Gaming

Immersion cuts "hand-shake" deal with Nokia

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Handset maker Nokia announced an agreement with Immersion to license the touch technology developer's VibeTonz tactile feedback system for its mobile devices. Per terms of the license, Immersion grants Nokia the rights to implement the VibeTonz Mobile Player in mobile handsets sold worldwide--Immersion will supply its VibeTonz SDK to the Forum Nokia developer community to design downloadable applications and content for VibeTonz-enabled devices.

The VibeTonz System delivers tactile feedback effects to make user interface features, applications and multimedia content downloads more intuitive. The VibeTonz Mobile Player is embedded in mobile devices, promising control over the vibration actuator to produce tactile cues in response to touchscreen presses, while the VibeTonz SDK provides cross-platform APIs and authoring tools for development and customization. According to Immersion, VibeTonz implementation also offers advantages including off-load dependence on sight and sound as well as improved execution time, error rate and information capacity.

"This license with Nokia supports the potential for very widespread use of our VibeTonz System--and the VibeTonz System supports the potential for a much fuller, more multi-sensory experience for users," said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas in a prepared statement. "With VibeTonz technology, Nokia can very purposefully access the sense of touch and add value throughout the mobile device."

For more on the Nokia/Immersion deal:
-read this release

Mitch Lasky has left the building

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Mitch Lasky has stepped down from his position as Executive Vice President of Mobile and Online at Electronic Arts to become a partner at Benchmark Capital. Mobile gaming is a tough business (recall that Lasky was recently dissed on stage by Digital Chocolate's Trip Hawkins), so perhaps it's no surprise that Lasky's new role doesn't appear to have much to do with gaming. Lasky will be succeeded by Michael Marchetti, currently the COO of EA's mobile division.

Gameloft to create BlackBerry games

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Gameloft will bring its line of mobile games to the BlackBerry, reports the New York Times. RIM's consumer-targeted Pearl is selling well, so it makes sense to target the platform for high-end Java games. The games are expected to cost between $5.99 and $7.99. Incidentally, according to Handango statistics, BlackBerry had the fastest growing content library in 2006.

Editor's Corner

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:01:39 -0500

Connected Mobile Gaming
This week I'm reporting live from the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. It's still early, but GDC Mobile seems be particularly upbeat this year. A new Telephia report that shows mobile gaming revenues were up 61 percent Q4. I also notice less whining about the carriers' paternalism and stringy revenue sharing deals, and more talk about the good stuff: creating scalable technologies to support games as they grow, games that span platforms from mobile to console to desktop, and creating new development tools to support the next-generation multimedia capabilities coming in the next round of high-end handsets.

One theme I'm particularly excited about is multiplayer gaming. Nealy everyone I've talked to at the show, from ARM to Nokia, has been enthusiastic about network-connected gaming.

SNAP Mobile is one of the first names that comes to mind for multiplayer gaming. This Nokia division offers a Java API that accompanies a server-based infrastructure that make it easy to create multiplayer games and takes care of many of the mundane details like presence, instant messaging and locating other gamers. I wrote about SNAP Mobile a year ago at GDC 2006, and I have to say that it's a bit disappointing to see that it doesn't look like much has changed, however I still think it's an amazing bit of technology. (And, in case you were wondering, SNAP Mobile is Java based so it is not really part of the new S60-based N-Gage platform.)

The real gaming innovation may be coming from a much lesser known name. Kyu Lee, general manger of South Korea's GAMEVIL, yesterday presented a case study on Path of a Warrior, GAMEVIL's most successful title and one of the most successful massively multiplayer mobile games available anywhere. The sheer volume of interest in Path of a Warrior is impressive on its own. Lee said sales in most of his company's titles trail off after a year, but Warrior is still going strong nearly two years later. There are currently 80,000 monthly subscribers paying at least $4.90 per month. Of the $4.90, 85.5 percent goes to GAMEVIL, the VM developers gets 5 percent, and the carrier gets 10 percent. Warrior also requires a near constant data connection to play the regular version of the game, so for customers without a flat-rate data plan, GAMEVIL negotiated a special $9.90 monthly rate ($5 goes to the carrier, the remaining $4.90 is divided as above) that includes unlimited data packets for this game only. As far as I know, nothing like this has been attempted before; it's a really innovative way to make the game more accessible to customers and create value for the carrier.

