Mobile Games Industry Catching Up - Finally
I wish I’d been able to make it to 3GSM this year, as some of the reports coming out make interesting reading, especially when read against one of my own papers/speechs on mobile games from two years ago: Cross Platform Gaming: Using Existing Markets to Create New Ones.
Eric Hobson from Mforma is saying that casual internet gaming is the model the mobile industry should be following, whilst Chris Melossinos, chief gaming officer from Sun Microsystems is saying models like those of more traditional MMO games are where mobile games should be looking.
Both sentiments are ones I talked about in a speech to a group of game developers in Helsinki, and are models I’ve been pursing for a number of years now, without much success, mostly because of lack of interest on the part of the larger developers and publishers of mobile games.
Is this a sign that we are moving towards a model where mobile games are treated as more than throwaway development efforts and towards something where the mobile handset is much more of a primary platform or access device, where games are interconnected rather than existing in what are effectively walled gardens (the device/console itself)?
Technorati Tags: mobile games, online games, games, mobile, 3gsm
February 17th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
In the past few years we have seen a huge jump in the mobile gaming industry and how it has become a larger and more widely accpeted medium. This is supported by the recent purchase of Jamdat (www.jamdat.com) by EA as well as the introduction of “new” styles of games and content from developers such as Longtail Studios (www.longtailstudios.com). In the future I expect to see more games with unique and niche content as well as continued advances in graphics and gameplay abilities.
February 21st, 2006 at 1:27 pm
I dunno, Tom, but it’s a good question. I’ve pinged Chris M so that he’s aware of the blog entry, and will let you know if I hear back.
All the best,
Robin
March 3rd, 2006 at 7:45 pm
I myself am very much into game on my cell. I’d like to get a psp but I don’t want to carry it around. It’s just easier on my phone. That said, I do like that there are more games I can get and like that it’s becoming more “accepted” I guess. Thanks!
April 6th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Catching up a bit late here but, to answer your parting question, yes mobile gaming ist starting to get some respect. I believe that the attitude of mobile games as throwaway games has been holding the industry back and we are starting to see that change as big publishers look at the mobile platform as a way to extend their game franchises. As well, new business models will emerge for on-line games that will drive significant revenue at much higher margins than thier console or PC counterparts.
I believe that the next 2 years in mobile will be more interesting than the last 6…well, for video games at least ;)
Cheers!
-Chris