Game sales continue to rise into 2008
It's news that won't surprise many Futureologists or long-term members of the gaming community, but electronic/video gaming has never been so popular as it is right now - and it's still growing. The UK interactive entertainment software market hit a new all time high in 2007, according to ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association).
2007 was the biggest year ever for handheld systems with DS software actually ranked at No1 in terms of units sold and Sony's PSP ranked at No5. The entire hand-held sector broke previous records and claimed nearly a third of the entire software units market, up 45%.
The biggest static console format in terms of value generation was the Xbox 360, followed by the PS2, followed by the Wii and lastly PS3. However, in terms of units sold the order changes to PS2 (but No2 overall behind DS), followed by Xbox 360, Wii and PS3.
What this shows is that gaming is huge. Consoles and game units are flying off shelves in a way that shows a heavy commitment to gaming as a socially acceptable past time. No longer are games a thing that 'your kid brother does in his attic bedroom'.
It also shows that the Wii still has to develop in the area of shipping actual game units, especially third party titles; ports from other formats or multiformat releases. Whilst Nintendo titles sell very well on the Wii, third party games show that you're probably less likely to purchase them on the Wii if you have other format choices at home. This means that many Wii gamers may purchase Nintendo games they can't get anywhere else on their Wii, but they often won't purchase a title like FIFA 08, preferring to get that on their Xbox 360 instead. The challenge is clear to third party developers - Wii games must be unique where possible and also of a high quality. Junky, graphically inferior ports simply won't do. If you want to sell to the giant Wii audience, don't give them Xbox 360 hand-me-downs.
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