Band 8 Discussion Essays

The bar chart gives information about the global sales figures of various ranges of digital games, namely mobile phone games, online games, console games, and handheld games from 2000 to 2006. It is clear that the turnover for almost all types of digital games increased over the period, except for console games. Handheld games remained the most profitable gaming platform throughout the timeframe, resulting in a widening gap between them and console games. One striking feature is the rapid expansion of online games, which emerged in 2001, ranked second in the market by the end of the period. Regarding the revenue of mobile phone games and console games, console games generated roughly $6 billion in revenue in 2001, whereas mobile phone games had not yet entered the market until 2002, with the sales figures of just over $5 billion. Console games witnessed a downward trajectory in revenue each year, despite remaining the second highest earning gaming category from 2000 to 2004. By contrast, mobile phone games experienced significant growth after entering the market in 2002, with the sales figures rapidly reaching approximately $7 billion in 2006. As a result, mobile phone games overtook console games by the end of the period. As for handheld and online games, handheld games remained the most lucrative category over the timeframe, with revenue rising steadily from approximately $12 billion in 2000 to nearly $18 billion in 2006. Meanwhile, online games first appeared in 2001 at roughly $1 billion and then surged sharply to nearly $9 billion in 2006, overtaking console games from 2005 onwards.