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56 Million Americans Have Played Social Network Games
Americans can't get enough of Farmville. According to the NPD Group, roughly 20 percent of the population has played a social network game like Zynga's hugely successful farm sim in the past three months.
The most telling stat of the study? Nearly 35 percent of these users are new to interactive entertainment, with most of these new gamers being females or older age groups. If just a fraction of these 19.9 million new gamers cross over into the handheld or console market, it could spell big profits for publishers. To put this potential into perspective, the top selling video game of 2009 in the U.S. was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which sold 8.8 million copies.
Nintendo must be licking its chops, as the company has focused on these types of demographics to great success with the DS handheld and Wii console advertising campaigns. With the Move and Kinect launches right around the corner, you know Sony and Microsoft will be circling these new gamers like sharks as well.
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