Well, they are. Video Games Climbing the Ladder of American Pastimes reveals the results of a survey, which focuses on demographics, time and money spent, and gaming trends across Europe and the United States involving all game platforms (thanks Blue).

The online survey was conducted by TNS, Gamesindustry.com, and SPIL GAMES

Word is: "Of all money spent on games in the U.S., 57% is spent on games for the console platform. 36% of US console game players spend more than $25 USD per month on this platform, versus 14% of U.K. console game players. Conversely, French and British players spend the most money per capita on MMOs, the total adding up to 10% and 11% of the nation-wide gaming budgets respectively. Germans are most likely to spend money on stand-alone PC titles, taking in 36% of the total German gamers’ wallet."

Read more about this here.

Well, I can only speak for myself here, but Dragon Age: Origins has managed to take over a huge portion of my time within the last week. Huge, huge, portion...

Games are getting more popular by the minute.