Growth – From 2003 to 2006, the entertainment software industry's annual growth rate exceeded 17 percent. Over the same period, the entire U.S. economy grew at a less than four percent rate.
GDP – In 2006, the entertainment software industry's value added to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was $3.8 billion. The industry also makes a disproportionate contribution to the real growth of the nation as whole. For example, in 2005-06 the industry's contribution to real growth exceeded its share of GDP by more than four to one.
Employment – The entertainment software industry also continues to grow as a source of employment. For the four-year period 2002-06, direct employment for the industry grew at an annual rate of 4.4 percent. Currently, computer and video game companies directly and indirectly employ more than 80,000 people in 31 states. By 2009, it is projected that the industry will support over a quarter of a million American jobs. The average salary for direct employees is $92,300, resulting in total national compensation of $2.2 billion.
* Top 5 States – California, Washington, Texas, New York and Massachusetts currently have the highest concentration of video game jobs. Collectively, these areas directly employ 16,604 workers and post 70 percent of the industry's total indirect employment.
* California – California is the largest employer of computer and video game personnel in the nation, accounting for approximately 40 percent of total industry employment nationwide. These companies provided over $1.8 million in direct and indirect compensation to Californians last year. California's computer and video game industry grew by 12.3 percent last year, nearly three times faster than the state's overall growth and added $1.7 billion to the state economy.
* Other States – New Jersey witnessed a boom in industry growth in recent years as computer and video game companies have expanded beyond New York City. Virginia's entertainment software industry, meanwhile, grew by 552 percent in 2006, with computer and video game companies adding $28.7 million to the Commonwealth's economy.
As you can see gaming goes beyond the pixel layered UI. The gaming industry can actually help economies. My fellow state is #1 in the gaming scene. The industry is growing beyond the west coast even reaching NJ. People think that with the economy going down that gamers will leave their console. I'll tell you this. Modern Warfare 2 budget was 45 million dollars but at the same time it had the highest opening sales. It's quite interesting that perception vs reality is big. By perception I mean, 'hey, leave that console alone. Every time you play you get dumber.' The reality of it is you're using your brain.
A cutaway image shows four brain structures studied in the video-game research. the caudate nucleus (blue), putamen (red), nucleus accumbens (orange spot) and hippocampus (green). Researchers found linkages between game performance and the first three structures, but no linkage involving the hippocampus. - MSNBC