Business booming in Britain
Game and console sales both through the roof
ELSPA have released gaming industry sales figures for last year, showing a 36% rise in takings here in Britain to £1.6bn (€2.6bn). This was mostly fuelled by console sales, with Sony's PlayStation 2 coming of age and Nintendo launching their GameBoy Advance during the summer. Around four million consoles were apparently sold in the UK alone last year, an increase of 121% compared to the previous year. Despite this console game sales were only up 26%, perhaps showing that many of the sales were to people replacing older machines, while PC game sales lagged behind with a 10% rise. Analysts are also looking forward to another strong performance this year, with guaranteed PS2 hits such as Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X arriving in the spring, along with MIcrosoft's Xbox and (presumably) Nintendo's GameCube. It's a great time to be a gamer. Related Feature - Business booming in Europe