2020 won't likely go down in history as a good year for anything, but it has been a big year for video games .
Perhaps because many Americans were stuck at home during the global coronavirus pandemic , U.S. consumers spent more than $33.7 billion on video games in the first three quarters of 2020, according to research firm The NPD Group. That's an increase of more than 20% compared the $27.9 billion spent in the same period in 2019.
Perhaps it's no surprise, NPD forecasts a 24% percent increase in holiday game spending compared to last year.
Many things are taking place:
$5M in bank, video game startup led by Epic Games vets ramps up in Raleigh | WRAL TechWire
RALEIGH – Operating in stealth mode, a video game startup in Raleigh led by former staff at Epic Games has landed $5 million in cash, a big-name investor and an accomplished artist is ramping up for business.
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“So we’re not ready to announce our studio yet, but I can confirm that we are indeed a studio focused on video games,” Schembari, who left Epic earlier this year, tells WRAL TechWire.
“We’re soft-targeting a January announcement, and we’re happy to share more detail about who we are and what we’re doing as we get closer to that date.”
Report: California Ranks #1 in Nation for Economic Impact from Video Game Industry With $51.8
WASHINGTON , Dec. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- No state compares to California with respect to the impact of the U.S. video games on its economy.
Also, the video game industry accounts for about 218,100 jobs in California , either directly through industry jobs (about 57,400) or through supplier and other supported jobs (about 160,700)—more than any other state.
Overall, the U.S. video game industry's annual economic output is $90.3 billion and accounts for nearly 429,000 jobs.
Hitting the Books: An analog computer ushered in the video game era
Once upon a time there was an early hominid. And possibly, at some point, this Early Hominid threw a rock at a mastodon he was hunting, or at a saber-tooth tiger, or at another Early Hominid, and missed; instead the rock hit a hollow tree, and it made a funny sound. "Ha, ha!" said Early Hominid, forgetting about the mastodon. And so he picked up another rock and threw it at the tree. This time he missed. And he tried again, and again, until he was out of rocks.
Maybe he had a friend. Maybe he said to his friend, "Hey, man, try to hit that tree with this rock. No, no, you have to throw it. Like this." Maybe he said, "I bet I can hit it more times than you." And maybe he said, "No, no, that's too close, you have to stand over here, behind the sloth bones, that's the rule. If you step over the bones it doesn't count."
While you're here, how about this:
Pandemic video game boom promotes Bay Area job creation, economic benefits - ABC7 San Francisco
Videos show crowds waiting in long lines for the new Playstation 5, although many shoppers bought gifts safely online.
Video games: How to save money shopping this holiday season
Blast From The Past offers retro video games, collectibles in Bay Shore - GreaterBayShore -
How the PS5 and Xbox Series X just ushered in a new game era - Los Angeles Times
For more than three decades the video game industry has promoted technological leaps as the reason to be an early adapter of new consoles, creating a marketplace and a fandom that idolizes boxes and their components. Yet after spending a few weeks with the new video game consoles from Sony and Microsoft — and even dropping $1,000 on a new 4K TV to supposedly take advantage of their graphical prowess — I feel let down.
Yes, games on Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X bolstered by a 4K television look better. And combined with the consoles' faster computing power there's an overall performance boost that feels smoother, more fluid and overall more enjoyable. But the changes weren't drastic in the way console shifts once were. We've long been accustomed to 3D graphics, and the days of small pixelated characters gave way years ago.
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