Market researcher DFC Intelligence has predicted that the global games market will grow to US$47 billion in 2009, up from $33 billion in 2006.

DFC foresees growth in all the major gaming categories, including PC gaming, which is expected to reach more than $13 billion by 2012. A lot of that growth will come from subscriptions, advertising and online distribution.

On the console side of things, DFC has a warning for Microsoft, stating that the Xbox 360 could end up a distant third in the new-gen console war unless it can improve its market penetration outside North America. Nintendo's dominance of the handheld market should continue, with DFC suggesting the Nintendo DS could become the best selling game system ever in a few years' time.

Meanwhile, market analysts have recently predicted strong growth for the emerging games market in India, which is expected to grow from $30 million currently to $700 million in the next five years. The surge is largely due to the big console companies pushing their products into the new market, with such brilliant ads as this.