Free mobile game http://freemobilegame.blog.com/ en-US Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:58:59 +0200 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:58:59 +0200 Blog.com http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3239885/ Top Gear: The Mobile Game Coming http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3239885/ The BBC is to continue to open up paths to make money from it’s car TV programme, Top Gear, via its commercial wing, BBC Worldwide.

They’ll be creating the official Top Gear: The Mobile Game in partnership with Gameloft who specialise in producing games for mobile phones.It appears the main thrust of the game will be to let players zoom cars around the ‘infamous Top Gear test track,’ so they too can attain their own personal power lap board.

Alongside this there will be “ambitious challenges and races.”

They also say that the game will “allow gamers to attempt ambitious Top Gear style stunts like those seen on the TV programme.” The horrific crash by Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond instantly springs to mind, but we’re pretty sure that even the pursuit of making money will stop short of that.

Release date for the game is loosely described as later this year.

Source: http://digital-lifestyles.info/ Jimmy Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:59:48 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3233791/ Nokia selling mobile games from web Download Store http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3233791/ If you've got a recent Nokia handset, you might have found and used the Download application, which lets you buy games and other apps direct from your mobile.Well, Nokia has just launched a web version, called the Nokia Download Store. It asks for your country, handset and operator details, then serves up a list of apps for download.

They don't go direct to your handset, unfortunately. Instead, the Symbian files are downloaded to your computer, to be sideloaded onto your phone from there.Games are included, although so far only three appear to be available. 3D Racing and Crocodile Pool are fun-looking racing and action titles, respectively.

The third, Marble Revolution 2, is an nice-looking motion-sensing game, where you tilt and shake your phone to move a marble through a series of 3D mazes, complete with Bluetooth multiplayer.All the games are offered on a 'Try for Free' basis, although it's unclear whether that means you'll be prompted to pay from within the game itself.

We wonder if N-Gage games will become part of the Download Store, or whether Nokia will prefer to distribute them through the N-Gage website only, once it gets web distribution up and running for its games platform.

Source: http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk Jimmy Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:44:23 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3230450/ Free download of mobile phone games with Greystripe http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3230450/ Starting immediately, FISHLABS will offer a selection of their games via the advertising-financed distribution platforms from Greystripe. Now that the deal has been signed, the first to be available at Greystripe are the three award-winning games Galaxy on Fire™, Planet Riders™, and Tank Raid™.

FISHLABS, a leading developer of premium 3D mobile phone games, offers its games for download worldwide with a marketing system of more than 160 well-known network providers. The Hamburg-based company’s mobile phone games are distinguished by their premium game quality, which is comparable to that of PC or console games. Furthermore, FISHLABS is the first direct provider to allow their customers the simple and free delivery of their mobile phone games via e-mail.

Greystripe, based in San Francisco, is the first in-game advertising network for mobile end devices and the first international, advertising-financed mobile games distribution platform. The cooperation between FISHLABS and Greystripe will start with three games. In Galaxy on Fire™, players support humanity in their battle against the bloodthirsty alien Vossk. With spectacular 3D graphics, an exciting story, and an extensive trading system, the game received top marks from all the mobile phone game magazines. In Planet Riders™, you can run hair-raising races as a death-defying pilot on three-dimensional, open courses with a wide variety of jets from army surplus and worn-out spaceships. Real fans can race against each other via Bluetooth in the multi-player mode. Tank Raid™, the tricky game with the comic design, appeals to a broad target group and is tremendous fun for everyone who ever wanted to fire away as a tank commander.“

Source: http://www.quicklybored.com

 Jimmy Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:40:11 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3226943/ Opinion: Spore Creature Creator shows a new angle for mobile gaming http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3226943/ There was bad news this morning for gamers eagerly awaiting the release of EA's super-ambitious Spore. No, the game itself hasn't slipped again, but the Spore Creature Creator application, which was due to launch today, is now coming out tomorrow.What's that? It's an app that EA is releasing in advance of Spore itself, which will allow people to design all manner of beasties ready to use in the main game later this year. It's a cool and interesting thing to do.

