[IGDA Mobile-SIG List] Future of mobile games

[DrDon]

Don't get me wrong. I would not blanketly say that licenses don't make
sense. There are so many examples of cases that do. But there are also a
lot that don't. We've worked on a number of Movie-licensed games that
aren't in that top 50 list even though they have the name recognition. I
don't know if they made money for the publishers or not. I think some of
them did make it onto the decks though.

You're right about supporting a variety of hardwares being a significant
design constraint. That's a problem we've never really had before - at
least not to this degree. I think it requires a re-thinking of what game
entertainment is to begin with. A great challenge.



dd

William Volk wrote:

> The reason that licenses MAKE SENSE for mobile games is because the

> majority of mobile game sales are from carrier ‘decks’.

>

> Therefore what the consumer sees is about 20 – 40 characters of text.

>

> So for publishers, it’s worth spending $$$ to make that text stand out.

>

> One thing that is holding up game design is that a requirement of

> getting on-deck is to support a very wide range of handsets.  If you

> have to support a “Series-40” handset it may not be worth your while

> to build a fancy version for a smartphone.

>

> William Volk

> MyNuMo

>

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> *From: *DrDon <don at sonaural.com>

>

> I think part (but not all by any means) of it is that the evolution of

> phone game design is not progressing as fast as the evolution of

> hardware capabilities. This being due to the incredibly rapid rate at

> which hardware capabilities increase. In the past, game hardwares have

> been relatively stable and largely driven by capabilities developers

> wanted. With phones, it's the other way around. Definitely a unique

> problem.

>

> Licensing (with the possible exception of sports games) have always

> been a "iffy" prospect where you have to weigh the cost of the license

> with the cost of development, and hopefully some mitigation of risk

> when compared against original ip. Some have succeeded, many have

> failed regardless of platform. You still have to have a decent game.

> Presumably, the cost of a license will be offset by the increased

> sales right? Easier said than done! Especially on phones where the

> value of a movie or TV license isn't the same as on other game platforms.

>

> dd

>

> Jorge Gonzalez Sanchez wrote:

>

>     Yeah, as DrDon said, mobile industry, as chaotic as it is (no more

>     than the PC), has yet to find its Command n Conquers, its WoWs or

>     whatever, a game which represents the mobile industrys finest.

>      

>     Licensed games dont always sell that well. I remember reading

>     something on Gamasutra a while ago saying the LOTR mobile game(s?)

>     bombed in the face of simpler, classinc titles like Tetris or

>     Parcheese. Licenses are good. Taking inspiration from classics

>     also is, but mobile games are a kind of it own (mainly because of

>     the horrible, inconsistent human interfaces), and should be

>     treated as such.

>      

>     A couple of years ago nobody gave a dime for Touch-screen games,

>     and now the DS prints money. GPS, SMS, the microphone and the

>     Camera are great interfaces which offer great possibilities, but

>     are still pretty much unexplored.

>      

>      

>      

>      

>     On 3/7/07, *DrDon* <don at sonaural.com> wrote:

>

>

>         IMHO - the killer-app game for mobile has yet to be made (as

>         many point out).

>          

>         dd

>          

>         � wrote:

>

>

>             Hi all,

>

>             I saw last year's TOP 50 games (according ELSPA) and the

>             speech of Trip

>             Hawkins in GDC, and I went to sleep with a question biting

>             my head last

>             night: Is there a future for original mobile games?

>

>

>             As we can see, most of downloaded games are adaptations

>             from Console/PC

>             games or those using TV show brands. As Hawkins said, only

>             5% of mobile

>             customer download a game and, coincidentally, 5% of mobile

>             customers are

>

>             console/PC gamers (or ex-gamers). Maybe that would explain

>             why the most

>             downloaded games are remakes of console/PC ones.

>

>             We know that it is too expensive to keep getting brands to

>             create a new

>             game. Only big companies, like EA, Ubisoft and others,

>             that already got

>

>             their own big brands, do not have big costs to worry with.

>

>             So, I would like to listen to some opinions about this.

>

>             PS: The article can be found at:

>

>             http://www.mobileindustry.biz/article.php?article_id=2327

>             <http://www.mobileindustry.biz/article.php?article_id=2327>

>

>             PS2: The ELSPA article can be found at:

>             http://mobilegames.blogs.com/mobile_games_blog/2007/01/elspas_2006_lis.html

>              <http://mobilegames.blogs.com/mobile_games_blog/2007/01/elspas_2006_lis.html>

>

>

>             Thanks and best regards,

>

>               

>              

>

>

>          

>           

>         -- 

>          

>          

>

>         *Don Diekneite

>         *

>

>         *Sonaural Audio Studios

>         *

>

>         (408)799-6123

>

>

>         Hear us online: www.Sonaural.com <http://www.sonaural.com/>

>

>          

>          

>          

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>          

>          

>

>

>      

>      

>      

>     -- 

>     Jorge Gonzalez Sanchez

>     Blue River S.A.

>      

>     TEL. +54 (11) 4777-9431

>     MOV. +54 (911) 6167-5412

>

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>

>

>

> -- 

> Don Diekneite

> *Don Diekneite

> **Sonaural Audio Studios

> *(408)799-6123

> Hear us online: www.Sonaural.com <http://www.sonaural.com/>

>

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-- 

*Don Diekneite*

*Sonaural Audio Studios*

(408)799-6123

Hear us online: www.Sonaural.com <http://www.sonaural.com/>

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