Board Game Clue gets text messaging

Clue, the classic detective board game, has been updated to incorporate text messaging.

[via GadgetWise]

The History of Mobile Gaming (video)

A video on The History of Mobile Gaming 1970 - 2009, created by Tom from portablegear.nl.

Madoff Video Game Comes to Cell Phones

Starting May 11, cell phone gaming company Cellufun will make "Made Off" available on its site for free downloads, according to MyFox.

How to play? In their own words:

Think you've got what it takes to build a better Ponzi scheme than Bernie? Always wanted to rob, cheat, and steal from innocent investors? Well now's your chance! In Made Off, you utilize your Cellupoints rather than real money.

Play as a slimy Fund Manager, a savvy Investor, or both. The game will end without warning when the Feds finally crack down on the Cellufun community, and people managing Funds will get to keep all the Cellupoints invested in them.

Investors will keep all the Cellupoints they've acquired through interest payments as well. And we'll give trophies to those who have "made off" with the most profits. Happy scheming!

Cell Phone Games Emerge as Entertaining Way to Increase Public Advocacy

As mobile phone usage becomes more commonplace in developing countries, cell phone games are emerging as an entertaining way to increase public advocacy. In India this month the Danish government launched Copenhagen Challenge, a detective game designed to educate Indian school children about climate change. Voice of America reports.

Your mission; free Dr. Kumar from the claws of the fossil fuel mafia and save the environment from total annihilation.

No small task. But one that students at the Montort school in New Delhi are eager to confront.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Agency of India the country has nearly 350 million mobile users, many of whom are poor villagers using inexpensive, recycled phones.

Denmark's minister for climate and energy, Connie Hedegaard, says such cell phone penetration makes the mobile network a natural choice to educate people about climate change.

... The impact of this innovative effort is to be assessed when Denmark hosts the U.N.'s international climate change conference, known as COP15, in Copenhagen this December.

Dexter iPhone Trailer

News that an iPhone game is in the works based on Miami's finest blood-spatter analyst is murderously exciting. Above is the game's first teaser trailer.

[PocketGamer]

iPhone Pushes Mobile Gaming To $5.4 Billion

Thanks to smartphones like Apple's iPhone 3G, mobile gaming rose 20% and hit $5.4 billion in 2008, according to a new report from Jupiter Research. Information Week reports.

The report said overall game downloads were flat in the U.S. and Western European markets, but volumes rose in developing markets like India and China. While Java-based games saw a steep decline, those volumes were offset by a sharp increase of iPhone game downloads.

... The report also said that more than half of games downloaded by 2012 will be funded by advertising.

Hasbro Announces Its First Board Game to Include Live Clues via Text

According to the Boston Globe, Rhode Island toymaker Hasbro Inc. is looking to keep board games relevant by adding a text-messaging feature to a new edition of CLUE.

In "CLUE: Secrets & Spies" edition, "each player takes on the role of a top international spy tasked with infiltrating the Criminal League for Ultimate Espionage to stop its evil scheme for world domination by intercepting the nefarious Agent Black," Hasbro said in a Press Release that described the game.

"The new optional text messaging feature transmits game shaping intelligence to Agents Plum, Scarlet, Mustard and the others while an ultraviolet, secret decoder reveals hidden missions to the players," Hasbro said.

Tic Tac Toe by SMS

Texting Games has launched a SMS based Tic Tac Toe. You can play against your friends by text messaging.

Simply Text the word TicTac and your firends number to 41411 to begin. Example: if your friends num is 4045551212 then text TicTac 4045551212 to 41411. Your friend will get a request to play. They will reply Ok to start. Who ever starts the game will go first. You will be given a board of numbers. To select your square just reply with the number for the square you wish to play.

Guitar Hero mobile: New look, new sound, drums!

Yesterday, the mobile version of Guitar Hero World Tour became available on AT&T phones. News.com gives it a (rave) review.

Mobile Gaming Now a $1-Billion Industry in US

A new report from market research group In-Stat claims that the fragmented, oft-maligned U.S. cellphone gaming market is already worth $1 billion. Gamasutra reports.

Titled IMobile Applications Series: US Mobile Gaming 2008–2013, the report covers factors necessary to promoting awareness of mobile games, limitation to purchase, the iPhone's impact, and mobile gaming revenue forecasts for the U.S. and global markets through 2013.

According to In-Stat's research, continued momentum in the global mobile gaming market is expected to result in revenues topping $6.8 billion by 2013.

Read full article.

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]