But it got me thinking, why aren't mobile phones being used more for this kind of thing? Pre-release type applications that prepare you for a console or PC game's release, I mean. You could be building monsters, creating an RPG party, tuning a car, scouting footballers, or designing a tennis kit even more retina-shredding than the lime-green effort Rafa Nadal wore at Queens last week.

You'd do this in a mobile app, then upload the results to the publisher's server, ready to download to your console or PC when the main game comes out.(Memo to Sega: I would happily pay a fiver for a full nerdtastic Football Manager app that lets me spend the month leading up to the PC release combing through lower-league players and free agents to build a shortlist. Do it.)

The publisher gets a nifty way to build / capitalise on anticipation for the console game, or even generate some extra revenues. Meanwhile, us gamers get something to do in the long weeks leading up to a hot new game on another platform.What's more, this would finally give the hardcore players who sneer at mobile a reason to do something game-related on their phones. Who knows, a clever bit of 'Try More Games' marketing within such an application might even get them to, well, try some mobile games too.

It seems such a logical thing to do, yet nobody's done it. They've talked about it, though.Several years ago, EA's mobile boss at the time was floating the idea of downloading a FIFA player to your phone to train up using a mini-game, before re-importing them into the console version.Connectivity has been one stumbling block – something that's gradually being solved with the wider proliferation of flat-rate data tariffs and handsets designed for, well, data connectivity.

And while Spore Creature Creator itself looks too technically and graphically complex to squeeze into a mobile app, many of the examples I listed earlier (cars, sport kits, scouting) could easily work.EA is one publisher clearly waking up to the general idea of an application that comes out before a main game. Here's hoping it – and other publishers – see mobile as an increasingly viable way to do this too. But, hey, what do you think?

Source: http://www.pocketgamer.biz Jimmy Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:23:20 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3222756/ Mobile games sector to consolidate http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3222756/ AS THE UK gaming industry asks the British government for tax breaks to protect a £2 billion a year industry, Spanish mobile games software company, Lemonquest, is predicting a shake-up.Bernard Seco, licensing manager at Lemonquest, told the INQ he expected "to see further industry consolidation as the smaller companies in the mobile gaming space are unable to keep up with the necessary investment in technology."

He suggested, for example, that the smaller gaming companies might become specialists in just one area – say Symbian games - and effectively turn into developers for the bigger gaming companies and aggregators.Games Investor Consulting recently estimated that out of the entire games development industry in the UK, over half of the independent games developers disappeared between 2000 and 2006.

But Tony Pearce from leading mobile games aggregator, Player X, added, "In the mobile games value chain, it is of huge importance to the industry that large aggregators pick up games from smaller publishers and open up distribution to operators.

The mobile games business will never be about three big publishers. When you look at other entertainment industries, such as music, it's important to offer small publishers and independents an opportunity. Would the film industry be as innovative and dynamic if there were only three Hollywood studios making films? " Pearce asked.

Seco argued that it is wrong to concentrate on just one technology when considering innovation in mobile gaming. He was referring in particular to ARM putting console-like 3D graphics into mobile phone chips.Out of all the new mobile technologies, Seco rated the advent of the accelerometer as probably most important, followed by sensors, shake-awareness, and touch screens as all contributing to "higher playability".

He conceded that Lemonquest's latest game for the Nokia N95 – Circulate – had yet to take advantage of that handset's accelerometer, though.Most mobile games software houses at present concentrate on Java and maybe Symbian, too. However, Seco warned that the Iphone, the Google/Android platform and Flash Lite also cannot be ignored.

These might account for, perhaps, 10 per cent of the total mobile games market but 10 per cent of revenue is a significant loss for developers, Seco says."When we arrive next year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, it will be a very different world [for mobile games] compared to what we saw back in February," Seco predicted.

Source: http://www.theinquirer.net
 Jimmy Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:57:58 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3217747/ 1 vs 100 TV quiz gets a mobile game http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3217747/ Gameloft just can't stop making mobile games based on popular TV gameshows. We've had Deal or No Deal, Golden Balls and Countdown so far, but now they've been joined by 1 vs 100.

