Gaming central to iPad

Games have proved to be one of the most successful application categories in Apple's App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch, and the company already sees those devices as viable alternatives to the offerings of Sony and Nintendo. It's a natural progression for gaming to lie at the heart of the iPad, too, says the Telegraph.

Apple was at first surprised by the success of mobile games on the iPhone and iPod touch, but it's not hard to see why it's such an attractive proposition for consumers - the innovative use of multi-touch and accelerometers, and the processing power of the devices themselves, help to create a slick gaming experience.

"The games you can play on these devices are unlike any other, because of the accelerometer and the touchscreen display," says Greg Joswiak, a senior executive at Apple.

New data from research firm SNL Kagan finds that mobile game publishers grossed almost $540 million in revenue in 2009, a 9% jump from 2008, reports PC Mag.

Topping the list of mobile game publishers is EA, with $115.9 million of that amount. The next three publishers are Gameloft, Glu Mobile, and Namco Bandai, with $58.1, $38.1, and $29.3 million, respectively.

The report also says that while profitability varies between publishers, as a whole the mobile game industry's margin is on the rise, from a negative 19% in Q3 2005 to a positive 17% in Q4 2009.

For the first time, Australians spent over $2 billion on video gaming in 2009, a new record for the industry, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Publishers and distributors were ecstatic about the growth of 4%, given the much publicised financial crisis.

The increase was in stark contrast to the declines seen in most other Western markets, which analysts have blamed on the music genre slump and a lack of innovation in the industry, as well as the GFC.