Author Archive

Open Discussion #3: Abuse Them Pirates!

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Ad Funded Gaming, Open Discussions | 3 Comments »

This morning I was having my breakfast chat session with Adrian Cummings. Now and then we’d like to spend a few minutes brainstorming about what is happening in the industry and how it involves him. Today, he was talking about his games launching on GameJump and how he would like to increase his revenue. Well there all you Greystripe users listen carefully. As we all know, Pirate sites and programs like Limewire form a huge cost to the mobile content society, so why not abuse them? On GameJump you can download the ad wrapped versions of your game for installing by PC. Why not send those files into LimeWire and to owners of pirate sites? That would massively increase the number of plays I recon

LG & Vodafone launch KU800

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Smartphones & Tablets | No Comments »

LG and Vodafone have launched the newest device in the LG Chocolate series with the release of the KU800. Main differences are support for UMTA, a boost to the camera which now is at 2 MP. Also it has a VGA camera on the front side for video conferencing. For gaming, the most interesting will be the possibility to insert external memory cards to boost the amount of content that can be stored and multitasking so consumers can keep on playing while on the phone with their friends and family.

Sim Tactics

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Other news | No Comments »

Some news on the sim card front entered our mailbox today as Samsung announced the birth of a sim card with one GB of storage. Since most phones can only store contact data, this is a feature for the true power user. On the other hand, the operators can install a host of services on there. I guess for real good use we just have to wait for one of the vendors to bring us a phone that can utilize the sim memory better.

On the other hand, French operator Bouygues might be an interesting partner. They have just teamed up with Sandisk to tie content DRM’s to a sim card level where consumers can’t use the content without the correct sim inserted to the device. To bad Sandisk doesn’t do the 1GB trick yet

Namco get’s Mr. Do!

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Brand Licensing | No Comments »

Aruze and Namco announced a cooperation to bring Mr. Do1 and Mr. Do’s Castle to North America. Namco is announced to do all localization for the titles. Namco expect to have the titles hitting the market around the summer of 2007. If the deal is successful, it’s expected that Aruze will also bring other Universal arcade titles to Namco.

Rockpool selected to develop for Sega

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

More news on Sega today as rockpool is announced as strategic partner for developing Sega’s latest games. Rockpool will take care of development, porting, Q&A and certification of the games.

Rockpool’s managing director, Paul Gouge commented, “We’re very proud to have been selected by such a phenomenal company as Sega and we’re excited to be a key part of their further advance into Mobile. Sega brands are the part of this history of the gaming industry and we’re delighted that they chose Rockpool as the developer most capable of delivering their objectives”.

Sega UK’s managing director, Alan Pritchard added, “The expansion to mobile is a key strategic move by Sega and we selected a company that can deliver games that are worthy of such massive brands. The team at Rockpool are the best-in-the-business and we have no doubt that they’ll help us mirror our success in the console world to the mobile platform.”

At the same time, Gamasutra notes down that Sega announced to be looking for two or more strategic acquisitions of mobile game developers. It’s clear these guys have money to spend.

Something new from O2 & Pocket Gamer

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

O2 and Pocket Gamer have announced a partnership where Pocket Gamer will make available shortcodes to download mobile games directly off the O2 deck.

Steel Media MD Chris James said: “We are proud to be working with O2 to provide this information, which will appeal to consumers and the industry alike. The weekly music charts caught the public’s imagination for decades, and there’s no reason why snack-priced mobile games should be any different.”

O2’s head of games Anthony Douglas explained: “We’re delighted to be working with leading mobile games editorial site Pocket Gamer, who will be exclusively publishing O2’s Top 10 sellers. Through this chart we aim to stimulate the sales of mobile games and guide consumers towards the best and most popular titles out there. By listing the Top 10 sellers and hottest new releases on a weekly basis, we hope to provide a useful and timely guide to the best in mobile content.”

Sega Europe to go direct

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Brand Licensing | No Comments »

Sega Europe announced it will bring most of it’s new titles directly to market. They did the announcement in Mobile Entertainment Magazine where Sega UK MD Alan Pritchard it’s new titles. The business with Glu will not come to a direct halt though as Glu has received a license for three more Sega titles. Also the announcement said Sonic sales have reached a staggering 700,000 units to date. First titles to launch will be Medieval, Total War and Football Manager Quiz.

It’s Jail Time! (former Gizmondo exec)

November 9th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

Sorry for being so late with this news. Windows broke down on me yesterday when I had nearly written it all down.

One of the industry’s longest running soaps seems to come to an end as Bo Stefan Eriksson has been sentenced to thee and a half years of jail time in California.

The whole story started off when Stefan was involved in the startup of Gizmondo (I still have the T-Shirt), a handheld console with mobile connectivity features. The Gizmondo was by many expected as the successor to the N-Gage. Not long after Gizmondo started, rumors spread around the net about shareholder intimidations and other organized crime. True or not, the whole thing ended in a bang

Interview with Rockpool

November 8th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

MobileIndustry.biz has released an interview with Paul Gouge, MD at Rockpool games. It’s a good interview which explains more about the launch of a subsidiary company called SoGoPlay which targets the online market of casual games.