You know, the one that's being shown on BBC 1 at the moment here in the UK, where someone has to pit their wits against 100 other people.

Anyway, as with Gameloft's previous TV quizzer titles, the show's host has made it into the mobile version, so Ben Shephard can now rejoice in his fame on the small(er) screen.

The game includes all the rules of the TV show, including the options to Dodge or Double. Meanwhile, Gameloft has recreated the show's set to make the game as realistic as possible.

Will it bring quizzy joy to fans of the show? Click 'Track It!' for an alert when we review the game to find out.

Source: http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk Jimmy Sat, 14 Jun 2008 10:13:50 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3215419/ Opinion: Are pureplay mobile game publishers dying out? http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3215419/ Is there any future for pureplay mobile game publishers? Not if you check the strategies of existing firms both large and small.Let's run down the list. EA Mobile is a division of a certain large console publisher you might have heard of. Gameloft has diversified into DS, PSP, PC, iPod, Xbox Live Arcade and WiiWare.

Glu? It's not multi-platform yet, but that's only because recent acquisitions distracted Glu from plans to release games on DS and PSP.I-play is now the publishing brand for Oberon Media, across mobile, web, PC and iTV. Digital Chocolate is doing PC downloads and Facebook games, and Hands-On Mobile has launched a web version of its last World Poker Tour game.

HandyGames is doing DS games, while some of the most talented mobile game developers (Progressive Media, for example) are also eyeing up Nintendo's handheld. Meanwhile, Distinctive Developments' new pool game debuted on Facebook, not mobile.

And everyone else is seemingly either part of a larger console or casual publisher, or would like to be if the price were right.It's making me wonder if, even a year or so down the line, there'll be any pureplay mobile game publishers left. And in any case, why should there be? If you're a mobile firm – particularly one generating original IP – why not take that IP to as many gaming platforms as possible?

There are challenges, of course. Saying, "We're moving to DS / PC casual / Facebook," is one thing, but succeeding at it is another.These different platforms have different business models and value chains that may be trickier to solve than the different technologies. Not to mention the fact that nobody is quite sure how and when you'll make money from Facebook games.

Even so, here's a thought: the pureplay mobile game publisher is on its way out. In its place, we'll have an array of multi-platform game firms, with more or less of a console or casual focus, depending on their roots.That's not to say pureplay mobile developers are on the way out – they may be more in demand than ever for their knowledge of how to make the most of mobile platforms (including new ones like iPhone, Android and N-Gage).

But when it comes to publishing, it seems certain that companies' horizons have already widened in order to prosper.If that means some of the great own-IP mobile games that have performed poorly on the operator portals get a wider airing on other platforms, that's surely a good thing.

Source: http://www.pocketgamer.biz Jimmy Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:15:49 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3211379/ Hands on with Radio Hitz! on mobile http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3211379/ Gameloft has practically mastered the art of miniature innovation, taking creative measures with simple one-button titles that do much to move mobile gaming forward. Radio Hitz! continues that tradition, offering a casual trivia game with a surprisingly sophisticated twist. Thousands of tunes streamed from servers and micro-transactions move this casual game from just another mobile trick to a cutting edge glimpse of where mobile games are headed.

Radio Hitz! plays out like a game show in which you answer pop music trivia questions. A short clip from a song plays and you answer a question regarding the name of the tune or artist from multiple choices. In some ways, it takes after the cheesy musical gameshow Name That Tune.

It's simple in form, then, but don't let that fool you into thinking the game is easy.

Radio Hitz! spans four decades of music beginning in the 1970s, all the way up to today's chart-toppers. In total, 1,500 songs parsed out in 4,500 clips have been prepped for the game. Interestingly enough, these aren't included with the game; instead, you connect to a server that streams tracks to your phone at the start of each game. This requires you to connect to the internet, but it's an innovative way of working around the small file size required of mobile games.

The game will also play host to another innovative push: micro-transactions. Additional packs of 150 song tracks will be made available shortly after the game's release in North America.

