The social gaming giant Zynga, well known for Farmville and MafiaWars, has amassed a huge following and subsequent profit by selling virtual items to its more than 260 million active users through Facebook. Item purchasing is the sure way to stimulate the development of one’s virtual properties, and which productive social gaming patron would renounce that? This is clearly a sustainable business model and Zynga is getting ready to price its IPO and commence trading on the Nasdaq today. They have already made their way into the Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, and iPad markets. But we’re all still wondering how Zynga will manage to increase its current percentage of paying users, 3-percent, while diversifying  the amount of platforms its whimsical games can be accessed through.

Have you ever stopped to ponder why you find yourself so drawn to simulated reality? All right, so maybe that's a discussion for a therapist meeting or a sociology class, but as far as we're concerned, the social gaming realm is here to stay. It has steadily maintained its status as a saliently popular market of pixellated human interaction. SuperData has dubbed it a serious business with the North American market increasing from $1 billion to $1.4 billion in revenue, a 35-percent increase, within the last year. Quite an increase in retrospect of the $725 million it garnered in 2009. But North America is just second to Asia, which is leading the social gaming race with a 40-percent increase. Worldwide there are 500 million online gamers, 40-percent of the total internet population. The overall global market is predicted to grow from $52.3 billion in 2009 to $86.8 billion by 2014, so it will be exciting to see what fraction of those profits Zynga manages to account for.

When rewards and creativity in the real world seem out of the realm of possibility, the social gaming kingdom of instant gratification offers just that. At least in this realm you can revel in lollipop monkeys, dynamite, unicorns, tree mansions, and Zynga surfboards. From CafeWorld to CastleVille and everything in between, create your own happy ending and maybe Zynga and investors alike will prosper.