Author Archive

Cellphone Entertainment, Yes, but Carriers Shy From X-Rated

December 21st, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Trends | No Comments »

With new functions to send e-mail, take pictures and listen to music, the mobile phone has turned into a portable minicomputer. But the operators of phone networks are resisting new services that proved very popular on the old personal computer: pornography and violent video games. More …

Korea: Cell-Phone Games Become Big Business

December 21st, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Trends | 1 Comment »

Some of us may take a nap, read a newspaper or listen to music on a bus or subway train. Kim Tae-gyun, 28, an employee at a semi-conductor company, spends his time killing monsters, hitting winning homeruns or playing poker.

Advanced handsets with wider and colorful screens enable users to enjoy various mobile games. That is, unless he is interrupted by a phone call.

“Since I carry my cell phone with me all the time, mobile games are fun, and more than good for killing time,” Kim said. He usually plays mobile games for more than an hour each day and downloads two or three games a month at a fee of 2,000 won each. More …

Interview: JAMDAT’s Zack Norman about their very Carrey Lemony Snicket game

December 20th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

Paramount Picture’s "Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events" bowed in movie theaters across America today. IGN Wireless had the chance to play JAMDAT’s cellphone game based on the film a couple weeks ago and enjoyed its clever puzzle-solving gameplay, as well as its considerable respect for the source material. We had a chance to discuss the game with JAMDAT’s Zack Norman, Senior Vice President Studio. We fired off five questions at Norman, and his answers are anything but "unfortunate." More …

Two 3G carriers in Europe and Japan are now offering the Motorola E1000, V980 and C980, all featuring the GoForce 4000 wireless media processor.

December 20th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Smartphones & Tablets | 1 Comment »

Motorola E1000, V980 and C980 sporting GoForce 4000 wireless media processor

Two 3G carriers in Europe and Japan are now offering the Motorola E1000, V980 and C980, all featuring the GoForce 4000 wireless media processor.

"Motorola’s customers are looking for best in class 3G products which suit the needs and demands of consumers," said Bill Werner, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Motorola Inc. 3G Products "The GoForce 4000 enables all the digital imaging and entertainment features consumers want to experience, while preserving critical talk time." More …

Mobile Data Sales Predicted To Bolster Operator Revenues

December 20th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Research & Stats | No Comments »

Juniper says that the Asia-Pacific region will contribute the majority — US$2 billion — of worldwide Java download sales by 2009. These applications include anything from calendars to media players and mobile games. More …

Indiagames: Chinese Internet firm buys into wireless

December 17th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Tom Online, a Chinese wireless Internet company, said Friday that it will buy a majority stake in Indiagames, a mobile-game specialist.

Tom Online will acquire 80.6 percent of Indiagames’ equity for $17.7 million, the companies said. The rest of the stake will be held by Indiagames’ founder, Vishal Gondal, and key management staff. Indiagames employs 160 people and has developed games for Hollywood studios, handset makers and service providers using the I-mode and BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) platforms. More …

InfoSpace continues acquisition spree with Elkware buyout

December 16th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

German publisher/developer joins IOMO in InfoSpace’s growing line-up of studios

US wireless content firm InfoSpace has announced that it has acquired major German mobile games company Elkware, marking its third major acquisition in the rapidly consolidating mobile space so far this year.

Publisher/developer Elkware, which has distribution networks throughout continental Europe and recently began pushes into the USA and UK markets, was bought out for approximately $26 million in a cash transaction. More …

Greg Costikyan on the Future of Mobile Gaming

December 15th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Trends | No Comments »

The future of mobile gaming depends on breaking out of simply making arcade-classic retreads, and on developing an infrastructure that supports multiplayer. Greg Costikyan knows games.

An accomplished fantasy novelist, old school board game designer, and online and mobile game designer, he’s also worked as a gaming consultant and was Unplugged Games’s Chief Design Officer. Recently, Costikyan started working for Nokia Research. I interviewed him by phone, where he spoke from his home office in New York City about the latest ideas in mobile games, and why their success as a business is holding back their full potential for the mobile platform. More …

Nokia Launches Tool for Quick and Easy N-Gage Arena Tournaments

December 15th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

First Tournament Run With Finnish Operator DNA and Colin McRae Rally 2005

Nokia today announced that it has launched a tool to make creating N-Gage Arena Tournaments quick and easy with a minimal investment. The Global Arena Tournament Tool enables operators and retailers the possibility to create their own branded N-Gage Arena tournaments with a wide range of Arena enabled N-Gage games. The first competition using the Global Arena Tournament Tool will start today with Finnish mobile network operator DNA and using Codemaster’s acclaimed Colin McRae Rally 2005. More …

Mforma to bring Marvel properties to mobiles

December 14th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Games | No Comments »

Comic book giant heads to handsets, courtesy of Mforma and Activision Seattle-based mobile content firm

Mforma has announced the addition of a fairly impressive new string to its bow, with the inking of a deal which gives the firm exclusive mobile rights to almost all of Marvel’s franchises. The deal will allow Mforma to develop content ranging from games and ringtones to wallpapers and even mobile-format comic books based on the huge range of superhero and other comic book properties owned by Marvel. More …