An LA Times report points out to a study claiming some 25 percent of the iPhone owners have downloaded a game for the device, as opposed to other cellphone owners, 6 percent of whom have installed a game on their respective handsets.

The piece goes to cite Neil Young, iPhone developer and founder of Ngmoco.  Apparently, he liked his iPhone so much that, in June this year, he stepped down from his position as senior executive at Electronic Arts Inc and started the above-mentioned company. Although small, Ngmoco has already proven successful as a development studio, having two apps featured in the iTunes App Store at the moment, both of which are listed amongst the 10 most-downloaded applications.

"I found that my iPhone was never very far away from me," said the 43-year-old developer. "I was constantly checking e-mail, downloading apps, playing games, browsing the Internet. My personal usage was measurably different from any phone or game machine I've ever had before. It led me to think that there was a dramatically new market opportunity for gaming on a unique mobile device," he continued.

Other game developers have expressed their interest in the iPhone, hence the nearly 1,700 games available since the App Store launched in June. That's more than twice the number available in the second-largest category in the store, entertainment (which includes music and video as well). And this is "games" we're talking here, not apps. The total number of apps featured in the venue is way above 1,700. Many of them are free too.

Barry Cottle, general manager of EA Mobile, chimed in with a comment of his own, saying "The biggest impact is the App Store. That was a real breakthrough in people's eyes. [...] The store has beautiful screen shots, lots of room for descriptions and demos. That's making an impact for the industry, and it's creating renewed interest in gaming among mobile users."