It's game over for popular 'Tetris' clone

The No. 1 free download from Apple's App Store, a clever Tetris clone for the iPhone called Tris is no longer available. USA Today reports.

As of Wednesday, the puzzle game has been removed from the App Store, following a threatening letter received by Apple by The Tetris Company over alleged copyright infringement, says Tris developer Noah Witherspoon.

The disappointed college student writes this on his blog, entitled Two Finger Play.

"I'm afraid it's essentially game over. Do they have a case? No. Not really. I am convinced that if it went to court, the 'copyright' claim would get thrown out completely. The trademark, perhaps not -- but if I changed the name, to e.g. Trys, that would be much harder for them to argue."

'Dexter' Gets an iPhone Game

It was revealed at a Comic-Con Showtime panel that a Dexter iPhone game is coming. It will be about integrating texting, calling, and gesturing to play the game. To further intrigue/complicate/confuse the issue, he game will be arriving episodically.

[via g4tv.com]

Guitar Hero leaps into cellphones

Cellphone carriers are rolling out a mobile version of Guitar Hero, and customers are subscribing at a pace that could make it the most successful console-to-cellphone crossover game in history. IHT reports.

"As the cellphone rapidly emerges as the next computing platform, cellphone games would seem to be a natural application.

As of May, the latest period for which M:Metrics provided data, Guitar Hero's mobile version ranked at No.9, but it had climbed from No.85 in three months.

For consumers, the trend could eventually lead to big improvements in mobile gaming - a market that has drastically fallen short of market projections. But for now the Guitar Hero phenomenon is a lot like Jimi Hendrix, circa 1968: a great solo act, without backup."

Eco conscious mobile gaming

An interesting new initiative has been launched using mobile gaming as a mouthpiece in helping educate gamers on issues of climate change.

Dubbed Connect2Climat, this innovative program is hopes to engage players on a fundamental entertainment level with an eco educational agenda in tow.

According to the Project Director, "It is our corporate social responsibility to use latest technologies that enable us to reach out to millions on one click of a button”.

[via Nokia Conversations]

Cell Phone Video Games: A New Threat to Nuclear Security

Forget Iran. Forget North Korea. According to The Huffington Post, we may turn out to be our own worst nuclear enemy.

... The Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) report said "security broke down on multiple levels during simulated attacks across the base, including nuclear weapons storage areas

Inspectors watched as a security forces airman played video games on his cell phone while standing guard at a "restricted area perimeter ..."

Nokia apologises to N-Gage users

Nokia N-Gage users will be glad to hear that the Finnish mobile giant is working on solutions to allow transfer of games between handsets, following concern earlier this week that gamers would have to buy games again each time they upgraded their N-Gage handsets.

[via TechRadar]

Gamer anger at Nokia's 'lock in'

Gamers have hit out at Nokia after learning that N-Gage titles bought for their handsets are locked to that specific device forever, reports the BBC

"If a gamer changes or upgrades to a different Nokia handset they have to purchase the games again if they want to continue playing.

Nokia relaunched its N-Gage mobile gaming platform last month.

The issue was uncovered by website All About N-Gage. "

Mobile Gaming for Gorilla Conservation

Four years ago, wildlive!, a project run by Fauna & Flora International with funding from Vodafone, developed a mobile phone game dedicated to gorilla conservation.

The game was received favorably by the media, and proceeds from sales to mobile owners went to gorilla conservation. But when the wildlive! project ended three years later, so did the game…until today. Silverbackers is back!

Within the next few hours, the game will be officially re-introduced by Ken Banks, a former participant in the wildlive! project and founder of kiwanja.net, a non-profit organization dedicated to mobile technologies for development.

Cell phones and gorillas are actually related and their fates entertwines, as one of the (many) reasons given for the decimation of the habitat of the eastern lowland gorilla - cutting the apes' population by more than 70 percent in the past decade - is attributed to "the spread of small-scale mining for gold, precious stones and columbine tantalite, a mineral used to make cell phones and other high-tech gadgets". (Newsday)

On his blog, Banks acknowledges how fighting and rebel activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo are putting pressure on the local environment, including gorillas and the people who protect them.

