This year may be remembered as the year of portable gaming.

Nintendo recently claimed record sales for its Nintendo 3DS, which features autostereoscopic 3D and high-quality graphics. At the end of the year, Sony will launch its new version of the PlayStation Portable, the NGP. Allegedly, this console will be almost comparable to the PS3 for graphics and capabilities. The increasing penetration of tablets, thanks to strong sales of iPad2 and Android devices, will continue to extend portable gaming to new demographics (does Angry Birds sound familiar?) Gaming on smartphones will keep gaining popularity. Amazon's entrance in the Android apps market will favor monetization of this platform. Sony's PlayStation Suite initiative will facilitate the introduction of more hardcore quality titles to portable devices. Social gaming companies are turning to portable devices to reach their gamers even when they are away from their PCs.

These are just a few examples of what is happening in the market. Users have become increasingly used to portability for all types of media, including gaming. We look forward to investigating all these trends and forecasting market growth in the upcoming report Portable Gaming: Market Updates, to be published by the end of the second quarter.