You know, it seems like mobile gaming is moving forward in many different directions. Take South Korea for example…

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — July 11, 2006 — Pearl Research forecasts the games market in South Korea will exceed $2.0 billion in 2007, driven by the fast growing online and mobile games market. These findings are contained in the 80-page “Games Market in Korea” report published by San Francisco-based Pearl Research, a leading business intelligence and consulting firm.

Pearl Research’s key findings:

– South Korea has a sophisticated information technology (IT)
infrastructure with 79% personal computer (PC) penetration and 12 million
out of 15 million households connected to broadband. More than 20,000
Internet cafes, charging less than $2 an hour, also provide convenient
Internet and games access

– The PC-based online games market is forecasted to be valued at more
than $1.2 billion in 2006 and constitutes the largest games platform in
South Korea. One of the fastest growing segments is casual games that are
free-to-play, easy-to-learn and can be played in “micro-slices” of time of
ten minutes or less. Pearl Research believes that casual games account for
more than 30% of the online games market and appeals to a wide audience
including females and gamers 30 years and older….. Source: Perl Research