The other kind of videogame

Watch out, Halo and Grand Theft Auto, here comes Diner Dash! It's described as a little like I Love Lucy's memorable mad scramble at the candy factory conveyor, if anyone's old enough to remember that sweet old sitcom. "This game, sold exclusively on the Internet and downloaded onto players' personal computers, is challenging many of the conventions of video gaming," the New York Times reports, not least because games like Diner Dash - called "casual games" - are growing in popularity and are developed on a relative shoestring. At $20, Diner Dash has sold more than 50,000 copies and continues to sell at a 1,000/day clip, according to the Times. This is a good thing that will migrate to cellphones, and migrate they will - unlike the big-budget console and multiplayer games - because of their appeal and simplicity. The articles cites a PricewaterhouseCoopers projection of $8.4 billion in 2005 sales for the US game industry, with around $250 million of it for casual games. Meanwhile, did you know that nearly two-thirds of US college students "play video and computer games on a regular or occasional basis"? That's a Pew Internet & American Life figure cited by Waltonian.com, Eastern University's student news site, which takes a look at the Pennsylvania school's weekly gaming competition. And here's the BBC on China's explosive gaming scene, with 20 million gamers and growing.