Videogames became the UK’s fastest growing entertainment retail sector of 2008, according to trade group Entertainment Retailers Association.

ERA claims that the games market posted unit sales of 82.8 million in 2008, a 17 percent rise from the previous year. And, according to a report from Reuters, the growth of the industry was driven by the ongoing popularity of the Wii.

By comparison, the movie sector saw DVDs grow steadily while Blu Ray made strides. UK sales of DVDs reached some 253 million; a 4 percent rise from last year.

Despite the encouraging growth of DVD sales, the success of the format was somewhat foreshadowed by the blistering growth of Blu Ray, which saw sales rocket 358 percent last year.

Though the growth is encouraging for Sony’s new format, it certainly hasn’t established a competitive market position yet, as the climb in sales was to a figure of 3.7 million units, which equals to about 1.5 percent of DVD units sold in the same period.