Will 2009 belong to mobile gaming?

The carefree years of plenty are over for now, and a global economic hissyfit is now in full-on party mode. It's a grim time to be a gamer, what with food being more of a necessity than new games when cash is tight.

Which is why the mobile gaming industry might be set to benefit from everybody else's misery.

Mobile games are cheap. Not just cheap, but dirt cheap and in some cases free. Platforms like the iPhone, N-Gage, Android and of course good old Java may well find an audience that was never as interested when it still had the cash to throw around on rigs that make the Starship Enterprise's holodeck look like a shabby deck of playing cards.

Not only that but mobile gaming is getting better all the time. With every month that goes by, both the N-Gage and the iPhone continue to close the gap between mobile gaming and DS and PSP gaming.

Maybe not necessarily in terms of visual performance, but certainly in terms of fun - if you need proof, just try not being dazzled by either Reset Generation or Rolando.

So does this mean mobile gaming is set to see a sharp increase in uptake while people spend less on more expensive gaming avenues?

Penny for your thoughts...