Once the pastime of teenagers huddled over bedroom PCs, gaming is now a huge family affair. Here is InGear’s pick of 2007
This was the year computer games burst out of the geek’s bedroom and into the living room – thanks largely to the near universal appeal of the Wii console. However, there were signs of this trend last year with the popularity of Nintendo’s DS handheld games machine, which has gone on to account for one-fifth of all games sold in the UK during 2007 so far, according to Chart-Track/ELSPA, the retail researchers.
Most consoles have had family-friendly titles released for them but it has been the Wii – with its clever motion-sensitive controller, which lets users play virtual sports in their living room – that has converted all ages and both genders to the pleasures of gaming. To get an idea of Nintendo’s dominance, the latest figures show that of the big three consoles (the Wii, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3), the Wii accounted for half of all units sold in 2007. The total value of UK sales of the three big consoles so far in 2007 is £722m. Meanwhile the Wii has sold out in many shops as buyers rush to secure one for Christmas.
I just thought it would be nice to see what the other side of the pond was saying concering the Wii. Looks like the UK is just as hard to find over there as it is over here.