As industry giants such as EA look to build focused businesses around a niche market, does this sudden glut of properties herald a larger problem?

From a developer's point of view, casual games are the place to be. They're relatively quick and cheap to create, simple to distribute, and the easy-to-learn video games appeal to such a huge mass audience that the more that can be made, the merrier.

The old school online format has been overlooked in the excitement surrounding Web 2.0. Now it's making a powerful comeback

Flash gaming is undergoing a blossoming of activity and creativity. The people who make the games, often teenage bedroom coders, are getting paid for their efforts. They're used to the idea of creating something and putting it up on the web for all to see, and new websites are springing up to capitalise on their work. Flash itself is becoming more powerful as a gaming platform. And, perhaps most importantly of all, the scene is at the centre of the rise of 'casual' gaming. Read More...

comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a global study into online gaming, showing the number of unique visitors to these sites to have reached almost 217 million worldwide – a year-on-year growth of 17 percent.

In-game advertising will be an almost-billion-dollar industry by 2011, according to a new report from the Yankee Group. Globally, the in-game ad market is expected to grow from the $77.7 million generated last year to $971.3 million by 2011. (The study echoed the results of another report released a week earlier, where Parks Associates projected in-game advertising to reach over $800 million in 2012.)

...The pre-roll ad unit allows traditional advertisers to make use of existing video assets, i.e. TV commercials. Because of this, pre-roll has made it relatively easy for advertisers with existing video to efficiently move these assets online. While creating video assets specifically for the Web is great, there is nothing wrong with repurposing 15- and 30- second spots originally made for broadcast, especially if they are strong and compelling, or humorous and memorable. With a professionally produced, nationally televised 30-second commercial costing upwards of $500,000, why not fully leverage that investment?

The videogame industry has a lock on young men with lots of time and disposable income. Now they're targeting another demo: grandmothers, little girls, stressed-out working stiffs and lonely hearts.