Forget the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film. Forget the 50 Cent-Kanye West smackdown. Forget Britney’s panties, Paris’ jail stint, and Marie Osmond fainting on Dancing with the Stars. The year’s biggest entertainment story this side of Hogwarts might’ve well been Halo 3.
On Sept. 25, 2007, Microsoft’s M-rated video game was released to critical raves and a breathless public. During the next 24 hours, Halo 3 accounted for $170 million worth of business—tripling first-day ticket sales of the year’s most successful movie, Spider-Man 3. In the first week, it earned $300 million.
“Interactive entertainment never will be the same,” declared Toxic Shock TV.
The release was, in a sense, the gaming industry’s coming-out party—a cultural milestone that cemented the arrival of video gaming into the mainstream and proof that virtual entertainment can be just as influential—and lucrative—as anything in media today.
Not that the industry really needed more proof. Consider:
* The gaming industry earned $31.6 billion in 2006—more than the gross national product of Luxembourg.
* More than 8 million people play the online role-playing game “World of Warcraft,” with each player shelling out $15 in monthly fees to play and often spending hours at a time in its universe.
* Virtual worlds for children, such as PenguinClub.com and subeta.org, charge kids (or their parents) for virtual doodads with which they can decorate their virtual pads. In other words, they’re shelling out real cash for imaginary products. (Click here to learn more.)
Virtual entertainment isn’t new, of course. Anyone under the age of 40 likely has fond memories of Pong, Pac Man, or the Mario Brothers; and many can remember donating shovels full of quarters to the local arcade. These days, every blockbuster movie spawns a video game; and, occasionally, video games give birth to movies. Tomb Raider anyone?
But a video game outgrossing the year’s top film? It’s a sign that the gaming industry is more than an influencer: It’s a media superpower, and it’s broadening its appeal by the day.
Going GaGa for Gaming
Video games aren’t just for teen boys with tape around their glasses anymore.