Level Up! Video games are hitting a broader audience.

by Jimmy Marks

[EDITOR'S NOTE -- This is our 50th post! Thanks for sticking by us. We hope we can keep bringing you the best of our knowledge for the next 50 posts and beyond. Pass CCCBlog along to your friends and let them know we're here and we're giving away our expertise. Again, thanks for your attention and hope you enjoy our blog for years to come!]

I got another article from eMarketer, this time about video games. I love video games. Always have. Original Nintendo? That's me. Duck Hunt? You don't know from Duck Hunt. And I've pretty much followed the trends all the way forward. I can Wii with the best of them (pardon my French). 

But I'm not the only with an affinity for video games, according to this study. I did a little digging and found CNet's list of most sold video games (and this was just in August of this year): 

1. Grand Theft Auto IV--6,293,000 units sold
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl--5,433,000 units sold
3. Mario Kart Wii--4,697,000 units sold
4. Wii Fit--3,604,000 units sold
5. Guitar Hero III--3,475,000 units sold

Take a look at these statistics - what do you see? Aside from GTA4, you have games that can be played in big groups. And I think that's why you're seeing more and more people across, ages, sexes, races and income levels getting into gaming. It's not something you do on your lonesome anymore, it's something you do with the group. Gaming, like the Internet, is now about how you stack up against (or work with) people in your personal circle. And that circle can get larger by means of the Internet, which few game systems can't access these days. And I'm not talking a big Halo LAN Party - I mean WiFi ready machines that connect you to other people who are spoiling for a match. 

So let's talk about the recession and gaming. The article that prompted me to write this asked if video games were recession proof. Their research showed that people would rather skimp on eating out and buying apparel than stop buying video games. Which means a lot more pizza guys are going to be greeted by naked people with Wii controllers (sorry, pizza industry...you knew this day was coming). 

But then, this morning, our very own Digital Media newsreel (if you're not using it, time to start!) brought me this tidbit from Barron's about how Electronic Arts (maker of lots of video games, namely Madden NFL) would be falling short of Q4 expectations. Waaayyy far. As in, "a reduction of its product portfolio for FY 2010 with additional associated headcount reductions and facility consolidations". That kind of "falling short". 

I welcome your opinions. I, more importantly, welcome you to reminisce on your favorite video game memories.