Video Games Round Out the Entertainment Package
Andy Marken April 19, 2024
0 Comments
By this, I take it you think everybody is who they say they are. - Evelyn Salt, Salt, Sony, 2010
Say the word entertainment and immediately you think of blockbuster movies in theaters or studios/streamers stuffing a continuing stream of great content into their libraries to ensure you don't drop them for someone else.
So why would the people in the hallowed halls of US government get all upset because Microsoft wanted to acquire a lowly video game company (Activision Blizzard) for the mindboggling sum of $68.7B?
Of course that didn't phase Disney who laid down their $1.5B bet with Epic Games that will enable them to share IP (intellectual property) and more.
Jeez, let's see:
The global box office hit $32B last year
The streaming video market is set to hit $108.5B this year
The video game market is set to hit $282.3B this year
Ten of the 2023 blockbusters of 2023 were based on video game IP (yes, and one on a doll)
You mean the stuff you played as a kid is actually more popular?
Well, we have a couple of friends who can't get enough movies/shows as long as they aren't bladder-bustin' three hours long.
However, taking on how a six-hour gaming session is a good warm-up.
No, we don't ask them if they take periodic breaks because some things are just personal.
The point is, the video gaming is big business.
Microsoft's game division and Activision each rack up huge dollars from folks who pit themselves against enemies of every shape/side and situation that push them to the limits.
Given a few hours or a days' rest and they're ready to enter the realm again. Put the gaming giants together and they make more than all of the US movie houses combined.
Industry Shuffle - With Microsoft's acquisition of Electronic arts, they moved to being a strong number two provider in the video game industry. The shift to mobile and streaming games will provide growth for everyone.
No, they're not as big as China's Tencent; but after lobbing off two thousand jobs, they make even more money.
And to prove that game IP (intellectual property) is good for things other than playing with, Disney dropped a cool $1.5B on Epic Games to ensure they could get an inside track on really cool movies and maybe just maybe beef up their gaming activities..
Yeah they know!
Folks don't just play a game once and move on to the next big hit, they come back for more and more and more.
The industry is dramatically different from the days when we worked with Tamriel's Atari. Back then, you sold a game system then sold box after box of pretty good games.
Cutting Back - Best Buy and nearly every entertainment software reseller have quit selling video game and movie packages as producers and consumers turn to online sales.
Today, 70 percent of the game sales are digital, which is probably why big box stores like Best Buy emptied their shelves.
And while they were at it, they dumped the movie DVDs because well, we stream our entertainment all of it.
Streaming is just too convenient!
But gaming is different from films/shows.
First of all, streaming video is a fairly passive activity. The most activity, excitement, anxiety you experience is popping fresh popcorn and searching from one service to another until you finally settle on something/anything to watch.
With games, it's the whole range of activity/experience, depending on whether you're playing single-person contests, MMOGs (massive multiplayer online games) or puzzles.
Good for You - There was a time when people said spending volumes of time in front of the screen playing video games would ruin you; but today, healthcare professionals are saying video game play may be beneficial.
Entertainment has to be good.
Our gamer friends critique their games on the plot, characters, content flow, weapon/tool selection, challenges/options and outcomes of some actions/decisions over others.
Or, as one dedicated gamer explained to us after wrapping up a gaming session:
Very moving story and emotional, depending on your decisions. And it's cool to actually interact with ST tech on a Federation starship.
Voice acting is stellar.
Graphics are fair and good enough.
Being your own director (making choices that impact the relationship with your fellows) is great although it doesn't really affect the storytelling.
Playing as two protagonists (2nd female officer and male engineer) really adds to the overall immersion
Overall, 7.5 / 10 and well worth playing IMO
Our gamers, our son and members of the healthcare community even say video games are good for you.
They're great for stress relief/escapism, productively fill spare time, are good for manual dexterity, brain exercise, problem solving, improves vision (especially peripheral vision) and gives you a sense of accomplishment or at least adds to your perseverance level.
And, if you're playing a multi-player game, it's a great way to socialize, gives a sense of community and mutual accomplishment.
That's better than becoming one with your couch for three plus hours or going from social media video to social media video watching people do dumb tricks or pimping some product/service or worse getting drug into some deep/dark/sinister rabbit hole.
There's certainly something convenient about being able to go to a gaming site, pick up the latest version of a game, pay for it/download it and play it forever.
O.K., technically you don't own the game you purchased - read the user's agreement in small, small type - because when they tell you they're going to quit supporting your version or de-list a game, you have no recourse.
Of course, there are winds of change even in the video game i
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
20/11/2025
Berklee Presents Holiday Extravaganza: Duke Ellingtons The Nutcracker Suite and ...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Martin Freeman, Jessie Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Eddie the Eagle and ...
19/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with Broadcom to enable testing and validation of n...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
18/11/2025
NBA Debuts New Comms Infrastructure and Systems for RefereesTwo-phase rollout is intended to improve game flow, enhance officiating accuracyBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
18/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: How Aggreko Delivers Certainty For Broadcasters On The Wor...
18/11/2025
Kiswe Extends DTC Products With Kiswe Core Cloud-Based Tool for Distributing Con...
18/11/2025
Spanish Basketball Federation partners with ScorePlay to power digital transform...
18/11/2025
HBS selects BBright encoders and decoders to connect ST 2110 live production wor...
18/11/2025
Ashes to Ashes: Inside TNT Sports' hybrid and maverick' production plan...
18/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Mimi Fotopoulos, Director, Talent and Production Operations, Tenn...
Video Games Round Out the Entertainment Package 
