Author Archive

The best in gaming

September 18th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Game Awards | No Comments »

When it comes to awards, the guys at FierceGameBiz.com don’t know where to stop. This time, they spend their time to elect the best of the best when it comes to quality and innovation. Enjoy, the Fierce 15!

The Zune phone

September 18th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Smartphones & Tablets | No Comments »

Microsoft plans ahead of Apple as they announced to release a Zune Phone. They didn’t really have more details yet, but it’s to be expected to be a phone aimed at playing music and watching movies. I wonder how much different it will be from a general Windows Mobile device.

IMGA Awards: Deadline 25th of this month!

September 16th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Game Awards | No Comments »

For all you who want to participate in the IMGA Awards, here is your final warning. The entry deadline is just a few days away, so make sure the jury receives your presentations/concepts in time!

Company Spotlight #2: Mobile Amusements

September 16th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Interviews | 1 Comment »

Two weeks have passed since we tried out the first company spotlight here at the Mobile Games And Gaming Blog. As we had great feedback on it and noticed many people read it. We decided to speed up the number of spotlights we place to about 2 each month. This second company spotlight is devoted to a much younger developer called Mobile Amusements and spoke to their CEO, head of coding, head of sales etc etc Adrian Cummings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dutch content providers want open mobile internet

September 15th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Other news | No Comments »

Several big Dutch content providers like newspapers, banks and entertainment companies like MTV and Endemol have announced they will research the problems in the acceptance and billing toward consumers for use of the mobile internet. The companies have as a joined goal to open us the mobile internet and get consumers to look past the operator’s portal. They have hired Forrester Research to track the market potential.

Handango’s Best of Play awards

September 15th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Game Awards | No Comments »

Handango announced its annual winners in their best for play categories. Handango has a best for play category for each device series it covers. So without anymore delay, the winners;

– Blackberry: Next

CTIA: InfoSpace and Activision go hand in hand

September 13th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Brand Licensing | No Comments »

We have seen Activision‘s titles pop up with several big developers, but InfoSpace seems to be on the winning side as they just inked another new deal with them. With the deal, InfoSpace has secured the rights for two Tony Hawk games (Project 8, Downhill Jam), Gun, and vintage titles Pitfall 1 & 2, Commando, Freeway, Keystone Kapers, Seaquest, Spider Fighter and more… Most of these ‘vintage’ titles will be bundled. According to the pressrelease it should be one pack, but filesize wise, we expect a few packs.

"As mobile technology continues to evolve and with the increasing availability of 3G handsets, mobile gaming now enables more powerful and dynamic gameplay experiences.,” said Stephen Davis, president, mobile & online media for InfoSpace. “We’re excited to work with Activision to develop the coveted Tony Hawk brand for mobile as well as their most popular sport and adventure titles, offering fans the chance to test their skills and enjoy their favourite games while on the go.”

“There’s no denying the market penetration of cell phones, which makes mobile games a great way to extend our console brands,” said David Anderson, senior director of business development for Activision. “InfoSpace is a leading mobile content, distribution and delivery company, and we look forward to building a successful relationship that puts some of our top titles in the hands of mobile gamers.”

Fierce Top App Awards 2006

September 13th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Game Awards | No Comments »

The guys over at Fierce Mobile Content have spend some nights comparing dozens of applications to find their top 10. It’s a good list based on innovation and guess what? There is a game in it as well! I must say I enjoyed the list as it really displays the inventive ways companies utilise the ultimate in mobile. Good job guys!

Jamba sold off to News Corp

September 13th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Jamba, which was in the hands of security company Verisign, has been sold off to News Corp. News Corp has put $ 187,5 million on the table to acquire 51% of the company. The name Jamba will be kept, but the name Jamster, which is used primarily in the US and the UK, will probably get deprecated. Jamba will be merged with News Corp daughter Mobizzo. The two companies together should boost the overall News Corp results in the segment as Mobizzo hasn’t been profitable. One of the main Jamba products has been the Crazy Frog which lead the company to crazy turnovers as they grew from $ 30 million in 2003 to $ 500 million in 2005.

Nokia and EA team up

September 13th, 2006 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

Our friends at QB announced the new collaboration plans of EA and Nokia. EA will make it’s games portfolio available over the Nokia Content Discovery tool and over the new games platform Nokia will launch mid 2007. The games on the last mentioned platform will be specially designed for the Nokia handsets. For more details, please read the post over at QB.