Author Archive

Interview: Square Enix Mobile

August 2nd, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

We check in with Square Enix Mobile’s Kosei Ito to find out what Square Enix’s mobile division has cooking.

Square Enix’s mobile division has quickly ramped up from its modest beginnings a few years ago to a powerful force in Japan’s mobile gaming scene, thanks to games such as Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis. At this year’s first annual Square Enix Party 2005, mobile games were rolling three booths deep on the show floor. We caught up with Square Enix Mobile’s Kosei Ito, one of the key architects of the mobile division, to learn more about what we can expect. Read on …

Glu Mobile Launches AstroPop(TM); Stellar Mobile Action Puzzler to Be Glu’s Next Intergalactic Hit

August 2nd, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | 1 Comment »

Glu Mobile (formerly Sorrent, Inc. and Macrospace Ltd.), a leading creator and global publisher of mobile entertainment today announced the launch of AstroPop(TM), an action-puzzler based on the original Web and PC title from PopCap Games(TM), a leading developer of casual computer games. The critically-acclaimed mobile title earned IGN.com’s Editor’s Choice Award and strong praise from GameSpot’s Steve Palley who said, "AstroPop is a game that should appeal to virtually every mobile gamer out there, since it strikes just the right balance between minimalism and challenge." Read on …

Mobile games market remains untapped

August 2nd, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | No Comments »

Just one in twenty (5%) consumers have downloaded a game onto their mobile, with many unsure if their handset is even capable of doing so, according to new research.

The consumer study, from mobile games company I-play, interviewed 2,500 mobile users in the US, UK, Italy, Spain and Germany. I-play said the findings indicate that the mobile games market remains largely untapped and “has enormous growth potential” if current barriers, such as customer confusion and accessibility can be overcome. Read on …

SNAP: Nokia’s Solution to a Looming Mobile Crisis

July 29th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Multiplayer Gaming | No Comments »

Nokia believes that the mobile games industry currently has way too many multiplayer and development technologies. If a standard isn’t adopted, the industry will be facing a crisis, says Nokia’s Lisa Waits. Nokia is confident that its SNAP technology is the answer. In fact, they believe it will do for mobile gaming what Windows did for the PC.

Nokia’s N-Gage, as a static console and as a direct competitor with Sony and Nintendo, has been a certifiable sales flop. However, instead of just taking a significant bath from the N-Gage investment, the Finnish company instead used that experience and that foothold to give themselves some very valuable leverage in the mobile space. Read on …

July Systems Launches UK’s First Mobile Games Subscription Service ‘PlayOn!’ on Mob.TV

July 27th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Trends | No Comments »

July Systems, an innovative technology solutions provider of smart mobile content retailing services, has launched the UK’s first-ever mobile games subscription service ‘PlayOn!’ on the popular mobile portal Mob.TV. The PlayOn! service allows Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, and Virgin Mobile users to subscribe for a low monthly price to get month-long, unlimited-play access to an entire catalog of mobile games. Users can also try all games in the catalog for free before deciding to subscribe to the service. More …

Mobiles becoming ‘media channels’

July 27th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | No Comments »

Mobiles are becoming "media channels" as music, games, gambling and adult content clamour to make the industry worth $42.8bn (

T-Mobile, Sprint PCS have most entertainment users, says study

July 26th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | No Comments »

T-Mobile USA Inc. and Sprint PCS users are far more likely to send photos, download games and use text messaging than subscribers of other U.S. carriers, according to a study from mobile usage measurement firm M:Metrics.

The company’s latest monthly report, which was released Monday, reveals distinct demographic characteristics among the subscriber bases of traditional carriers and mobile virtual network operators. An 18-year-old male who downloads games is more than twice as likely to be a customer of Sprint than any other carrier, for instance, while Nextel boasts the highest percentage of users whose household incomes surpass $100,000 a year. More …

Player X introduces ‘Space Boy’

July 26th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

Player X and Vodafone have created an entirely new form of entertainment for mobile phones with the forthcoming release of Space Boy. Space Boy is your own personal ‘cell mate’, who lives and breathes in your mobile, feeding off texts and phone calls.

Space Boy is the first character in the innovative new ‘Mobies’ series of interactive mobile phone friends, which are a cross between a mobile game, a tamagotchi and a screensaver. More …

Interview: Fox Mobile set to I-Play with 24 license

July 26th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

One of the biggest licenses in television is on its way to mobile handsets, with I-Play today announcing plans to create a game based on 24 in partnership with Fox Mobile Entertainment. Kieran Weir spoke to the key players in the deal…

I-play has today announced their strategic partnership with Fox Mobile Entertainment, a potentially lucrative deal that will see the company develop, publish and distribute a genre-busting mobile game for genre-busting TV show 24, we catch up with I-play COO David Gosen and Fox Mobile Entertainment VP of Wireless Marketing Leighton Webb to talk about their new alliance. More …

Mobile games more valuable than porn

July 26th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | No Comments »

The market for mobile content is set to be worth $42.8bn by the end of the decade, with kids’ content earning the operators billions more than adults’.

According to analyst house Informa Telecoms and Media, of the $42.8bn which mobile content will bring in, mobile gaming will be worth $11.2bn, with 15 per cent of people downloading and playing a game on their handset by 2010.

The exclusively adult preserves of porn and gambling, however, will generate considerably less. More …

Disclaimer:

Arjan Olsder is the Vice President of Pixalon Studios. Opinions expressed on this publication do not have to represent those of Pixalon Studios.