Gamertell

A study released August 16, 2007, by the market research consulting company, Parks Associates, may indicate that more people are playing online games than watching video clips or using social networking sites. The findings of last week’s study will be used by companies to try and get a slice of a market that showed a 79% increase over the last year.

Somewhat surprising was the massive increase (129%!) in internet users who were watching short videos online between 2006 and 2007. Even though the number of video watchers more than doubled from last year, online gamers were still leading in terms of numbers with 34% of participants saying that they played games online at least once a week.

Parks Associates research analyst James Kuai says there are several reasons why internet gaming still remains at the forefront of online activities:

“Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities.

“Gaming also has business advantages. Unlike sites for social networking and video streaming, which rely solely on advertising revenue, casual gaming has more mature and heterogeneous revenue models, including web-based and in-game advertising, try-before-you-buy, subscriptions, and micro-transactions.”

I’m not much of a casual gamer myself, but I know that Text Twist gets an awful lot of play at our house by a certain member of the opposite sex who also happens to be the mother of my children. Online casual gaming appears to have usurped the place of Solitaire for bored office workers and people who don’t like household chores. I’ll wash the laundry, but I’ll be damned to the fiery pits of hell before I’ll fold it. 

Read [Parks Associates] Via [Telephony]