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Games, movies measure up: who's the biggest? |
Fatal Rocko Willis
Fleet Admiral
Fatal Squadron
Joined: March 01, 2003
Posts: 1336
From: Kentucky
|  Posted: 2008-11-13 00:48
A new report from UK-based retail analysts Verdict would have us believe that sales of video games and related products are set to outpace music and video takings by an impressive-sounding 4.6 billion pounds ($7.3 billion) this year -- but how do top-selling movies and video games rack up in on the global stage?
Critically-acclaimed thriller The Dark Knight ranks at the top of the movie charts for the year so far, ushering close on a billion dollars through box office tills around the world. Set that against Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, so far 2008's best-selling video game, and it's a tight race. Although GTA passed the half-billion mark in just a week, a feat that took Dark Knight much longer, video games just don't have the staying power of a great movie. GTA ought to finish out the year within striking distance of Dark Knight, but it's going to be a close-run race.
Those two are outliers, of course -- but three other 2008 movies have already topped the $500 million mark at the world's box offices thus far, and it's only the cream of the video-game crop that can hit those heights. Wii Fit certainly did, with its $90 price-tag (and it's already tipped to outsell GTA by the end of the year). The year's other top sellers, EA's Madden 09, Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario Kart Wii are all in with a chance, but it's by no means a shoe-in.
But as with many of these comparisons, the outcome all depends on how you slice it. GTA's debut was a mammoth achievement, but for every $60 paid by gamers for Grand Theft Auto, four movie-goers could have seen Dark Knight, and they'd still have had money for popcorn. Conversely, although Dark Knight certainly ran long, it's nothing next to the 20 or 30 hours of entertainment an average gamer might get out of Grand Theft Auto.
Box office counts also don't give us a great impression of the overall power of a movie's economic impact. They don't include DVD sales, for one thing: Dark Knight's DVD and Blu-Ray versions will be in stores in December, and you can bet they're going to be turning up under a great many trees this holiday season. Dark Knight will still be shifting boxes long after gamers, with their notoriously short attention spans, have abandoned GTA for the next big thing.
But there's one four-year-old video game that still dwarfs the best the movie industry has to offer: World of Warcraft. With over 11 million subscribers, its maker Blizzard surely grosses well over $1 billion annually just for keeping the game ticking over -- and that's before you take into account the doubtless impressive sales figures its newest expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King, will generate. Those are figures that would make even George Lucas raise his eyebrows.
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Leonide
Grand Admiral
Templar Knights
Joined: October 01, 2005
Posts: 1553
From: Newport News, Virginia
| Posted: 2008-11-13 01:43
it's all because Blizzard double and triple charges you. pay for the game. pay to play the game, pay for the expansions. 
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2008-11-13 06:04
Quote:
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On 2008-11-13 01:43, Leonide *FM*{Recruiting} wrote:
it's all because Blizzard double and triple charges you. pay for the game. pay to play the game, pay for the expansions.
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Sub = £9 a month.
Original & free month = £9.99
Expansion & free month = £9.99
New Expansion & free month = £17.99
They don't tripple charge you at all :S
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Meko
Grand Admiral
Joined: March 03, 2004
Posts: 1956
From: Vancouver
| Posted: 2008-11-13 11:09
Quote:
| Sub = £9 a month.
Original & free month = £9.99
Expansion & free month = £9.99
New Expansion & free month = £17.99
They don't tripple charge you at all :S |
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no they dont indeed.
first you buy the game (1st). if you wish to enjoy the expansion you must buy that (2nd). and if you wish to play the game longer than 2 months (the time alloted for the purchase of the game and expansion) you must subscribe. (the last one covers 3rd, and a few more depending on how long you play)
not a tripple charge at all, no no, shining beacon of business savvy.
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2008-11-13 11:34
You're still not seeing it. You get a free month with each expansion. An expansion that costs the same as a subscription...
You do know that, if you played EVE for three years, and WoW for three years - you'd of spent more money on EVE, even though they have free expansions?
Some people need to do their math correctly 
What matters most, is that DarkSpace costs less than both of them!
[ This Message was edited by: BackSlash *Jack* on 2008-11-13 11:35 ]
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Borgie
Chief Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: August 15, 2005
Posts: 2256
From: close by
| Posted: 2008-11-13 16:47
atm in us dollars wow cost 14.99 a month the base game cost 19.99 and you get a free month
BC costs 24.99 no free month
WoTK cost 39.99, and as far as i know no free month.
so yes wow cost more but IMO its worth it
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