A few days before the recent worldwide release of the Hollywood blockbuster Iron Man, there was speculation that the release of the Grand Theft Auto IV Game two days prior would affect the film’s opening box office, as both attract the same target audience. Well, Iron Man earned $201m worldwide in its opening weekend, while 3.6 million units of Grand Theft Auto IV were sold in the first week, bringing in $500m of revenue.

All of which goes to prove the awesome pulling power of games in the entertainment market. Another case in point is the fact that sales of Nintendo’s Wii game machine have made former Nintendo chairperson Hiroshi Yamauchi the richest man in Japan, according to Forbes magazine’s annual rankings. Yamauchi is worth $7.8bn.