Will video games make toys obsolete?
A recent article on The Independent (UK), posed an interesting question.
They asked: “Will video games make traditional toys obsolete?”
Up until now, I hadn’t actually thought about it. However, I think it’s a question that deserves to be discussed.
In the last 15-20 years, the rise of the US$60 billion video game industry has been meteoric. It has gone from an obscure hobby to a massive industry that now generates more revenue than Hollywood.
Video games are so popular now that everyone ranging from young children to grandparents are playing them.
What about toys? Are people still playing with action figures, miniature cars and fake guns and weapons? Do kids still enjoy these things, or has digital entertainment taken over?
Well, there are certainly many reasons that one may think that the toy industry is fading away.
Games, especially those of the online variety, have become the default source of entertainment for hundreds of millions of people. After all, it’s a lot more fun to play with a toy pet online instead of playing with action figures by yourself.
The biggest difference between traditional toys and video games is the multiplayer factor. No toys will let you play against thousands of other people, and that’s a big reason for the surge in video game popularity.
However, it is a little premature to start saying that the traditional toy industry is going to die off. Companies like Mattel are still raking in billions of dollars in annual revenue. Not only that, not everyone can afford to buy high end consoles and their games.
These aren’t going away anytime soon
People in developing countries will have big pockets of their population who are only be able to afford traditional toys. This will not change in the near future.
It’s more likely that both industries will continue to grow. At the end of the day, a lot of kids will still want to play with action figures and use their imaginations.
Just as many will want to play games like Pet Party and Panda Paradise online.
