Interactive computer games have mass appeal

Discount Store News, July 21, 1997

Computer games aren't just for boys any more, as the audience for interactive software continues to widen.

Consumer research conducted by the Interactive Digital Software Association found that 40% of consumers who were running entertainment software on their personal computers were female, and a surprisingly high percentage (27%) of console game consumers were female.

Video games and interactive software are no longer the exclusive domain of the under 18 set.

About 36% of consumers surveyed who were using entertainment software on their PCs were over the age of 35, according to the IDSA.

The growing importance of interactive software sales in specialty mass retailers, such as Staples, Office Depot and Office-Max, can be seen as evidence of the popularity of CD-ROMs among consumers over age 36.

The entertainment software business, which has long had big international players such as Nintendo and Sega, is becoming increasingly global. Half of Electronic Arts' business is conducted overseas, and the company said that 60% of its revenues will come from international markets within the next five years.

Other factoids about the health of the $3.7 billion digital interactive software business were included in "The State of the Entertainment Software Industry: 1997," published by the IDSA at last month's Entertainment Expo in Atlanta.

Perhaps the most interesting portion of the IDSA's report covered interactive entertainment's place in society, a factor that can easily get lost in the hustle for mass market shelf space.

In the 25 years since the introduction of the first video game, Pong, the digital video game business has gone from a novelty to an established part of popular culture that also employs about 90,000 people and is growing at a rate of 26% annually.

Characters from video games are now finding their way into other mediums, such as movies and comic books.

Nintendo's Mario Bros., Capcom's Street Fighter series and Midway's Mortal Kombat are among the games that have wound up as the basis for feature films. Broderbund's Carmen Sandiego series has spawned an educational television series.

This year, examples of new tie-ins with Hollywood can be seen in DreamWorks Interactive's cutting-edge graphics technology in a game based on "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and in Fox Interactive's Virtual Springfield title based on the "The Simpsons" animated television show.

Interactive software has also come into its own as mass product within the past few years.

The release of some games can generate as much in retail sales during a single weekend than the release of a new blockbuster motion picture. The interactive software licensing rights for major films are now a regular part of Hollywood's revenue river.

A number of companies are also committed to combining the power branding and interactive software for educational purposes.

Educational and creativity titles for children are also making their way to the mass market.

IBM has joined with known brands such as Crayola and World Book, as well as Creative Wonders with Sesame Street, to create new lines of interactive software.

IBM is even taking a new marketing twist, packing its Crayola Magic 3D Coloring Book with two 96-count packages of Crayola Crayons that will sell exclusively at Wal-Mart this fall.