According to an industry analysis report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the video game industry will continue to be considered as an above-average growth segment of the global entertainment industries. Additionally, they have claimed that this year's investments made by the game industry is "set to exceed" the current spending for the music industry.

 
The global spending has jumped 14.3% to US$ 31.6 billion back in 2006, and PwC expects that the amount should climb another 18.5% to US$ 37.5 billion in 2007. The report also projects that the game industry will officially overtake the music industry by 2008 in the US, as data from key growth factors in the industry have been gaining performance this year.

Such factors include that of online and wireless games, next generation consoles and the advent of in-game advertising. Although much of the analysis took the US into question, PwC cut back on US-only expectations and spread its views over the global scape.

Click on Full Article to learn more of the gaming industry's performance as a whole and the best performing region for 2007.

With its undeniable growth, the Asian game market has rapidly became a critical mass in the industry. Even the world's largest professional services firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, acknowledged the same. According to them, the above mentioned market will have a turnover of about $23 billion in just a span of two years.

It is in this light that several Singaporean industry movers decided to come up with the first ever Games Convention Asia (GCA). The event will take place in Singapore, from September 7 to 9 next year. The use of the term "Games Convention" was granted by the organizers of the highly successful Leipzig Games Convention, the Leipzig Fair.

As it hopes to give focus on digital media, computer games, entertainment, educational software as well as hardware, the GCA in its event the following year will establish four distinct pillars. Attendees then, can choose to visit an exhibition hall where new games can be tested, a business center for suppliers and purchasers and the three-day Games Developer Asia Conference. The last pillar will host the all important GCA 2007 Cyber Games Competition.

GCA organizers, even this early, expect to attract 200 exhibitors from the Asia Pacific region, specifically China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and India. A visitor turnout of over 100,000 is also foreseen.

In PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PWC) "Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2006-2010," the firm predicts that the worldwide game market will grow from $7 billion in 2005 to as much as $47 billion in 2010. This astronomic growth is expected to come largely from the Asia Pacific. Increased broadband access, computer literacy and government promotion will contribute to the huge sales in the region. The combined region of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is expected to be the globe leader in terms of growth. I guess America has to step aside; but if it's any consolation, it will outpace Latin America. See, it's not so bad.

Worldwide market growth will be driven by demand for next-generation consoles and software. PWC predicts that the titles that are likely to be catapulted to the top of the charts are those that "build off a movie title, sport or a franchise that has already been built up."

Game companies have been reporting disappointing financial results due to their transition to next-gen systems. Well, those days will soon be over. With the PS3 and Wii completing the next-gen triumvirate, we'll have our games, they'll have their money.