Ebb and Flow

The mainstream animation industry -- television half-hours and shorts, theatrical animated features and hybrid features -- has been having a robust year.

Domestically three out of the last four major animated releases have cracked two hundred million dollars in domestic grosses, and the one feature that didn't -- Ice Age: Continental Drift is a record-breaker outside the U.S. and closing in on $150 million inside the Unites States.

At the same time, video games, that close cousin of t.v. and movie animation, is doing a wee bit less well:

Pretty much every major game company listed said it had fewer sales and less revenue then the previous year, quarter or however they reported, however on the upside it looks like some are making an increase in subscription type services such as the xbox network. ...

— July 31: Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. reports a wider net loss and lower revenue in its latest quarter, but results are largely in line with expectations. It also announces a stock buyback of up to $500 million.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., another game publisher, says its loss in the latest quarter was much bigger than expected, because sales of “Spec Ops: The Line” and “Max Payne 3″ were not as high as the company hoped. ...

The internet appears to have slammed the game industry in a much harsher and nastier way than it has hurt mainstream animation.

Theatrical features still do big box office. Animated half-hours are still pulling ratings. And if fewer little silver disks are being sold on behalf of theatrical and television cartoons, sales have still held up better than live-action titles.

Like every other entertainment company, video game makers are having to rethink .. and then retool ... their business models to where they make sense in the wired, digital age. Clearly they are still going through painful adjustments.