There’s also a Facebook Group for people who want to join and help raise awareness.

[via Smart Mobs]

Nokia Launches New Game Service

Nokia on Monday launched a mobile games service that enables customers to buy and download games to their handsets.

N-Gage, which is limited to handsets in Nokia's N81 and N95 series, will let users try out the games before paying for them. Some 30 games are available for $9 to $16 each. The number will increase to 60 during 2008, Nokia said.

[via The Associated Press]

Nokia opens mobile gaming service

Nokia launched its N-Gage gaming service on Thursday, hoping to energise an ailing market for mobile gaming.

"There will be an official announcement on Monday, but for you, the N-Gage faithful, we wanted to let you know we're up and running!" Nokia said in its N-Gage blog.

The new gaming service is one of the cornerstones of Nokia's new internet services strategy, but the firm delayed the launch twice last year, citing delays in software testing."

[via Reuters]

Build Paper Planes Game for cell phone

An unusual game for cell phones, making and flying paper planes>.

Designed purely as a casual game to idle away a few spare minutes, Paper Planes is available from selected UK operators now via Namco Mobile.

[TechDigest via Ubergizmo]

Gameloft and CBS using real phone calls in mobile games

Characters in mobile game based on hit CBS TV series will call the player on their phone.

"Gameloft has come up with an interesting gameplay quirk for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Mobile Game.

When signing up, players have the option of activating the interactive phone call feature - they will then receive an automated call during the game offering clues and tips that lead them to new crime scenes."

This CBS Mobile game is the first of its kind utilizing outbound calling, which literally calls players to action,” said Cyriac Roeding, Executive Vice President, CBS Mobile. “Your cellphone rings, and a detective calls you to the scene - just like a real CSI detective. This combination of game play with popular content and a whole new level of interactivity represent enormous entertainment and business potential for the mobile world.”

[via mobile-ent.biz and SMS Text News]

Nokia starts to roll out gaming, networking sites

Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker, started to roll-out its online gaming service N-Gage on Tuesday as it expands into mobile Internet services, reports Reuters..

Nokia also opened its social networking site "Share on Ovi" on Tuesday, which allows people to share photos and videos and is built on technology acquired with the U.S. firm Twango, a spokesman for the company said.

"The gaming service and the media sharing site are among the cornerstones of Nokia's big push into mobile services under its new "Ovi" brand.

Mobile Gaming Market to Nearly Double

According to eMarketer, the mobile video games market is growing faster than the markets for consoles and handheld video games, according to Understanding & Solutions.

“Global revenues from mobile gaming are pegged at $3.6 billion this year,” said David Rouse, analyst at Understanding & Solutions.

Pay per download is still the main money maker for mobile game publishers and distributors.

Verizon Offers Guitar Hero For Cell Phones

Verizon Wireless, in partnership with Hands On Mobile and Activision, on Thursday began offering the "Guitar Hero III" mobile game exclusively to its customers. TechWeb reports.

"End-user generated revenues from mobile games will reach nearly $10 billion by 2009, according to a November report by Juniper Research.

Over 460 million mobile users are expected to download games by 2009, which is double the current number, the report said."

The big money in mobile gaming

With most mobile phones now running flash, a massive new platform has emerged for videogame developers. And as mobile gaming catches on, the industry is cashing in. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"... Market analyst firm Juniper Research predicts that end-user mobile phone revenue should top $US10 billion by 2009. In a recent report, Juniper analyst Dr Windsor Holden suggests that mobile phone gaming will help penetrate massive markets such as India and China, which have not been effectively tapped by more traditional games makers.

This is borne out by the success of mobile gaming this year alone, as mobile game revenue in China has reached a peak of $US2.7 billion so far. Juniper Research predicts this figure will double by 2012.

Dr Holden speculates that this is because the number of mobile phone users from the Indian and Asian region will grow exponentially, from about 10 million users this year to 40 million in 2009."

"CSI" makes the crime scene with mobile debut

The first game, based on "CSI: Miami," is launching this week, CBS Mobile said Monday. It can be accessed directly through AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon in the United States. [via Reuters]

"... Gameloft and CBS Mobile plan to bring mobile "CSI" titles to fans in more than 140 countries, though the "CSI: Miami" game is the only one available for now."

