The next iteration of gaming will be the use of web browsers as their platform. So says Phil Harrison, who as the former president of Sony, knows this space. He made his comments at a keynote session at the Italian Videogame Developers conference in Rome (via Game Daily).

Now with London Venture Partners, Harrison challenged the audience to imagine Modern Warfare 2 in a browser. "I think in the next five-to-ten years we will easily get this level of game inside a web browser, on your mobile platform, on your iPad, and we will be able to deliver that level of immersion to any kind of screen," he said.

Other predictions he made: console level 3D graphics and video and audio incorporated into the web browser, a development that led to the end of traditional consoles.

Gone Mainstream

With these predictions in mind, marketers might want to step up their plans for gaming - in particular, social gaming. Even without the world as envisioned by Harrison, social gaming has become a mainstream activity favored by a range of demographics and both genders. Zynga, the maker of such games as FarmVille, CityVille and Mafia Wars, proved this through its recent partnership with American Express.

Social gamers can now use rewards from American Express credit cards to buy virtual goods via a deal that is the first social game to link up with a major credit card.

Social gaming is a particularly welcome environment for advertisers, Mashable writes, because of it is inherently an engagement play, has a natural tie-in to Facebook and - thanks to Zynga's deal making - is increasingly encroaching into the real world. It is, in fact, the perfect platform for advertisers, says Robert Tomkinson, Playfish’s senior director of global marketing, via Mashable. "What they want is massive reach, they want targeting, they want performance. And you can have all of these by forming branding opportunities in the right way."