Video Games Critical for U.S. Economy

From the Financial Times:

"The Entertainment Software Association commissioned two leading economists – Dr Robert Crandall of the Brookings Institution and Prof. J. Gregory Sidak of the Georgetown University Law Center – to study the stimulative effect of entertainment software on high-technology sectors.

As well as calculating a total impact of $18bn on the US economy in 2004, they forecast the industry would support 265,000 jobs by 2009, up from 144,000 in 2004. “Clearly, the entertainment software industry is not just about fun and games,” their report concludes. “It is a serious business that improves training, efficiency, and productivity in a variety of industries and has led to innovation in other high-technology industries.”

The report also says that about $73m in high-definition television sales can be directly attributed to sales of the Xbox 360 game console."

The full report: (PDF)