Great segment on NPR this morning about how as the U.S. financial system implodes around us, Americans could be turning to video games to take their mind off their troubles, much the same way that we turned to $0.05 movies during the great depression.  While movie tickets sold have been flat for about the last decade, video game sales have increased by 43% since last year.  In January, Activision, makers of the Guitar Hero(R) franchise, announced the game had “set an industry record, surpassing $1 billion in North American retail sales in just 26 months.”

As a dad, I already see it in something like Wii bowling, which can fill that “what should we do tonight as a family” after-dinner void very easily (and economically).  But as I think back to my formative video gaming days, spent in my bedroom with my ColecoVision playing Donkey Kong and some baseball game with a joystick the size of a batting helmet, I think it’s amazing how video games have transformed from something you usually did on your own into a fully social experience.  Just last week a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 97% of American teens ages 12-17 play some kind of video game and that 76% of those who do play them with their friends or family at least some of the time.

But, that reminds me … I have to remember to place that pre-order for Guitar Hero World Tour.