Sales of video games in the UK has hit an all time high – measuring 82.8 million in 2008 with an expenditure of £1.9 billion. That is 23% higher than in the previous year and double that of five years ago.

So why, in such tough economic times, are people spending more money on video games? Not only that, the consoles themselves sold over £1.422 million.

Well the analysis of Michael Rawlinson (ELSPA’s MD) is that “videogaming is increasingly bringing families together”. I can only assume that he is talking about Nintendo Wii with that statement (I can’t imagine bonding with my grandma over GTA IV somehow…) and is encouraging people who don’t normally “game” to do just that.

However, does this bode well for 2009 sales figures? Probably not. The constant spending despite the economic crisis can only mean one thing – debt. So one could only assume that next year the figures will be right down as people tighten the purse strings and prepare for the worst.

Also, 2008 had some great game releases – Gears of War 2, GTA IV, Burnout Paradise and the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4. But 2009 is considerably drier, which will definitely not encourage potential consumers to spend spend spend.

At the moment people have been willing to pay the high prices that have been put on games, but game designer Peter Molyneux warns that there will be a lot of  “price pressure put on games”.

That price pressure certainly would have been nice when there were some games I actually wanted to buy, but you can’t have it all.

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