Lee's lecture was very well attended and most of the questions focused on translating GAMEVIL's success in Korea into other markets. In other words, this is the sort of thing that developers from around the world are interested in.

A stand-alone version of the game is available now from Verizon Wireless, and Lee is hopeful that his company can convince a North American carrier to launch the full multiplayer version.

The draw of these types of multiplayer, "connected" games is clear: multiplayer features make use of the data network, which is a unique feature of the mobile phone. Some handheld gaming devices has networking capabilities, but hardly any of them have access to a network that is nearly always accessible. Casual multiplayer gaming is one of the few areas of video games in which mobile phones really have the potential to drive innovation. - Eli

Trip Hawkins takes on Mitch Lasky

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:01:38 -0500

In his GDC Mobile keynote, Digital Chocolate's Trip Hawkins spoke out against the "conventional wisdom" espoused by Mitch Lasky at his 2006 GDC keynote. Last year, Lasky railed against the poor quality of most mobile games and declared that without some solid hits, many of these publishers would not survive. (See my write-up of Lasky's 2006 keynote). Hawkins rejected the idea that publishers can't survive without hit titles. A year ago, Digital Chocolate had no hits, but "we're alive and well," Hawkins declared. More on the keynote at FierceGameBiz.

Nokia launches N-Gage platform

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:01:38 -0500

By now, I think everyone is aware of the basics: Nokia is relaunching the N-Gage as a platform that will run on 6-8 upcoming S60-based Nokia devices. A key feature of the new platform is the community and social aspects of gaming. Glu, THQ, India Games and Gameloft have already agreed to create titles for the platform, but the company is also making an effort to reach out to smaller developers, according to Dr. Mark Ollila, Nokia's director of technology & strategy. N-Gage technology is based on a C++ API that is designed to be easily accessible to developers even if they don't have much experience with Symbian. As for the "sidetalking" debacle that made the first N-Gage a laughingstock? "Consumers wants to use their phones for many sorts of tasks," says Ollila. "We've learned that design is personal." FierceGameBiz has more on the N-Gage. Also see "Return of the N-Gage," a preview of the relaunch I wrote back in October.

Trip Hawkins: Forget 'bigger and better'

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:01:38 -0500

Game developers love to create bigger, better and flashier titles, which is one reason we're losing sight of what really works on the mobile phone--and losing our best developers to console and PC gaming, warns Digital Chocolate's Trip Hawkins. "There is definitely room for more originality and healthier competition," he said in his GDC Mobile keynote address. This news may not be a shock to seasoned mobile developers (especially those who have heard Hawkins talk before), but it is a good point: Writing mobile games is a tough business with a myriad of technical and business obstacles. There isn't a lot of room for error, so focus very carefully on on your customers and make sure you're doing everything possible to make you title attractive to carriers. For more on Hawkins speech, check out FierceGameBiz.

Motorola's game coding competition now open

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

Motorola is holding a Game Developer Challenge. This is a revamped version of the MOTOcoders competition from last year. Register and enter your J2ME or Windows Mobile game through the website for free. The grand prize includes a publishing contract and a suitcase full of Motorola gear. This is a great opportunity for indie developers looking to make the leap. (Disclaimer: I'm proud to be one of the judges of this competition.)

Interview: Michael Guillemot, President of Gameloft

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

"A great opportunity of the mobile market is that games have a long shelf life. The games we launched in 2006 will continue to sell for some years, so it's a long-term investment we're making in creating these new [3D] games." Interview

Creating great connected Java ME apps

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:01:36 -0500

Jason Delport has an excellent post on the "secrets of creating great connected Java ME applications." The first two lessons are: mobile services are more than just an interface, and let the server do the hard work. It's worth the read just for the excellent mobile services/iceberg metaphor.