Four modes divvy up the trivia: Game Show, Free Play, Scenario, and multiplayer matches. As described above, Game Show has you buzzing in to answer trivia related to various songs. Round one pits you against three computer-controlled characters; however, the two with the lowest scores at the end of the first round get dropped. The remaining two players then take turns in round two answering song clips. Succeed in the second round and you move to solo play in round three. Here you're expected to answer ten questions and not foul out by getting five wrong.

Free Play follows the same format as Game Show mode, although you're not bothered by scores or elimination. You simply answer questions and listen to tunes without risk of being dropped from the play session.

Source: http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk Jimmy Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:18:07 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3207914/ 32Red’s Mobile Casino Launches New Games http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3207914/ The rapidly growing PDA, Blackberry and iPhone phenomenon’s have opened up the doors for online casino’s to take their games into the mobile world, giving it’s players the opportunity to play literally anywhere they can get a signal.

As the online casino world breaks away from the computer desk, online casino 32Red is taking advantage. In January of 2008, 32Red launched their new mobile casino, 32redmobile.com and are now releasing three new and exciting games.

The Gibraltar based casino now adds Pub Fruity, 3 Card Poker and Scratch cards to their roster of games, all of which are available to download for free.

"32Red Mobile is going from strength to strength this year and we're delighted at its progress. Mobile Pub Fruity and Mobile 3 Card Poker are sure to be very popular and we're positive players of these games online will enjoy the convenience of playing them on their mobile phones,” said Jaydeep Chakravartty, Mobile Project Manager for 32Red.

Pub Fruity is 32Red’s first mobile fruit machine and a fan favourite at online casinos. Mobile users can play the classic slot game which features fruit symbols, trails and multiplier bonuses.

32Red’s mobile 3 Card Poker game, one of the many classic poker games around, includes Pair Plus and Ante bets as well as all of the other exciting game play features traditionally offered.

And finally 32Red adds Scratch cards. This new game as the title suggests, is the classis corner store, instant-win game card, only it’s now digital!

Source: http://www.onlinecasino.org Jimmy Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:41:10 +0200 http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3204563/ 32Red Launches Mobile Games http://freemobilegame.blog.com/3204563/ If you enjoy playing online casino games and want to take the action with you wherever you go, then you are going to want to join the action at 32Red.  This online UK casino company runs a successful mobile casino – 32Red Mobile – and they have just launched three new mobile casino games for their members to enjoy.  Pub Fruity, 3 Card Poker, and scratch cards are all available to download to your mobile phone for free.  Pub Fruity is 32Red’s first mobile fruit machine and one the public’s favorites at online casinos.

32Red Mobile is still new itself, the platform having been launched in January 2008.  It was designed and developed to provide online casino games to those members of the 32Red community with mobile access, a rapidly growing market sector.  The three new games are indicative of the company’s interest in furthering the growth of mobile casino games and gaining a significant foothold in the market.  

Microgaming is the mastermind behind engineering and designing the Pub Fruity game which recreates the popular fruit machine slot games.  It uses the classic fruit machine symbols that were popular when slot machines were first developed and has trails and multiplier bonuses.  This game is the gold standard for online fruit machines.  It transferred over to mobile format seamlessly and many players are looking forward to playing it.  32Red Mobile believes it will be as popular in mobile format as it is online.

3 Card Poker is another game that has moved to mobile format on 32Red.  Just like the classic table and online versions, it includes Pair Plus and Ante bets as well as all of the other exciting game play features traditionally offered.  This is another game that should do well in a mobile format.  The last game being offered in a new mobile version is Scratch cards.  Just like their real life counterparts and instant-win digital versions, these fun cards are now available in a mobile format for continuous fun.

Jaydeep Chakravartty, the Mobile Project Manager for 32Red, stated, "32Red Mobile is going from strength to strength this year and we're delighted at its progress. Mobile Pub Fruity and Mobile 3 Card Poker are sure to be very popular and we're positive players of these games online will enjoy the convenience of playing them on their mobile phones."  All the mobile games were produced by the Spin3 division of Microgaming and 32Red assures all of their players that the games are of the highest quality possible.

Source: http://www.casinotimes.co.uk Jimmy Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:36:42 +0200