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[ TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2006 01:21:53 PM]
The use of mobile phones is no longer restricted to making phone calls or sending text messages. It is steadily turning into a miniature games console
There are simple games that help to pass time while waiting for the bus and more complicated ones, right up to the strategic kind that can take days or longer to finish Technology experts have acknowledged the increasing market significance of the mobile phone games, but also see limits to the trend. Mobile phone operators, personal computer-makers and games console developers are constantly bringing new games to the market.
"The games are being brought out in a variety of versions to ensure compatibility with many of the mobile phones on the market," says Uwe Baltner, who works for the telecommunications portal xonio.com in Munich. "The classic is Snake from Nokia. In this game, you have to collect blocks in a labyrinth in order to make the snake grow longer." Among the newcomers, there are often complex, sometimes three-dimensional , versions of games originally designed for the PC or the various games consoles, Baltner says.
Electronic Arts, for example, now has mobile versions of Fifa 06 and Need For Speed Most Wanted. There are also games that have been specifically designed for the mobile phone, such as the ambitious strategic game Townsmen by HandyGames. The third part has just come out in the market. Naturally, mobile phone users can play games with or against each other. "Two mobiles are connected via Bluetooth," says Baltner.
Markus Kassulke of HandyGames in the Bavarian town of Giebelstadt says some of the games have become very popular , such as Bowling, which can be played with the standard keys. Often, the games are played by means of a small joystick attached to the mobile. "These have attained the quality of a C64 joystick," Kassulke says. The displays have also become larger and the colours better. Some of the simpler games are now being included as standard when the phone is sold, Baltner says, but most are downloaded from the Internet from the provider. "This works without difficulty, and the games are priced at $6 each," he says.
Tech watchers believe there is still some way to go, but add that there are limits. "The graphics and the sound will continue to see improvements," Baltner says. Florian Stein, editor of the Stuttgart magazine Connect, says, "The market significance of mobile applications, including games, will almost certainly rise." But he adds that these $6 games will, for most users, represent a kind of 'sound barrier' for the foreseeable future. "I do not believe that playing games on the mobile phone will take off as a market segment all on its own," the dedicated tech watcher says. Games fans, after all, have other means of making their hobby portable, such as consoles like the Playstation Portable (PSP) and the Nintendo DS.
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