Interpret, a leading entertainment, media and technology market research firm, today released its Interpretations report, The Phone Gaming Revolution: Do the DS and PSP Stand a Chance?, which found the number of consumers playing games on their phones increased dramatically, while gamers appear to be abandoning their DS and PSP devices.

Interpret’s New Media Measureâ„¢ data shows 43.8% of the phone/DS/PSP gaming market plays games on phones—a significant 53.2% increase over the past year—while the proportion of those who play on the DS or PSP has fallen by 13%.  Gamers appear to be defecting from their handheld gaming devices to phones to get their gaming kicks: a full 27.2% of consumers who indicate that they play games on their phones only (and not on the DS/PSP) actually own a DS or PSP, but do not actively use the device(s).

“The proliferation of highly multifunctional smartphones and messaging phones is a very real threat to the dominance by the DS and PSP of the handheld gaming market,” said Courtney Johnson, Manager of Research and Analysis at Interpret.  “Devices which satisfy a variety of entertainment and utility are fast outstripping single-function devices as consumer favorites.”