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iPod sells $1 million of movies in first week. Will games follow suit?

iTunes proves that customers do want more than just music

iPod sells $1 million of movies in first week. Will games follow suit?
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Few would argue that Apple's iTunes Store offers an uber-friendly way to buy and download digital content. Indeed with iTunes European music download sales bursting through the 200 million track barrier last month (cementing its place in the top five music retailers), it's pretty impossible to form any other view than it being a phenomenal success.

Despite this track record, however, the media reaction to the launch of movies and games on iTunes was cautious at best, with objections varying from the screen size and control system to the nature of content.

Of course, the same naysayers were out in force when the iTunes store first opened in April 2003, arguing that people wouldn't pay for digital music, especially when locked into an iPod.

Ultimately the figures speak for themselves, and just as the billion plus music sales served to blow those objections out of the water, early data from Disney (which placed 75 movies for download on iTunes in the US last week) looks set to do the same for the current sceptics with regards to movies and games.

In the first week of movie sales, the company sold 125,000 movie downloads with a value of $1 million, causing Disney's chief executive Robert Iger to conservatively predict his company will sell $50 million of movie downloads to iPods across the first year.

Although no games sales figures have yet been released, on the basis of success in music, TV and movies we have no reason to assume that iPod gaming won't follow suit.

Indeed, we're looking forward to bringing you the numbers, along with all the latest iPod gaming news and reviews in our brand new dedicated iPod section.

Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).