Play It Again, Nokia. For the 3rd Time.

Nokia will revive its most famous misfire, the video game-cellphone hybrid, the N-Gage, as a multiplayer gaming service that will work on its popular line of smartphones. [via The New York Times]

"This week, Nokia will revive N-Gage: The service will offer games from major publishers like Electronic Arts, as well as smaller developers like Digital Chocolate that focus on the mobile gaming market."

New iPhone game involves whacking Steve Balmer

MyNuMo has just announced the launch of Fun4iPhone.com and the debut of its first iPhone game, iWhack.

In the free humorous game iWhack, iPhone users get to “hammer home” the success of iPhone by whacking Steve Balmer (Microsoft CEO and iPhone critic) every time he pops up on the screen.

“Our goal was to create a fun game for the iPhone that would appeal to game players and iPhone fans.” commented MyNuMo President Sherri Cuono.

[via e-mail press release]

Sony Ericsson's "World poker tour" cellphones

Poker is huge here in Europe with young people and PhoneHouse has been selling a limited edition World Poker Tour / Sony Ericsson branded cellphone in France since June (the "K750i WPT).

The "Texas Hold 'Em 2" game comes preloaded in the handset and enables players to play against each other - but not for money -, to download advice from professionals and save the history of their results on the World Poker Tour website.

[via Poker News]

Why Cellphone games aren't ringing up sales

Fewer than 8 percent of all Americans with cellphones played a game on them last year. This in a country where about 60 percent of us routinely play electronic games of one kind or another. Plainly, something's not working. The Boston Globe explains why.

"The game developers are doing their part. You'll find plenty of games available for most phone handsets. The world's leading digital game company, Electronic Arts Inc., makes dozens of phone games.

On reason may be that multiplayer phone gaming lacks the community spirit you find among PC and console gamers. There are no online forums where phone gamers hang out, no gaming "clans" that team up for weekly digital battles.

In principle, though, phone gamers worldwide should be able to meet and compete. In practice, there are major barriers. Really good multiplayer gaming requires a fair amount of data bandwidth. But data travels slowly over the standard cellular network, and relatively few people will pay an extra $15 a month or more for a high-speed data plan upgrade.

Also, there are thousands of phone handsets, each containing an array of processor chips of varying power, as well as differing amounts of memory. So games that work fine on one brand of phone can't be installed on another, even if both phones are sold by the same wireless carrier.

... And speaking of carriers, creating games for Verizon Wireless phones presents a particular challenge. That's because the company uses a proprietary programming system called BREW, while other cell companies use the more common Java programming system."

Mobile phone game developed to combat culture shock

A mobile phone game developed by academics at the University of Portsmouth will be used to help international students cope with 'culture shock' and university life in Britain - including moments of cultural awakening such as going to the pub and watching people being affectionate to each other in public.

The game - called C-Shock - is the brainchild of University of Portsmouth academic and games technology expert Nipan Maniar (picture left) who, himself, arrived in the UK from India five years ago as an international student.

"I found some aspects of British culture very novel, and certainly things such as interacting socially with others, say, in a pub were very different to what I was used to in my own culture in India," Nipan said.

The game follows an international student arriving in the UK for the first time. The aim of the game is to reduce the character's 'culture shock' rating from a default of 100 to zero by performing a series of tasks that introduce culture shock-inducing incidents and images.

... The game is in the final stages of development and is expected to be available for download from the University of Portsmouth website later this year.

[Press release via The Inquirer]

Tamagotchi phone from Bandai

Bandai Wireless is offering a prepaid cellphone that comes pre-loaded with a Tamagotchi for young users to care for. [via Ubergizmo]

"This virtual digital pet will roam about your handset and act very much like its predecessors back in the mid-90s, making them suitable for children. "

Related:

-- Shuku Keitai 'Tamagotchi' capts cell phone signals

-- The Tamagotchi's next step: Invading your cellphone

Mobiles set to play the game

The BBC explains why mobile phone gaming has yet to reach it's fulll potential and that difficulties it faces, with game and handset compatibility a key problem for developers.

