Annual US retail gaming revenues surpassed those of the movie theaters' box office haul years ago, but that's not the only comparison between the two industries leaning in gaming's favor. The market research firm NPD Group this week released survey results that suggest more are playing games than going out to the movies.

　　The new national pastime?

　　With more than 11,000 respondents participating in the firm's study on entertainment trends in the US, the NPD Group found that 63 percent of people reported playing a game in the past half year, compared with 53 percent who went to a movie theater in the same period. However, neither activity is as popular as simply listening to music, which 94 percent of respondents had done in the preceding six months. While the survey is an ongoing project, an NPD Group representative told GameSpot this question was newly added, so there is no prior year data to compare the numbers against.

　　"Video games account for one-third of the average monthly consumer spending in the U.S. for core entertainment content, including music, video, [and] games," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. "While a portion of that share stems from the premium price of console games, we're also seeing an overall increase in the number of people participating in gaming year-over-year."

　　The NPD's survey also found an increase in the trend of digital distribution, although the practice is still a relatively small part of the market. According to the firm, 5 percent of respondents have paid for a downloadable game, a year-over-year increase of nearly 2 percent.