The last year has seen a complete change in the marketing tactics of the games publishers.  The Nintendo DS and the Wii are very popular with female users, and the games that have been designed specifically for these consoles are not the usual shoot 'em up, slice em' up game of old, but a different type of game where socialising is a central to the enjoyment of the game, either virtually, like The Sims, or in reality, with games like Singster.

The Nintendo DS has also taken gaming out to the older generation.  Many people just couldn't picture their granny playing Warhammer, but part of the success of the Nintendo DS is in using it as a vehicle for games which require a quiet bit of skill and attention, suduko, brain training, crosswords, games previously associated with the older generation and puzzle magazines.

All of this is really good news for the games industry as a whole, expanding the market out to mainstream public, instead of the previous reputation of twenty year old blokes sat in dark rooms, shooting mercenaries and aliens.