Video game publishers, much like movie studios, enjoy giving themselves a big pat on the back after a job well done. Despite rampant speculation that the release of Grand Theft Auto IV might somehow cut into the box office attendance for Iron Man, Iron Man went on to notch a mind-blowing $101 million opening weekend. So clearly the reverse scenario must have been in effect… Iron Man prevented people from buying GTA, right? Nope, not true either. Grand Theft Auto IV sold 3.6 million units in its first day alone, eventually going on to score $500 million in first week sales. They are calling it “the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment” and, indeed, the biggest opening week for any entertainment product ever.

Clearly video games and movies can co-exist and thrive, even at a time when the U.S. economy is in pretty rough shape. Something tells me no one will be able to use a video game release as an excuse for a box office bomb again, like they did last year when Halo 3 was blamed for the failure of The Heartbreak Kid. Here’s the real question though… will the release of GTA IV cut into sales of the newly released Iron Man video game based on the movie??? Uhh… yeah… that explains it! Sure.