Some observations. Music and film artists/companies ARE paying attention to the video game industry. Many creative people from all walks are paying attention and all will have to.

Video games are to film what film was to the printed book, that is, an evolution (and upgrade?) of storytelling. Video games take madlibs and choose your own adventure to the next level though. The graphics of high production value film with the flexibility of improv and the ability to COLLABORATE with friends and forge new relationships is THE NEW HOTNESS.

on the criticisms from old folken,

Nothing new here, and this too shall pass. I think there are several factors which will bring adult video gaming into the acceptable mainstream

a) wider variety of games built by a wider variety of game designers. Remember when web design required actual knowledge of code? Now you get a WYSIWYG editor and the tools of web design are cheap/free and accessible. Game design (like word processing, layout and film editing) will become available to the masses.

b) fading out of that older generation.

simple demographics. Few complain about using washing machines versus hand washing, because those folks have moved on

and I should add

c) MONEY. you pointed this out already. it’s already starting. video gaming can’t be that much of a stigma if folks are OPENLY spending hundreds of millions on ONE game in its first week.

video games are the new canvass for music, graphics, collaboration and storytelling. we are just at the beginning.

wait till we get highly distributed game design and development and truly immersive worlds.

we’ll then be talking about “remember when we used to WATCH other people’s stories on a 2D screen? how lame!”

I just had major flashbacks to an era that I miss greatly.

Never let yourself be “old.” Bottom line. Keep the smile and the child forever.

Dave, i’m glad that there was a positive increase to your lifestyle hustle by putting video games to the side. Personally, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that at all and think it’s on-point for you to pursue that (and even to encourage others to do so). Certainly, there are many cats out there who could benefit from the same change!

I believe the dismissal of video games as a cultural force would give many a reason to pause. Still, I think it is much more likely that it would be those from the baby boomer generation, rather than our own. I am always surprised, however, when I meet someone that asks, “you still play video games?!?”

Yes. And rock the BMX, read Comics, and watch animated flicks on the regular. All of which have some sort of negative stigma attached to them. ( sarcasm ON — interestingly enough, I still maintain buppy credibility by working at MIT, while being married to a sociology PhD, professor, and author — sarcasm OFF). TRUTH? I know the resume drop on my part is a flagrant foul, but also 100% true!!!

The economics of GTA, and video games in general, is underreported. I knew these numbers were big, it’s just not every day that you hear about them being that big. That’s a force. You can’t dismiss that because it simply makes you feel uncomfortable…although I assume many do or want to.

“A waste of time for adults.”

Now, I would be willing to take that side in a debate. I let these babies go about four years ago (was a GTA player, with XBOX and PS2 at home) cold turkey, and it’s been a net gain for me in the economics department. I simply do more with my time, but that could say a lot more about me than the video game playing public. In fact, I’m sure of it.

And I certainly have no right to take my mindset and inject it into you.

But if you’re in my vicinity…you might hear about it.

(I love the design of this blog, BTW)

Did Iron Man push 200 million on the day of release? I would have to check, but, I suspect that is for opening weekend. (update: just over 200 million for opening weekend)

Also, was the film industry criticized for the success of Iron Man (or any aspect of the film — ok, fanboys may say something about Ultimate Nick Fury, but, still)?

There is no comparison in this regard. I am not just talking GTA:IV, but, the video game industry as a whole.