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Video Games Find Their Voice with GTA
GamesIndustry.biz editor Rob Fahey has an editorial discussing how the games industry is beginning to find its own voice alongside the move and music businesses. He uses the hype and launch of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as an example of the increasing popular culture acceptance of games and gaming. From the Article: "The videogames industry is fond of comparing itself with the movie and music industries - as long as the figures show it in a positive light, of course. For years, a host of slightly dodgy statistics have been dragged out at the drop of a hat to prove that videogames generate more revenue than rival mediums, usually missing such crucial points as the fact that movies generate both box office and DVD/video revenues."
Okay, I'll bite. 1) The article was *about* San Andreas. It wasn't just using San Andreas to back up a statement, it was making a comment about the importance of this particular game and the mainstream public reaction to it. 2) GamesIndustry.biz is a UK publication. The media industries here are actually a pretty good microcosm for the world at large, but that's not the point really - GI's audience is largely UK-based, and our staff (er, me. and the other guy.) are in the UK. It's worth pointing this out since I actually get criticised fairly often for using UK specific data by people who assume I'm in California (god forbid!)...