[IGDA Mobile-SIG List] Future of mobile games

[John Bridges]

Absolutely agree - although (you know there had to be a but) - in what 
way will the carrier decks be open ?

I think there are two answers to this:

1. a. On the one hand portals OTHER than the operators will have a hard 
time unless more handsets are Blackberry like - with Qwerty keypads - or 
W950i like with touch sensitive screens with virtual keypads. Why ? 
Because navigating to any URL on a basic T9 keypad is a nightmare, so 
the majority of customers will just not go anywhere except the dedicated 
operator portal route.
    b. Operators will have to drop data charges to some sensible level - 
or significantly increase data allowances - otherwise people will be 
significantly stung going off portal.

    So the solution to make the experience more open is to lower data 
costs and improve the browsing UI of the majority of handsets - looking 
at the market at the moment (and the impetus given by newcomers like the 
iPhone) - we are a good 3- 5 years away from this kind of flexible 
handset penetration to the masses.

2. The operators should open their portal's up along the lines of the 
iMode experience - so they still control the gateway to the gamedeck - 
but NOT the actual content of the gamedeck. A "shop" on the gamedeck 
will obviously cost money - but the roll out of content is then under 
the control of the developer/publisher. Even the large players in our 
market at the moment often look at 3 month lead times from going gold to 
seeing their content on operator decks. For smaller players the ability 
to go gold with the current crop of new handsets and then backfill at 
leisure would be a significant boost.

I am as ever perplexed why the operators don't go down route 2. 
Interacting closely with them, it is fairly obvious that the cost of 
running the games portals is actually quite prohibitive - most of the 
major operators in the UK have significantly slashed their staffing and 
capability. My hunch (also from close contact) is that their technology 
base is fragmented and non-existent in most cases. I know of one major 
UK operator whose method of determining sales is reliant on trawling 
server logs. Go figure.

JB

Christopher Kassulke wrote:

>

> As long the market is closed the market will not grow significant. 

> Growth comes by opening the market. I bet it will be soon cause the 

> operators have to do something soon to get more data traffic!

>

>  

>

> Just my 2eurocents,

>

> Christopher

>

>  

>

> Christopher Kassulke

> CEO

> www.handy-games.com <BLOCKED::http://www.handy-games.com/> GmbH

>

> *Von:* mobile_games-bounces at igda.org 

> [mailto:mobile_games-bounces at igda.org] *Im Auftrag von *William Volk

> *Gesendet:* Donnerstag, 8. März 2007 08:35

> *An:* Mobile Game Dev SIG Mailing List

> *Betreff:* Re: [IGDA Mobile-SIG List] Future of mobile games

>

>  

>

> Eventually the market or a large publisher (EA?) will make the move to 

> an off-deck strategy.  Right now the vast majority of titles in the 

> USA are sold from the decks.  I had a strategy in 2004/5 for going off 

> deck, but it was dependent on the success of a (real) card game to 

> drive sales.

>

> The bigger worry, 70% of people who buy a mobile game never buy a 

> second game.

>

> William Volk

> CEO, MyNuMo

> 858 692 1124

> Create It, Show It, SELL IT!

> http://www.mynumo.com

>

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

>

> *From: *Christopher Kassulke <christopher.kassulke at handy-games.com>

>

> Hi all,

>  

> if brands count so much why is the market stagnating in the US and in 

> several parts of Europe? We see a branded deck for ages but the usage 

> is not going up significant. Only already establish Publishers have a 

> chance to establish own IPs. As new comer you will have no chance to 

> knock on the Gatekeepers doors with a cool concept or game.

>  

> Currently not the endcustomer choose what games they want – the 

> gatekeeper is. Open it up and you will see what will run.

>  

> Creating an own big IPs cost nearly the same as license one but its 

> more risky. We established already several brands like Townsmen, 

> Pornmanager, etc. but it cost a lot and you have to be innovative.

>  

> Brands are not a 100% guarantee for good revenues and deck placement.

>  

> Every publisher and developer have the own strategy. At the end we 

> will see which company will be most successful. In my opinion a good 

> mixture of brands and own IP will bring the market further. But always 

> only the good quality will keep the customer satisfied.

>  

> Cheers,

> Christopher

>  

>  

>

> Christopher Kassulke

> CEO

> www.handy-games.com <BLOCKED::http://www.handy-games.com/> 

> <http://www.handy-games.com/%3e>  GmbH

>

>

> *Von:* mobile_games-bounces at igda.org 

> [mailto:mobile_games-bounces at igda.org] 

> <mailto:mobile_games-bounces at igda.org%5d> *Im Auftrag von *DrDon

> *Gesendet:* Donnerstag, 8. März 2007 00:07

> *An:* Mobile Game Development SIG Mailing List

> *Betreff:* Re: [IGDA Mobile-SIG List] Future of mobile games

>

> 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

>  

>  

> 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

> **Sonaural Audio Studios

> *(408)799-6123

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

>

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