The 2011 Gaming Expenditure Horror

At the start of 2010, I began recording the price of everything I bought that was gaming related. At the end of the year, I put together the stats. That was all well and good at the time, but without anything to compare it to, it meant nothing. Until now!

I’ve not bothered with a dull list of each and every game I’ve bought in this post (they’re pretty much all on my Gaming Diary anyway), but I do have the cold hard numbers to excite you with. And pie charts!

In all, I spent £888.22 this year. Last year, that figure was just £590.32, almost £300 less. However, there are two things to bear in mind: 1) Last year I didn’t buy any consoles, whereas this year I got both a 3DS and a PS3, and 2) Last year I broke the £20 Rule by buying Fallout New Vegas for almost £70, and this year I haven’t broken the £18 Rule at all.

Here’s how the hardware/software split works out:

 

And 65.2% of £888? £579 – just under last year’s software spend. I expect a similar situation this year when the Wii U comes out, as I’ll need one of them. Yes, need.

How did the spending break down by platform?

Last year, it was 45% Wii, 34.5% 360 and not much else. This year, it’s a whopping 32.6% 3DS, and the 360 and Wii taking 2nd and 3rd places. This chart does take hardware into account, however, so most of that 12% PS3 slice is actually the console – I haven’t bought many PS3 games.

Finally, the spend by medium:

This shows a surprising increase from 25% to almost 35% for downloaded software (the chart doesn’t include hardware). Much of this is due to the huge number of 3DS Virtual Console and eShop games I’ve bought, but also a general increase in the number of 360 and Wii digital store purchases. There are a few PSN titles in that blue wedge too.

So what have I learned from this little exercise? Very little. My expenditure on software is virtually the same (although the actual number of games bought has increased from about 90 to over 130 – clearly I’ve been buying cheaper!), and things are progressing in the world of digital distribution as I expected it to, although perhaps not as quickly. Things will be more interesting come next year!