Author Archive

By 2006 Russia will be the largest mobile communication market in Europe

June 24th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | No Comments »

The mobile Russian phone market has a lot of potential. This is also true for the mobile games. To get a better view of the trend that govern this market, we decided to interview Playfon’s team, a leading provider of wireless entertainment from Russia.

Vladimir Borodin, vice-president of the company, and Andrey Minakov, Head of Java Games Department were kind enough to answer Softpedia’s questions.

Last year, the Russian mobile games market amounted to 5.3 million units sold, which equates to $12.3 million in revenues. Despite some technical restrictions the level penetration of Java and Mophun-enabled handsets keeps rising, stimulating the market of mobile games. More …

New InfoSpace Reward Programs Incentivize Gamers to Play More Mobile Games for Prizes

June 24th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

InfoSpace Inc. a leading provider of mobile entertainment, today introduced Frequent Player Points and Tell-A-Friend rewards programs, two incentive programs that reward loyal subscribers with prizes for their participation in InfoSpace’s "For Prizes Network" of mobile game tournaments. The "For Prizes Network" is an interactive mobile tournament service created and operated by InfoSpace, in which players are able to compete with other mobile users for prizes. These exciting new programs give gamers increased opportunities to win great prizes and to refer new players to InfoSpace tournament games. More …

Mobile publishers need to recognise that “consumers aren’t mugs”, says Ferguson

June 23rd, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Trends | No Comments »

Consumers may be discouraged from buying mobile games if companies continue to release poor quality titles, especially those based on major licenses, Vodafone global content boss Graeme Ferguson has warned.

Speaking to games industry representatives at the ELSPA International Games Summit this morning, Ferguson lashed out at the low quality of many of the titles still being sold by mobile developers and publishers.

"I’m still amazed after three years at Vodafone to see some fantastic licenses with really terrible games," he said. "Some of these games, even now, are really rubbish." More …

Ziff Davis Media Game Group Announces Pocket Games Research Study Results

June 22nd, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | No Comments »

According to a recent Pocket Games readership research study conducted by videogame magazine publishing market leader Ziff Davis Media Game Group, portable gamers are shifting to an older and more diverse demographic segment than it has been historically. Pocket Games readers are now 20 years old on average, and 13% of the readership is female compared to 9% in 2003.

The study shows cell phone gaming also on the rise, with 38% of mobile phone owners playing games on their phones.

Pocket Games Readers — Heavy Purchasers and Influencers
   * Pocket Games readers shop 16 times a month for gaming products.
   * 76% have recommended handheld games to friends. On average, they give
   recommendations to 8 other gamers.
   * Pocket Games readers use mobile phones to play games:
      —    59% own a mobile phone.
      —    38% play games on a mobile phone.
      —    58% have purchased a game for their mobile phone.
More …

Cybird Agrees to Pay $60 Million for Airborne Stake

June 21st, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Cybird Co., a Japanese provider of games, ring tones and other content for mobile phones, agreed to pay $60 million for a majority stake in closely held Airborne Entertainment Inc. to expand in North America.

Cybird said it will set up a U.S. subsidiary to acquire 85 percent of Montreal, Canada-based Airborne, which provides services similar to its own. The Japanese company said the purchase is part of plans to focus on North America, where it estimates the mobile-phone content market will more than double to $2.6 billion in fiscal 2005 from the year before. More …

Glu Mobile Launches Daily Puzzle

June 21st, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

Glu Mobile (formerly Sorrent, Inc. and Macrospace Ltd.), a leading creator and global publisher of mobile entertainment, today announced the launch of Daily Puzzle(TM), a mobile subscription service that delivers a combination of three new brain benders to subscribers’ mobile phones each day. Glu created Daily Puzzle in collaboration with puzzle master Scott Kim, the renowned inventor of original visual thinking puzzles for the Internet, computer games, magazines and toys. More …

MOBILE GAMES ANALYST research finds InfoSpace joins Gameloft in the ranks of the top mobile games publishers in Western Europe.

June 21st, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | 1 Comment »

The two leading mobile games publishers in Western Europe based on games deployed on operator portals are France-based Gameloft and U.S. outfit InfoSpace, according to research from MOBILE GAMES ANALYST, published by Informa Telecoms & Media.

Top 10 Publishers, weight by operator and games
Rank Publisher Points
1 Gameloft 165
2 InfoSpace 125
3 Sumea 121
4 In-Fusio 117
5 Digital Bridges (I-play) 111
6 THQW 108
7 Sorrent 96
8 Living Mobile 92
9 Jamdat 89
10 iFone 88
More …

EyeMobile: the Next Generation of Mobile Games

June 21st, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Trends | No Comments »

From the Company that developed the technology underlying the Sony EyeToy Comes the next generation of mobile gaming innovation.

Don’t let the buttons get in your way: just tilt the phone to control the action.Play your game including snowboarding, driving,flying and more simply, intuitively, naturally. More …

Has Mobile Game Innovation Ended Already?

June 20th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Trends | No Comments »

By Greg Costikyan: I got interested in mobile games five years ago, when cell phones capable of supporting games first started to appear. The technology was then primitive, but would clearly improve over time, and I was dissatisfied with the increasing difficulty of getting any kind of innovative game published in the conventional games industry. The conventional industry’s conservatism is understandable; as budgets continue to rise, publishers are less and less willing to take risks, and therefore go with the tried and true. More …

Mobile Division Recognized for Recent Growth and Success; Namco America Announces Promotion of Three Key Executives in Mobile Division

June 17th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | No Comments »

Namco America Inc., a leading publisher of wireless games and content, today announced the advancement of three top-level executives in its wireless division. The promotions, which are effective immediately, will better position the mobile division to achieve its goals and reflect its recent success as a leader in the industry.

As Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Scott Rubin is responsible for the overall business and marketing direction of the wireless division, as well as maintaining relationships with strategic partners, including wireless carriers. Maurice Molyneaux, Director of Product Development, will establish the strategic product roadmap and quality of new titles. Umesh Ghodke will develop strategic technology plans as well as websites, portals, and IT infrastructure as the Director of Information Technology. 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.