When it's time to walk away from my office, there are numerous things to distract me. First stop usually is the kitchen for a nibble, which explains why my pants feel tighter. That also leads to distraction #2 (as an alternative or perhaps antidote to #1), which is a walk and the chance to listen to a podcast. Number 3 and beyond might be a bike ride, or some fix-up projects, a book or some cooking, which unfortunately leads me back to #1.
The one thing not on the list is video games. For whatever reason it's not an attraction or addiction I have ever acquired. While I dabbled a little in the early days of PC's, with titles such as "Wolfstein 3D" and "Duke Nukem," I never made the move to standalone gaming consoles, and then to the massive multiplayer juggernauts that exploded. I'm a Pong guy in a Fortnite world.
The numbers say I am in the minority. Gaming has grown to eclipse every other form of paid entertainment, be it music, film or sports. Revenue from games on mobile devices, PC's and consoles increased 20% last year to nearly $180 billion, compared with $100 billion for film and $129 billion for sports in 2019, the last "regular" year for totals. Worldwide there are estimates of 2.7 billion gamers, and belying the stereotype, 45% of those in the US are women.
The most well-known titles garner huge followings in the Hollywood blockbuster mold. The latest installment of "Call of Duty" raked in $600 million in its first three days, joining "Red Dead Redemption 2" at $725 million and "Grand Theft Auto 5" at $1 billion in their retail debuts; GTA alone sold 20 million copies last year. While each of those took years to develop with production budgets in the millions, it's a market of more than just the big names. When you include all its permutations, the number one video game of all time may well be "Tetris." Numbers are difficult to track, but estimates are that there may be more than half a billion copies of bricks falling down out there.
That helps to illustrate the breadth of the industry. When you think of video games the image that likely comes to mind is a pair of hands in the foreground with a weapon that is cutting or shooting or zapping everything in front of it. And to be sure first person shooter games like "Halo" and "Doom" are a huge subset of the total. But there are also a host of other genres, each designed to appeal to a different type of thumb jockey.
There are roll playing games like "Legends of Zelda" where you assume the persona of a character named Link and navigate a mysterious fantasy world. If your fantasy world revolves less around a battlefield than a ball field, there's "MLB The Show 20," where you can captain your very own dream team. There are adventure and strategy and even games of games: "Ellen's Game of Games" replicates the segment on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" where audience members play everything from "Dizzy Dash" to "Mazed and Confused."
And it's not just the big names. On sites like Steam you will find hundreds of indie-type efforts developed by folks toiling in their virtual garage hoping to produce the next big hit. While many are modeled on existing and proven winners, others take a different angle. There's "Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion" where you play an "adorable yet trouble-making turnip who avoids paying taxes, solves plantastic puzzles, harvests crops and battles massive beasts all in a journey to tear down a corrupt vegetable government." Or "Wanted Racoon" where you steal food, raid the garbage and generally terrorize the neighborhood. And just announced, a game designed with my spouse in mind, where you wield a high-powered spray gun to remove dirt and grime and makes things look sparkling and new. Welcome to "Powerwash Simulator."
As for me, past an initial curiosity none keep my attention. To do that they would have to have something that plays to my most fervent fantasies. But at least as of this writing I have yet seen a new release of a game where you race to take a doze on great couches around the world. Wake me when they release "Nap Commander."
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Marc Wollin of Bedford has no games on his phone. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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