Net games lure 'bored housewives'

Middle-aged women are getting hooked on card games and puzzles online, says a report. While hardcore online gaming remains the preserve of young men, research firm Screen Digest found that "bored housewives" are fuelling the growth of other games offered on the net.

Females make up 65% of the growing market in skill-based games such as cards, solitaire and puzzles. This kind of casual gaming is estimated to have been worth £270m in 2003. "Amazingly, every single one of the major casual games service providers reported that this growth was being predominantly fuelled by middle-aged and female gamers, the antithesis of the hardcore gaming markets," said report author Nick Gibson.

Screen Digest forecasts that the total online computer games market will be worth £600m in 2004 and reach a high of £1.2bn by 2007.

Read the article: www.bbc.co.uk