Cheap fun
Since we Americans spend so much time playing video games, it has become more important than ever to do it cheaply. An announcement by comscore, an industry tracker, said that Americans are turning to online video games as a way to reduce their gaming costs. This has been blamed on the faltering economy and seems to be the trend for the near future.
The free game sites such as ones found on Yahoo games are receiving more traffic than ever. Other sites have seen increases as well. I guess the economy will dictate the future of this industry and we will see where it goes.