service this summer, things are going to continue to change.

Here's our prediction: by the end of 2010, gaming will be single largest entertainment industry - outside of porn - on the planet. It's already basically neck-and-neck with movies...it's gonna happen, we say!

7/2/2008 Ben Dutka

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Comments (20 posts)

Deleted User []
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 11:18:55 AM
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Why watch someone do something when you can control that person and do what you want to do.

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Ultimadream
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 11:20:19 AM
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I buy my DVDs Pre-Owned from £2 - £5 Each, Yes there Pre-Owned, but usually in perfect condition, I have around 200 DVDs now thanks to little Pre-Owned stores, It beats shop like HMV selling DVDs around £10 - £20.

Also you have to take note Games cost alot more than DVDs.

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Ultimadream
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 11:47:23 AM
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It seems like some one doesn't understand the beauly of film, Look up Stanley Kubrick, You'll understand.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 12:11:25 PM

I have. His name can be found in the dictionary under "most overrated author of all time."

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ThePoetRazel
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 12:23:36 PM

I got a name for you too Ultimadream, Hideo Kojima.
Games 1, Movies 0

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Tatsujin
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 5:41:54 PM

How about you just accept the fact that games are becoming the most popular option of entertainment :)

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shaydey77
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 11:58:52 AM
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Films are good.Games are better.No doubt.

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Ultimadream
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 12:15:03 PM
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I agree Games are better than modern films, Its all moneying grabbing sequels nowadays (Indy 4, Die Hard 4, Rambo 4) or crappy Super Hero movies. but as much as i love games they dont surpass classics like The Godfather Trilogy, Hammer Horror Films, Star Wars, Psycho, Stanley Kubrick films, Pulp Fiction, Alien, Terminator, Nigt Dawn & Day of the Dead, Jacobs Ladder, Brazil, Kill Bill, India Trilogy Die Hard Trilogy, Shawshank Redemption, Martix, Truman Show, WickerMan & So on..........

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Tatsujin
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 5:43:11 PM

@Ultimadream
You have no point to prove here...
Stop posting...
Thanks...
Love...
Tatsujin... (The most underrated player of all time)

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Ultimadream
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 12:24:35 PM
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Stanley isnt, Overrated, Considering all the work he did he got hardly any awards, Though i can understand why alot of people cant get into his films they can take patients, but after a few viewings they really grow on you, & make you think. i hate films that rap everything up crystal clear.

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Schmitty
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 12:57:59 PM
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how can you even compare games and movies they are completley different experiences sure i like sitting down for 30 hours in a dark room withdrawn from society playing a great game, but it is also very fun to watch a great story unfold on a 20 foot screen

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Ultimadream
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 1:00:29 PM
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Hideo Kojima did a fantastic job on the Metal Gear series, Metal Gear Solid 4 is by far the best storyline in a game for the last decade.

Having a story in a game is what i believe gives games replay value, Games like Final Fantasy VII, VIII & IX, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill 2 will always be replayable for me. Without a Story the game will just get overthrown, the best example of this is in Sports games every year a new Fifa or Madden game is released the previous title overflows the bagain buckets.

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Ultimadream
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 1:04:07 PM
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Games are evolving no one can deny that, With all the cinematics in games now you even need a director just like in a film, The comparison of games & film is growing & will continue to do so, no doubt about that.

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chaosrunner
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 3:42:27 PM
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Oh come on, Ben. Kubrick can't be /the/ most overrated of all time.

That being said, I like a lot of Kubrick's movies and I think that they have stood the test of time and will continue to. But entertainment is an evolving thing and I think that video games are poised to take that next step. The MGS series is a great example, but don't forget newcomers like Heavenly Sword and Uncharted. Both of them had, in my opinion, great stories, great character work, and the additional fun of being able to interact.

Does that invalidate film as a medium? No. But it does raise the bar for films not yet made. At the same time, classic films will still be classics and were done at a time when there wasn't an interactive medium. For that matter, some stories are better without interaction.

I think the difference is going to be whether the story is better told with or without interaction. Ultra-linear games can get boring. Maybe they should be made as movies?

Getting back to Mr. Kubrick though, I think if he were a young director today, he might be trying to put out games instead of movies.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 8:12:32 PM

No, of course that was an exaggeration. Not THE most overrated, but IMO, certainly ONE of the most overrated.

Bottom line is he pales in comparison to the true masters of literature, and that's a hard and fast truth; the likes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Joseph Conrad, Wilkie Collins, James Joyce, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Dante, Henry James, John Milton, Franz Kafka, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, Henrik Ibsen, Herman Melville, E.M. Forster, Ovid, etc...Kubrick will not ever be listed in such company, in my humble opinion.

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Odd Child
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 @ 10:14:23 PM
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At the end of the day when I'm to tried to play gtaIV or MGs4, I watch Movies. Gaming is much more fun though :)

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Jed
Thursday, July 03, 2008 @ 5:19:51 AM
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I think games and movies are too different to be compared to each other. When you watch a movie, thats all you do, you watch it.

Playing a video game requires you to interact with the story. You actually have to think about what comes next, and create a strategy to progress the story.

I love games and I love movies, but each is a different type of intertainment.

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gringo
Thursday, July 03, 2008 @ 10:38:14 AM
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i seriously doubt whether games outsold DVDs, considering almost EVERYONE watches DVDs, but the minorty (yes the minority) of people buy games. i think it's because games are releasing at stupid prices like £50, where as DVDs are very cheap, so of course games will have a higher gross. :/

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Geosondaman
Thursday, July 03, 2008 @ 11:44:13 PM
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yes, if we say DVDs and games are sold in the same quantities, the gross generated by games will still be higher than DVDs regardless of the actual sales numbers. Since DVDs are very, very cheap compared to games. Games are typically 59.99 tax in Canada whereas DVDs are like a mere 19.99 tax for most blockbusters. Some DVDs are priced higher, but even then it is still far less than the typical games. Not to mention people sometimes buy special editions of games which costs anywhere from 20--30 dollars more expensive than typical games.

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Deleted User
Saturday, July 05, 2008 @ 9:32:02 PM
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Nice choice of a pic with the fake gamers haha look how shes holding the controller. WOOOOW.

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