It's a $45 billion sector of the market that no company can ignore says Kotick.

Speaking to The Times, Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick has revealed that new social games have given rise to a huge increase in female gamers. The Times states that 40% of those who purchased Activision's Guitar Hero game are women.

"There is a real demographic expansion which we had always hoped for," said Kotick. "There's now going to be a rivalry between feature films and computer games. We are not there yet, but it will happen - there will be a narrative.

"The physical appearance of the game has changed, which is attracting new people, and there is a real sense of a social game. With the internet, people on different sides of the world can play against each other. People who had never before played a video game are picking one up now."

This demographic expansion has been partially attributed to the popularity of music-based games, including Activision's Guitar Hero titles. However, Kotick believes the change in the gamer demographic doesn't mean the company can choose to ignore the action-orientated and more violent video game market.

"I don't think that you need to have gratuitously violent products," he said. "But no company can afford to turn its back on a $45 billion section of the market. They are as important to the business as R-rated movies [restricted to 17 and older] are to films."

Are you part of the new gamer demographic? Let us know in the comments section below.

http://www.videogamer.com/news/01-07-2008-8692.html