According to Robert Tercek, keynote speaker on mobile games at last week's Games Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, mobile content publishing is "an exercise in managing chaos"

"Consoles usually have a lifetime of five to six years, giving games publishers a period of stability in which to develop titles and franchises.

... Games need to be developed to run on hundreds of different handsets supported by a number of platforms ranging from Java (J2ME) to Windows Mobile, Brew and Symbian S60.

This fragmentation of technologies creates difficulties for developers in deploying, or porting, their games to many different handsets.

... Mobile gaming is still waiting for the "killer application", that single game that redefines what a mobile game is.

For mobile gaming to reach its predicted levels of profitability, operators need a solid revenue stream, and developers need to recover development costs.

The most likely business model is the subscription method dominant in Japan, the world's most advanced market for mobile gaming. "

Mobile phone gaming gears up to go 3D

3D games are taking over production, doubling the numbers from the last year, reports The Inquirer.

"For Gameloft, 2007 will see twenty 3D games and thirty 2D ones, and the number of 2D games is expected to decline further and further. The firm is also a launch partner of Nokia's N-Gage project with seven announced titles.

What made this possible is the change in the storage space available for games. Two years ago, games were ranging from 150-300KB in size and distribution was mostly done via WAP. Today, most of users have either EDGE or UMTS phones and delivery is more and more via "mobile broadband connection", thus budgets have risen to two megabytes for 3D (500-700KB for 2D ones).

Gameloft is also in negotiations with Apple regarding the iPhone", but it's not a done deal yet.

Nokia debuts real-footage online driving game

Nokia is launching a online game featuring real-life footage to promote the handset makers new multimedia car kit. Netimperative reports.

"The driving game, called ‘The Passenger’ was filmed on location on the streets of the Île St Louis in Paris.

The game is accessed at www.the-passenger.com and will be promoted with 60 second film trailers, featured on the European Nokia homepage, and seeded with technology bloggers."

A Personalised Mobile Scratch card

WinOne, a Finnish supplier of cash games for mobile internet, announced the release of the first personalised scratch card available on mobile phones.

"The java-based scratch card, featuring a horoscope theme, comes in twelve different forms, each corresponding to an astrological sign and the sign’s precious stone.

Instead of using a 5-pence piece to uncover their winnings, GemScope players will use phone keys to “scratch” their star sign and win vast range of cash and other prizes.

[via Online Casiono News]

America's Next Top Model goes mobile

America's Next Top Model TV show has been turned into a mobile game, reports Pocket Gamer.

"Developed by Hong Kong firm Artificial Life , the game has you training and supporting one of the 13 participants from the latest series of the marvellously-bitchy reality TV show.

You get to customise her hair, makeup and wardrobe, monitor her nutrition, sleeping habits and workout routine, and play a bunch of mini-games to turn your model into a star.

... America's Next Top Model is available now here in Europe on Artificial Life's own Botme portal."

Love City: An Urban Ménage à Trois

Love City is a mobile phone game between three cities by Active Ingredient set to get hearts racing across the East Midlands on Valentine's Day. Players send messages of love between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester.

In their own words

Love City is a utopia, a dream of a better world or something more decadent, a wild fantasy place. Love City reflects the city you live in.

Played on mobile phones, city walls and the web, Love City invites three cities to fall in love via text message. Players act as a matchmaker for their city. The aim of the game is to fall in love. By linking with someone from a different city your score increases. Love City can be populated by anyone with a mobile phone or access to the web. Large screen events will see Love City Live in February 2007. Love City launches on Valentines Day for a two week romance across Nottingham, Derby and Leicester.

Send Text Messages Directly From Your Game Controller

Blue Orb Inc. announced today the launch of a family of products that bring new text messaging capabilities to online video gamers everywhere. [Press release]

Now for the first time, gamers can generate text messages directly from their game controller.

Gamers use the Texter with PlayStation 2 or Xbox 360 online environments for in-game messaging, text chatting, and Web browsing.

The Texter appears to be a USB keyboard to the console and game. Typing with the Texter is much faster than using onscreen keyboards, and eliminates the need for an external USB keyboard. Messaging becomes a part of the gaming experience.

The Texter for the PlayStation 2 is now available, and the Xbox 360 Texter will be available in early December 2006.