Games

Motorola opens Solutions Catalog to developers

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Motorola announced the public beta launch of the Motorola Solutions Catalog, an online collection of third-party software offering games, tools, productivity and business applications to consumers and enterprise users. The catalog also enables members of the handset maker's MOTODEV developer network to market applications directly to Motorola product users. At launch, the Motorola Solutions Catalog offers applications including Gameloft's popular Guitar Legend, Motion Apps' mVisualVoiceMail application and Antenna Software's AMPower mobile business solutions--apps can be sorted by carrier and device categories, as well as keyword and advanced search functions. MOTODEV developers can add descriptions, screen shots, device compatibility data, search terms and links to purchase as well.

"Applications are key to differentiating and enhancing the overall product experience," said Christy Wyatt, Motorola VP of software platforms and ecosystem. "By using our new Motorola Solutions Catalog, developers can easily and quickly bring their innovative applications directly to end users so they can do even more with their Motorola products."

For more on the Motorola Solutions Catalog:
- read this release

Related articles:
Motorola unites developers and partners
From RAZR-sharp to dull as lint

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

Multiplayer mobile gaming in Japan

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 19:01:38 -0500

California-based Exit Games' Neutron is powering simple multiplayer games for Japanese mobile operator Softbank Mobile. The company seems to be having success in Asia, so why aren't North American carriers flocking to multiplayer games?

Mobile gaming report: EA shrinks, Glu moves up

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:01:38 -0500

EA Mobile's share of the mobile gaming market shrunk to 27 percent last quarter, down from 32 percent the quarter before, according to an M:Metrics report. The report also shows that Glu Mobile has overtaken Gameloft for the number two spot.

Mobile gaming to hit mainstream

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 20:01:38 -0400

TelecomAsia has an excellent article on mobile gaming. It's pretty obvious that casual gaming is driving mobile gaming, but the article suggests the market will segment into casual gamers and "hardcore gamers." Tetris may be king, but complex multiplayer games are already gaining ground in Asia. Check out the article for more.

Metric: Top British mobile downloads

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 20:01:38 -0400

According to the ELSPA, a British software publisher's association, the top mobile downloads for the month of June are: EA's Tetris, THQ's Worms, Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog, EA's FIFA: Germany, EA's Sims 2, Glu Mobile's Who Wants to be a Millionaire 2, Eidos' Championship Manager 2006, I-Play's Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Gameloft's Block Breaker Deluxe and Glu Mobile's Monopoly. Article

Metric: Top 10 U.S. publishers

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:01:38 -0400

According to M:Metrics, the top 10 publishers for May 2006 are: EA Mobile (32%), Gameloft (9%), Glu (8%), Hand-On (7%), Namco (6%), Oasys Mobile (4%), I-Play (4%), Konami (3%), GOSUB 60 (2%) and SkyZone Entertainment (2%). (Also see the top U.K. mobile downloads)

Nokia offers multiplayer SNAP games

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 20:01:38 -0400

Nokia has released some multiplayer games created by its SNAP Mobile division. It feels like these games have been in development forever, but I have played some early beta versions and they are very cool. The games will be available on the Nokia Content Discoverer. Read more in FierceGameBiz.

Editor's Corner: Game Developers Conference 2006

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:01:40 -0500

Electronic Arts SVP Mitch Lasky (formerly the chief of JAMDAT), opened GDC Mobile yesterday with a great keynote speech. EA is the 800-lb. gorilla of the PC and console gaming world, and the company's recent acquisition of JAMDAT makes it clear that EA plans to be a major player in the mobile gaming market. EA plans to release classic mobile games like Tetris and ports of popular PC and console games. For example, EA intends to release a mobile version of Spore, the anticipated new game from Sim City creator Will Wright.

Lasky bluntly told the audience of game developers that "there are too many bad games" being offered by carriers. He fears that an oversupply of poor games could lead to an "Atari 2600" type of problem that could turn off consumers. He blamed carriers for accepting too many games into their deck. The commentary during the carrier's panel later that day suggests that too many choices and inconsistent quality hurts sales and angers customers. Lasky also challenged the mobile gaming industry on the lack of connected, multiplayer games. I can't agree more. Despite the advances made by platforms like Nokia's SNAP Mobile, there is a shocking lack of social, networked games on what is an inherently networked device.

Finally, Lasky took on the "unpleasant shopping experience" that many consumers encounter if they want to buy a game. I think this is probably the single biggest obstacle for the entire mobile content industry. Despite a lot of hand-wringing and hundreds of products and services designed to make the process easier, purchasing content on a mobile phone is far too difficult and inconsistent for consumers. Lasky also warned carriers not to disrupt the revenue chain by squeezing game publishers. Game publishing "is not the ringtone business," he said. "We actually make stuff." - Eli

P.S. It's not too late to RSVP for tonight's FierceDeveloper party, Shaken Not Stirred. It's located at Scores, just a few blocks from the San Jose convention center. Hope to see you there!