Dr. Media

Hi gang, Happy New Year hope that you are still employed, or funded, and had a great time. Had to comment on Griffith s self serving pronouncement of the death of everything but video games.While it is true that the sales on other entertainment mediums are flat or off, I don't see Sony or Warner's closing their doors, on the contrary I see them expanding their footprint, and looking for more ways to sell their product including being in the game biz. After all, how is it that Warner's is still here, when others aren't, or Universal, diversification. The entertainment industry is just that and means you need to go where the action is, but do not forget, a movie is still the cheapest date in town and a theatrical release and its advertising budget can drive lots of other markets.Now you can drive advertising from the web, TV--still the cheapest--even within VR and vidgames themselves.
One other thing, cost to do a film, and game are now comparable, and like Walt Disney said when he opened Disneyland, every sale is just another ticket.
One other thing, which is most important. Griffith, states that movies are passive, vidgames active, and that vidgames are now better stories. Well, Dr, Media says, movies are interactive with the imagination as has been shown by numerous studies, vidgames are also interactive more directly, and now thatthey have better stories, thay are becoining more like films
In fact I would argue, most importantly that when a vidgame can move some one emotionally as a film can, trhen we would have invented a new form, and a most compelling form of entertainemnt. Show me the Slumdog Millionaire of video games, please
DR. M



CES 2009: Video games 'more popular' than film and music, says studio boss - Telegraph

Mike Griffith, head of Activision studios, told delegates at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that consumers’ interest in video games was increasing all the time.

“Movies, recorded music and television – these are all stagnating or contracting entertainment sectors,” he said. “Video games are poised to eclipse all other forms of entertainment in the year ahead.”

Mr Griffith said that casual, fun games with a social element were one of the main reasons for this surge in interest. He said that interactive titles, such as Guitar Hero, which is published by Activision, epitomised this trend.

“We all have an inner rock star waiting to be unleashed,” said Mr Griffith. “This is the 'Guitar Hero' secret: It’s both a whole new way to play a game, and a whole new way to experience music. The convergence of the action game with the passion of music is changing video games – and bringing games like 'Guitar Hero' to the forefront of entertainment.”

He added that sales of video games in the four years between 2003 to 2007 increased 40 per cent in the US, while over that same period, sales of cinema tickets had fallen six per cent, as did the number of hours of TV watched by the average American, while sales of recorded music dipped 12 per cent.

"Games are no longer pre-set trips through linear mazes," he said. "They are becoming a legitimate story-telling medium that rivals feature films.

"The moviegoer is passive whereas the gamer is active and part of the game itself."

Mr Griffith said consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, which uses a motion-sensitive controller, had proved crucial in driving the idea of games as an active entertainment medium.

He also said that video games were driving other forms of entertainment, citing statistics from analysts Nielsen SoundScan that suggests that artists featured in the Guitar Hero series of games had experienced an uptick in downloads of their music between 15 and 843 per cent.

"The one thing that is for sure is entertainment is changed forever with gaming," concluded Mr Griffith.