Are Video Games Mainstream?

Do you consider video games to be mainstream yet? Are they in the same legue of movies & music?

I think they are becoming increasingly popular but at the same time I'm not sure they compare to movies or music. Games such as Angry Birds and Temple Run are definitely mainstream but what about consoles or the PC?

I feel as if video games are mainstream but are still not a "cool" topic. I think a ton of people play them but just don't talk about it. For example, I often have both people I know and strangers ask me "have you seen that movie" or say "I really like that new song" yet, not many people often talk about games.

verdict: I think many people are "closet gamers" who play games but don't openly talk about it cause its still not considered cool. I don't think video games are that mainstream yet. (I voted no)

what do you guys think? (SR is "see results" in poll)

Sorry, I always seem to come up with an idea for a discussion at night.

I am going to bed soon and won't be able to respond to your posts until tomorrow.

It depends on the type of game.

Casual/mobile games? Absolutely.

Core stuff? Hell no. The number of politicians and pundits who said outright that they think Call of Duty is more dangerous than actual guns after the Sandy Hook shooting tells me NOTHING has changed on that front. Even the NRA said the same shit, despite gun makers pushing to get their products into such games. -_-

Personally, I feel that trying to get acceptance for such games in the short term is a waste of time. You can't convince people that won't listen to begin with. As long as the government doesn't ban M-rated stuff outright, that's good enough for me.

No, definitely not in my age group. Maybe mobile and facebook games, but not console games.

Box office data for 2011 has the top 10 movies at 22 to 48 million tickets sold per movie for the US.
The walking dead stands at 8.5 million episodes sold world wide.

I think ever since ps1 sold 100 million we can say they've been mainstream. I mean as seen in that recent video Sony put up major news networks were giving games their due by the time ps2 came along.

Once the Wii passes 100 Million I'll call it MainStream. That means that everyone and their Grandma owns it.

I would definitely say so. So many people are buying a console and 1 or 2 games just to play it online with their friends. Parents and grandparents are getting into now with the more family/casual offerings. I'd definitely say so.

Infact, I think videogames going mainstream is part of the problem. Too many companies changing their franchises formulas to cater to people who only play what's trendy atm. They all want a slice of that casual pie and I think a lot of core gamers suffer for it.

Reaching out to new audiences is fine I guess, I just hate to see established franchises ruined because of it.

I guess they are becoming more mainstream with things like Wii or Kinect but I still don't put them in the same league as movies & music yet.

If we are calling Angry Birds and tablet games "games' then yes.

But I wouldn't consider console gaming to be mainstream.

Depends on the game. Casual titles like Call of Duty, Madden, FIFA, Angry Birds, and anything of that kind... hell yes.

Pretty much anything else, no.