Pay Someone to be Your Avatar

This is an amazing development. In just a couple of years, outsourcing has come to games. Busy people with money are paying other less busy people to accumulate points - that can be traded for benefits, prestige, and sometimes real money. They are hiring people in China and elsewhere to operate their avatar or digital persona
while they pursue their career or other interests.

Digital serfs thus work to advance the interest of their liege lord, or employer. If many are hired, the digital organization takes on the appearance of a gang, or perhaps a medieval guild.

Casual Games for Women Exceed other gaming Experiences

Online Casual Game play becomes largest part of the game universe....also please note that 64% of those players are female.



Of the 117 million active gamers in the U.S., 56 percent play games online. Sixty-four percent of those online gamers are female, according to results of the survey, released by Nielsen Entertainment on Thursday.

The survey defined active gamers as those who are 13 years or older, own at least one game device, and play at least one hour of video games a week. Game devices include game consoles, personal computers and handhelds. Nielsen surveyed 2,200 active gamers online in July.

"The expansion of next-generation hardware and technology in the marketplace is simultaneously delivering new ecosystems of social exchange, interactive entertainment, media experiences and advertising models," Emily Della Maggiora, a senior vice president of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment, said in a statement.

The survey found that while the casual game segment is growing, casual gamers tend to jump from one free demo to another with little sense of brand loyalty. While banner advertising provides a good revenue stream for the online game providers, gaining brand loyalty and getting people to spend money for subscriptions or downloads will be the key to growing the market, Nielsen researchers found.

Currently, casual gamers spend $9 a month on games. Those playing multiplayer online role-playing games spend an average of $26 a month, while Microsoft Xbox 360 gamers spend $35 a month, the survey found.