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Galaxy has been operating in the gaming business for more than 20 years and now holds about 80 per cent of the market share.

Marketing manager Piti Jongrakrawewan said the company will this year invest in setting up at least 10 gaming centres across the country. Currently, Galaxy operates more than 100 gaming centres.

With its business expansion, the company hopes to increase its rev¬enue 10 to 20 per cent this year. At present, the company generates an annual income of Bt360 million to Bt400 million from its gaming business.

Piti said Galaxy's gaming centres, known as Edutainment Centres, or ETCs, run on a new model of arcade gaming that combines entertainment with education and helps players improve their skills.

"We want players to have fun and, at the same time, improve their skills. We're trying to change society's atti¬tude toward gaming so that people look at as edutainment," Piti said.

The company has initiated a proj¬ect called Galaxy Gamer to search for a star game player, who is not only an expert at playing games but is also wellmannered and disciplined enough to become a game evangelist.

The Galaxy Gamer, Piti said, would help encourage youths to play games in a disciplined manner while show¬ing society the good side of gaming.

In an ETC, there are four key game categories - racing, fighting, shooting and puzzles.

Piti said the first three categories are the most popular. But he envi¬sions puzzles gaining popularity in the years to come.

According to a survey done by the Software Industry Promotion Agency, of the total Bt5.7billion gam¬ing market in Thailand, arcade games hold a 28percent share while online games hold the No 1 position with a 42percent market share.

Piti said even though online gam¬ing have a larger market share, arcades still have the advantage of simulation games.

Simulation is the highlight of arcade gaming and Piti said arcades are fast moving toward virtual reality.