Gaming is King

A report from the Entertainment Software Association found the US gaming software industry grew over 17 percent during 2003-04 and 2005-06.

Comparatively, the US economy grew only 4 percent during those years. Total, the gaming software industry added $3.8 billion to the US GDP, according to Next Gen.

Retail sales of video games in the US were over $7 billion in '05, up from $2.6 billion in '96. Unit sales increased from 74.1 million in 1996 to 250 million in 2006.

Entitled Videogames in the 21st Century: Economic Contributions of the US Entertainment Industry, the report was penned by Stephen E. Siwek of Economists Incorporated.