Exciting times lie ahead within the gaming industry and the buying options for new and used games have never been so wide. New game downloads are increasing at great speed and the used game market is strengthening, with Tesco, Asda and Argos all now offering a used game service. All this is great news for ‘gamers’ but the real opportunity is a platform which combines the two: trading online.

Electronic Arts CEO, John Riccitiello, recently claimed that 2011 will be the year revenues from downloadable games overtake the traditional out-of-box experience[i]. Being an avid gamer myself, a statement like this took me by surprise, especially coming from such a senior figure in the gaming industry. I have little doubt that this scenario will eventually happen, but this year?. There are two big reasons for my scepticism. First, the cost of new games – mixed with the widespread availability of cheap second hand games – and, second, limited storage space on consoles when used more widely in the ‘connected home’ rather than just for gaming.

In the PC market, Microsoft’s Windows OS is as common as the mobile phone in your pocket. However, Windows Mobile has struggled to capture the imagination of both consumers and businesses. In fact, with a rapidly declining 5% [1] of the global smartphone market it’s fair to say that relatively speaking Windows Mobile has been a horrible failure. But that’s all about to change.

Recent research by GfK NOP [2] shows that interest in Windows Phone 7 (the catchy name given to the successor of Windows Mobile 6.5) is strong. Almost one in five (18%) of UK mobile phone owners say they would consider a Windows Phone 7 (let’s go with WP7 from here on in) handset (available on HTC and Samsung devices among others) when they next come to renew, upgrade or buy their next mobile phone. Of course current smartphone owners display much higher levels of interest (32%). What’s more, Microsoft will be pleased to hear that of all smartphone owners, those using Google’s Android will be most interested (41%) in WP7. So what’s changed?

This week’s tech news has been dominated by Windows Phone 7, but the radar will soon switch to next month’s release of ‘Kinect’, Microsoft’s new motion sensing system for the Xbox 360. While Microsoft is playing catch-up in the smartphone business with Windows Phone 7, Kinect is definitely a leading edge (and potentially revolutionary) tool that could redefine the gaming industry…and technology in general.

The Xbox division at Microsoft has been very busy developing Kinect and the ‘Xbox Live Game Hub’ which is the key gaming feature for Windows Phone 7. The Xbox franchise has never been more important for Microsoft and it is a long time since industry commentators suggested that they should have never entered gaming. Last week Steve Ballmer was in London talking to students about both Windows Phone 7 and Kinect but indicated that he was more excited by the latter. “The device that I’m most keen on…is the next generation of the Xbox 360,” he said. At first this seems very strange, as an estimated $400 million will be spent marketing Windows Phone 7, but when considering the technology and potential behind Kinect it is clear to see why this is so exciting and why it will be shaping the way we interact with technology.