Atari founder: Games industry "should be bigger"

With games rivalling films in both production costs and profits, and titles likeGTA IVsmashing entertainment sales records, gaming is booming, but it's not as big as it should be, says Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.

Bushnell points towards gaming's relatively focused demographic and its increased complexity as factors that have stunted the growth of the hobby.

"I think theWiiby Nintendo is getting games that once again are fun for people who don't want to make a career out of figuring out how to run a 47-button controller," he told our friends over atNext-Gen.

"I think that the business right now should be much, much bigger than it is. If it were evenly spread over all demographics and age groups, it'd be huge," he added.

"But it's not. It's basically an 18 to 28 year-old male dominated business of about 15 million. That's where most of the traffic is. Casual games on the net add to that, but they're all network-based."

Courtesy of CVG.

Jun 17, 2008