It was bound to happen one day. As the little black (or white) games box moved from kids' bedrooms to the living room and got everyone from your gran to the cat involved, sales of videogames were always going to grow. And quickly. But a report by the group Verdict Research predicts videogame sales will outstrip those of music and movies this year for the first time ever.

Estimates suggest revenue from videogames for 2008 will reach a whopping £4.6billion, up 42 per cent in the past year, compared to £4.5billion for video and music sales combined.

The results come on the back of a massive year for games, with stellar titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit revitalising the market. But the shift does mark a growing trend in the popularity of games. And it seems the oncoming recession has done little to dampen people's buying habits when it comes to their consoles. When a CD or DVD offers only an hour or two's worth of entertainment, people are prepared to splash out that little bit more on a game which they know will last weeks. Retailers are noticing the trend and devoting more space in their stores to games and less to music.

Some experts blame piracy for the decline in music sales, but the growth in downloads - which gives consumers the chance to buy a single track for pennies as opposed to a whole album for pounds - must have something to do with lost revenue. Meanwhile, in the DVD sector, it seems while actual numbers of DVDs sold continues to grow, discounting and competition between retailers is causing the profits to stagnate.