Orange users buying 250,000 games per month

Network operator Orange has revealed that its users downloaded 750,000 games during the first three months of 2007, according to the Guardian.

Orange has also announced that around 65,000 wallpapers and 250,000 music tracks, videos and ringtones were downloaded each month.

The most popular game during the first quarter of 2007 was Sonic the Hedgehog, followed by Worms and the anniversary edition of Space Invaders.

Licenced sporting titles sold well, with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 in fourth place and Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 at No. 7.

Just one TV tie-in title made it into the top ten - Deal or No Deal, at No. 5. Sonic Jump was in sixth place, while Midnight Bowling was at eight and 3-in-1 was at nine. Rounding out the chart in tenth place was pet sim Dogz.

According to head of entertainment Gavin Forth, the split between male and female gamers is even for mobile gaming. He added, "The average age of a mobile games downloader is 30 - older than traditionally seen in the games industry."

The Guardian report went on to suggest, "Part of the reason for the age difference between players on consoles and handsets may be because mobile phones that can easily and quickly access games are usually more expensive or tied to a contract, while the teenage audience tends to use pay as you go phones."