The first time I realized how big a business video games had become was when I went to Gamestop in 2002 to pick up a copy of
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Like most gamers, I'd spent the better part of the previous year playing the hell out of
GTA III and was ready to take to a new set of streets. Back then I was going to Indiana State University, and I rounded up a couple of friends and headed for the Honey Creek Mall in beautiful Terre Haute, Indiana. Imagine our surprise when we found a line around the corner that threatened to spill into J.C. Penney.
Big games bring big numbers. When there's a new installment in the
GTA series, or
Halo or StarCraft or World of Warcraft or whatever, people come out in droves and drop good money to get their games. There's nothing like it. New movies hardly ever top the $20 mark, and albums, when they're not being stolen, come nowhere near the $60 range video games are fond of pushing.
Read More - Out of Bounds: A Sports Gamer's Manifesto