In 2007, 33 percent of casual gamers played online with another person. Dowling said this social aspect of casual gaming can be very attractive to advertisers, as it gives gamers the opportunity to discuss anything, including the game itself and the brands they’re exposed to. Additionally, casual games are not the only games that appeal to this audience, with 58 percent of them having played other non-casual games either on a PC, console, or handheld gaming system.

moscallout“The PC, thought to be in decline, still has a lot of life left in it as a gaming platform.”/moscallout“With the advent of the Wii and the explosion of high quality online casual games, the whole definition of gaming is changing,” said Dowling. “The market is bifurcated, with the Wii now the vanguard of mass market video gaming and the Xbox 360 and PS3 still mainly catering to ‘hardcore’ gamers who choose technology and features over simple, fun gameplay experiences. Meanwhile, the PC, thought to be in decline, still has a lot of life left in it as a gaming platform.”

The report points out that casual games appeal to far more female gamers than traditional gamers, as well as a slightly older audience. Demographics aside, casual gamers can still be distinguished from general gamers based on their gaming behaviors. Casual gamers tend to be less involved with the online aspect of games. Of those that prefer casual games only 7 percent have played online against friends and just 8 percent have read an online message board about games. Those numbers nearly double to 13 percent and 12 percent  respectively for general gamers.

Attitudinally, casual gamers are also very different to more general gamers. Their feelings about online gameplay are much more subdued than general gamers, with the majority of casual gamers having little to no interest in online gaming. Casual gamers are also slightly more inclined to prefer simpler games, while stories and in-game cinematics for them are more of a secondary concern than they are to the general gaming public.

"In a media world where audiences are becoming harder to reach, and consumers are gaining more control over the ads they come in contact with, casual games deliver a sought out, ad-supported product to an engaged and active consumer," said Dowling.

The ability to engage audiences through games, the most sticky application online, in a world where most gamers and more consumers watch their TV shows via download or digital video recorders, only increases the potential for the casual gaming market. Many of the new game offerings aimed at the casual gamer are being seamlessly implemented into gaming chat rooms and avatar creation screens, leaving the gameplay experience largely untouched.

Interpret's Gamemeasure is an online sample of 8,000 people aged 12 to 65, representative of the U.S. population, that is weighted to the Census and collected each quarter.