There’s been a seismic shift in attitudes towards video games in the past few years. Once regarded as the preserve of teenage boys, computer games are now widely considered an entertainment medium on a par with movies and music. And perhaps most significantly, they’ve found favour with a wider audience than ever. Thanks to consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, everyone from young children to grandparents have been able to try gaming. Indeed, such is the change in gaming’s fortunes that industry analysts Verdict Research expect the market to grow by 42 per cent this year, making it worth £4.6 billion – £100 million more than music and video combined. But the success of consoles tells only half the story. Portable devices, such as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, are proving just as popular with gamers, who want the ease and convenience of being able to play a game any time, anywhere.
Mobile phone makers, too, are muscling in . Devices such as the Nokia N-Gage have been designed with gaming in mind. Apple is leading the charge, and positioning itself against the likes of Nintendo and Sony. Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, called the iPod touch Apple’s “funniest iPod ever” thanks to the slew of games available. Mobile gaming is big business, with analysts Screen Digest estimating that the UK market alone will be worth more than £80.5 million by 2012 – and that doesn’t include revenue from games sold for devices such as the iPod touch. Simon Jeffrey, president of Sega, recently said that the iPhone was as powerful as his company’s old Dreamcast games console, which was launched barely a decade ago.
( www.telegraph.co.uk )
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