Game On

That's forcing gaming companies and game portals to look increasingly to online advertising and other more novel methods for revenue. They reason that moms like O'Brien are just the kind of demographic advertisers want to reach. According to Interpret, casual gamers buy more online than the general population, are 22 percent more likely to research product information online and more than 35 percent more likely to change brands. With casual gamers, the Avis's of the world have a valuable shot at grabbing market share from the Hertz's.

Some in the industry are taking the advertiser relationship a step further. "People love to download the games for free, but when they're asked to pay $20 [after their trial period ends], a lot of times there is only a 1 percent conversion rate," says Jonathan Murray, founder and chief executive of Lift Media, an ad network. To get gamers to pay up and pay attention to advertisers, Murray's company has gotten sites like Wildgames.com, to issue free virtual game tokens when they open accounts to Blockbuster or other Lift Media clients. "A lot of users feel that these games should be for free," Murray says. "So we're saying, sign up with one of our advertisers that you're interested in, and it will be. We're giving value back to the customer and it works."

So far, Patricia O'Brien has neither purchased a casual game nor signed up for any special offers to prolong access to her beloved Diner Dash. But she doesn't rule it out. After all, she says, "I'm getting better, and I don't want to lose these skills." She's not entirely joking. After all, if time is money, she's already invested a small fortune.

© 2008