If you’re trying to assess where the opportunity is in the red-hot online game market a new study from NPD might help point the way. Online Gaming 2007: the Virtual Landscape looks into gamer habits and the consoles they prefer. Most notably, the study found a full 62% of all gamers now report playing video games online.

Among the 29% that play online via a console, the majority use Xbox 360 (54%), followed by PS2 (45%). And relative to other console owners, Nintendo Wii users are most inclined to play online, with 76% reporting that they are online gamers.

As for what they’re playing online, card, puzzle, arcade and word games account for 44% of reported online use, with family-orientated games coming in second at 25%, while MMOGs accounted for 19%.

A relatively surprising 42% of online gamers are female, but on the whole online gamers are most likely to be male console owners, between the ages of 25 and 44 with a mid-range annual income between US$35,000 and US$75,000.