Comments on: Rant: Sorry Mario, Video Games Will NEVER Overtake Movies

By: brian stoker

brian stoker — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:43:54 +0000

Never?? I agree with Kode. Never is just a silly thing to say. If you graph that chart over the last 30 years and use gross sales of games vs gross sales of movies. My guess is the trend will show games steadily moving toward your never. Btw have you played mario galaxy??? It pwns noobs.

By: Patrick P.

Patrick P. — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:18:48 +0000

DVD/Movies is a dying medium, period. Entertainment is moving more towards user “experience”. Movies are cheap…. and last about 2 hours. Games last a LOT longer. It has already been mentioned, but in order to do a true calculation on the “Gaming Industry” revenue, you would have to take into account:

1) Video Game Sales
2) Console Sales (PC, PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Wii, etc)
3) Console Peripherals (controllers, wires, etc.)
4) Subscriptions
5) Game Merchandise

I could continue….. but the reality is that gaming is growing MUCH faster than movies…. and will overtake movies in the next couple of years.

By: what

what — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:38:37 +0000

I did not see any mention of World of Warcraft. This game is THE most lucrative game in history. I don’t know F all about what movie sales are, but World of Warcraft now has 10 million subscribers at 15$ per month which is 150 million dollars in revenue per month - EVERY MONTH! and that does not include the cost of both the original game ( around $60 when it came out) and the expansion ($40 when it came out) as well as the upcoming second expansion (probably another $40) — 10,000,000 * (60 + 40) = 1,000,000,000

By: movie_sucks

movie_sucks — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:41:04 +0000

fuck u cesar, what movie, music…and all these bullshit did for the damn world. Video game make internet, IT…develope dramatically.Video game is one of most factor in the flat world….hollywood make something so called art..i pissed it off. Art do not make people alive, technology do

By: cesar

cesar — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:44:13 +0000

how much does a typical movie cost to produce and market?
how much revenues can a typical movie make in theatrical release, DVD, VOD, cable, broadcast, merchandise, and publishing licensing?
how much does a typical videogame cost to produce and market?
how much revenues can a typical videogame make in game product release, merchandise, film licensing, and publishing licensing?
it would be interesting to compare movies vs. videogames from the point of view of revenues generated per $ of production and marketing.

By: MOVIE SUCKS

MOVIE SUCKS — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:09:03 +0000

your idea is bullshit…u said video game is never beat movie??? video game only really increase in revenue in seraval years compare to 100 years of movie. what did the movie do in its first years…movie must struggle with theatre…since the colour TV born, the movie domain the theatre completely( now u choose between go to the theatre or stay at home watching a movie u choose??). THe video game is same, it is their intial of developement. one day when the graphic, the gameplay is develope enough (when u watch something and i don’t realise it’s movie or game). one day the movie is goiong to die out (only watch it in the museum)..that’s i call u fucking asshole, go to kill yourself bastard

By: Peter Sciretta

Peter Sciretta — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:57:09 +0000

Eric, my best friend bought Super Mario Brothers on NES, he then re bought it as part of the Mario collection on Super NES, and he just repurchased the game in the Wii marketplace… Gamers do buy games more than once, especially when you talk about library titles.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:49:25 +0000

I just got this to say.

People will go see a movie more then 1 time, people are only going go buy a video game one time.

By: Kode

Kode — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:28:40 +0000

Never?

By: Joshua

Joshua — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:00:32 +0000

davenix you’re probably banned right now, good luck with that

By: Agony

Agony — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:07:43 +0000

The movie industry, in general, will suffer the same fate that the music industry is currently suffering. The gaming industry probably will as well, but since it’s a newer medium of entertainment, it won’t happen as quickly.

This is not to say the movie industry will die, but if you look at the eventual demise of the music major labels (which will happen unless they change their business models), you can compare them to the major movie studios. When movies are continually looked at (not only by the studios, but by the media and fans alike) as gross sales numbers instead of the art and/or entertainment they’re meant to be, it shouldn’t be surprising what the sliding numbers indicate. The decline of the theater experience is a trend that will continue.

Gaming is a factor because most people only have so much time and money to split between their entertainment, but the real problem lies within the industry itself. Movie execs really should be watching what is happening in the music industry as a portent.

By: davenix

davenix — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:27:37 +0000

Nice post blocking, nothing like cutting down on folks who dont agree with your poorly reasoned article.

By: I think the title should be....

I think the title should be.... — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:53:00 +0000

Movies entertain more people, but the Video Game industry will make more money in due time :P

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:28:23 +0000

It IS possible, though I certainly don’t wish for it… the point is that movies have yet another competitor (with considerable room to grow) in the struggle for attention and dollars. The market cap of gaming reflects its traditional audience/appeal, but Wii, casual games and virtual worlds are opening gaming to a much greater segment of the population… and their industry will grow accordingly.

Again, I’m not saying that gaming WILL overtake the aggregate movie industry, but simply that the two are playing a zero-sum game along with numerous other media.

By: Peter Sciretta

Peter Sciretta — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:51:04 +0000

let’s keep this discussion on topic… Which medium provides you more entertainment is subjective and off topic. The purpose of this posting was not to say that movies are better than games, it was a statistical and money discussion about how many people and how much money both mefiums make comparibly. Obviously some of the video gamers who have entered the discussion believe games could overtake movies… I’d love to hear how that will happen.

By: Ludwig

Ludwig — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:44:47 +0000

I come here as a game-industry defender (tho, I’m totally a movie fanatic.. Besson/Chan Wook Park whore.)

And I have to say, not in 5-10 years time for sure .. but who knows in the future? games are the seed of what you saw in movies as “Matrix” .. do you really think EVERY single person in civilizated-earth isn’t going to get in “simulations” when it become less like a game and more like a true simulation?

You can see this effect already in games that are freedom driven such as Gran Turismo/The Sims/GTA.. or MMOs in general.

A lot of the people playing those games had never played games before… apart from solitaire…

20 years? who knows.

Regarding “now”, if people are willing to pay 60 bucks for a game and in the end the industry makes more money out of it .. would they pay the same for a movie?

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:32:15 +0000

@Jon - he did say “NEVER” actually, but you brought up a more tantalizing point… are movies more “profitable” than games? I’d be fascinated to know if there’s any EA accountants listening in…

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:25:57 +0000

I LOVE video games. I’m constantly debating in my head which I like more. Games or movies. I really think I’ve come to the conclusion that Video Games are my favorite choice for media entertainment. I came to this revelation when I decide that I get more excited when a game I’m looking forward comes out then a movie.

However, why do we game fanboys get mad when the truth comes out. Peter didn’t say video games will NEVER be a bigger industry then movies. Just not anytime soon…

He also didn’t say that people don’t enjoy them either. He just said more people do enjoy movies more so then video games. And that the movie industry is a more profitable industry. Maybe one day that will change.

Anyways, I want GTA IV more then seeing Iron Man! :-p

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:23:05 +0000

@Enrique - online worlds are a problem to account for in general if you’re grouping them into the discussion… there are a TREMENDOUS amount of factors to consider in this worthy discussion, so we have to find similar and constrained boundaries.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:19:33 +0000

Won’t even enter the discussion on reduced quality (yet), but I won’t cede that point by any means. John did in fact bring up up the cost, so I addressed it.

My beautifully disfigured chart simply points to the fact that video games have shown tremendous growth in recent years and have more room to run in general (especially considering this data, like you suggested with DVDs, includes only one facet of their business, and omits online gaming). It’s not about the death of movies by any means, but they are battling each other for the same attention and entertainment dollars - so video games can’t be dismissed either. NEVER.