Mobile Phone Games World

If there is a game that would seem perfect for a portable device, and by default, a mobile phone, then Civilization would be it.

And so it is good news that it is now released for the N-Gage, even though it is by now a very old game (over ten years since it was first released), the game play fits neatly onto the small screen. And as a strategy game you can pick it up and put it down as and when you have the time, without being confined to a PC or console.

The age of the original may make it more attractive to current game playing consumers who did not experience the original first time around, but like many ports to mobile phones, there is little, if anything new in this version.

Pocket Gamer is offering a free mobile game, skipping stone, if you sign up to a range of up to their news service. The game retails for £5, but they have up to the minute news on a wide range of portable games machines, including mobile phones.

And while you’re at it, check out this link, also featured on pocketgamer, to get free sonic goodies for your mobile phone.

Nokia have anounced their plans for their next generation mobile gaming platform. This includes both the developer tools and the consumer interfaces that will alow the purchase and management of mobile phone games, although new handsets are not expected until 2007.

in Nokias eyes this will help:

Strengthening Nokia’s games developer support within a common
framework for Nokia’s next generation mobile gaming will add impetus
to the growth of mobile gaming development, increase business
opportunities … and attract new developers to
Nokia’s mobile gaming ecosystem.

All in all it may lead to new games and new gaming features in handset, although these details are some way off.

Catching up on some recent news, Sony Ericsson and Google have announces (28 February 2006) that new Sony Ericsson phones will incorporate Google search as a default, as well as Blogger computability.

The first phones expected to have this technology will be the K610 UMTS phone and new flagship imaging handsets, the K800 and K790, expected Q2 2006.

There will be Google icons in the phone software taking users straight to Google Web Search.

The integration of blog capabilities and photo blogging at that, sounds more interesting, but limiting the provider to Google’s Blogger application would seem to offer more to Google than it does to users.

In a not unrelated story, Google are also trumpeting their new phone friendly search service which removes parts of the web page they (Google that is) feel is less relevant.

Is this the start of Search Engine Censorship or is a better user experience offered?

Following on the results of the Mobile TV pilot in the UK, Mokia have reported on trials in Spain and France, where 55% and 68% respectively said they would pay for services.

Given that this trial group was probably predisposed to the service (otherwise why would they participate in the trial), these figures seem low. Almost 75% of the participants in the Spanish trial said they would reccomend the service to friends.

The price point seems to besomewhere between €7 and €10 per month.

Many users in the trials watched mobile TV within their homes, with almost half of those taking part in the French and Spanish pilots claiming to mainly watch mobile TV at home.

That will possibly reassure employers, worried that not only will employees be texting, and calling on their paid time, but now they can watch TV as well.

The Nokia N92, together with their Mobile Broadcast Solution 3.0 will be available in the summer 2006, but with estimates from Informa that there will be 50.97 million DVB-H devices sold globally by 2010, there is still some way to go.