Informa Telecoms & Media reports the worldwide mobile gaming market surpassed $2.43 billion in 2005. The analyst company projects it'll reach $4.02 billion this year and could possibly top $10.17 billion in revenue by the end of the decade.

In what may come as a surprise to some, the gender most commonly downloading games to their cell phones and smartphones are woman.

Top 10 Mobile Game Titles

Top 10 Mobile Game Publishers: May

59 percent of all those who play games on mobile handsets are women, according to research firm Parks Associates. Furthermore, women comprise 61 percent of all those playing mobile phone games 1-4 hours per month and 58 percent of all those playing for more than four hours per month.

"Women are the foundation of the gaming market, and as an industry, we need to cater to their preferences," said Parks Associates director of research John Barrett. "This effort is key to future revenue growth because right now women generally spend little on gaming even though they like to play games and often have disposable income. The industry just needs to find a game they are will to pay for."

Even so, Telephia, another research firm, says 65 percent of revenue is generated by women. They also dominate revenue generation for most mobile game categories (puzzle/strategy, card/casino, sports/racing, trivia/word, and classic/arcade) except for action/adventure, where men rule.

VP of new products for Telephia Kanishka Agarwal said, "The casual nature of mobile games provides tremendous appeal to women, who are not traditionally hardcore gamers by console or online gaming standards."