According to the International Gamers Survey 2010, Apple’s iOS devices have surpassed the Sony PSP as a gaming platform in the United States, while closing in on the popular Nintendo DS.
The group says about 77 million Americans play games on portable devices and mobile phones, with a whopping 40.1 million using iOS devices such as the iPhone/iTouch or iPad.
That number far surpasses the 18 million figure for Sony PSP gamers, and closing in on the 41 million figure for the very popular Nintendo DS. The survey only includes gamers aged 10 and up.
Almost 70 percent of users play games on their PSP or iPad three days a week while only 50 percent of DS, iPhone and iTouch users do the same.
Additionally, Nintendo DS owners are the most willing to spend money on games, with iPad owners being the least willing.
Rounding out the top 5 platforms are LG at 15.6 million mobile gamers, and finally BlackBerry at 12.8 million gamers.
Result for: gaming platform
Google has acquired the social networking gaming company Slide, according to multiple reports.
The startup was created in 2005 by Max Levchin, the co-founder of PayPal.
NYTimes reports the acquistion price at $228 million while TechCrunch says $182 million. Regardless, the price is a lot cheaper than the $500 million valuation the service was given in 2008.
When Slide began, Levchin used it as a third-party photo sharing service but it quickly evolved into a widget and app service, used in social networking giants like Facebook and MySpace.
The company’s two most popular apps are SuperPoke and SPP Ranch. The first allows you to adopt a virtual pet, and exchange money for virtual goods.
Google has been spending significant amounts of money in an effort to start a social gaming platform, investing $150 million in market leader Zynga among other purchases.
Result for: gaming platform
According to analytics site Flurry, the Apple iPod Touch/iPhone continues to see strong growth in the handheld gaming market, taking chunks of market share away from the DS, but more so from the PSP.
Using data from the NPD and Apple, Flurry says that iPhone/Touch games accounted for only 5 percent of the whole portable market in the U.S. in 2008 but that number has grown significantly to 19 percent now. On the declining side, the DS/DSi dropped from 75 percent to 70 percent and the PSP saw a giant drop from 20 percent to 11.
The overall portable gaming market is estimated at $2.55 billion, as of the end of 2009. That leaves iPhone/Touch game revenue accounting for about $500 million in 2009.
“Our main finding is that iPhone (and iPod touch) is a gaming platform to be reckoned with,” says the site.
