A
mobile games is a video game (
mobile games ) played on a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, handheld computer or portable media player. This does not include games (
mobile games ) played on handheld video game (
mobile games ) systems such as PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS.
The first
mobile games that was pre-installed onto a mobile phone was
Snake on selected Nokia models in 1997. Snake and its variants have since become the most-played video game (
mobile games ) on the planet, with over a billion people having played the game (
mobile games ).
Mobile games are played using the technologies present on the device itself. For networked
mobile games, there are various technologies in common use. Examples include text message (SMS), multimedia message (MMS) or GPRS location identification.
However, there are non networked applications, that simply use the device platform to run the game (
mobile games ) software. The
mobile games may be installed over the air, they may be side loaded onto the handset with a cable, or they may be embedded on the handheld devices by the OEM or by the mobile operator.
Mobile games are usually downloaded via the mobile operator's radio network, but in some cases are also loaded into the mobile handsets when purchased, via infrared connection, Bluetooth, or memory card.
With the creation of the cell phone, one was easily impressed with the fact that the phone required no cables. However, towards the end of the 20th century, cellular phones started to modernize, and people wanted more out of their cell phones.
With the introduction of the "candy bar" style cell phone, the appearance of a cell phone as well as its features and calling capabilities became a lot more important to people.
Mobile games were among the many new features that could be expected in this new type of cell phone.
Older
mobile games were not as expansive or as popular as console games (
mobile games ), as the phone's hardware was not suited to high-color screens or sounds beyond differently pitched beeps. The
mobile games were usually animated with black squares. A good example of an early
mobile games is Snake. Unlike today's
mobile games, which usually have to be purchased, these
mobile games came pre-installed on the cell phone, and could not be copied off or removed.
When the camera phone was introduced to the public, cell phones started to become a lot more common. The storage and graphic capabilities on these new phones were a lot better than the older candy bar style phone, which meant that higher quality
mobile games could be created. This of course also meant that companies could make a profit off these
mobile games.
Nokia tried to create its own mobile gaming (
mobile games ) platform with the N-Gage in 2003 but this effort failed mainly because, at the time, the convergence of a cell phone and a handheld gaming platform did not mix. Many users complained of having to talk on the phone 'taco-style' by tilting it sideways in order to speak and hear. There were hardware issues as well, and though some quality games came out, support for the platform was anemic.
Today,
mobile games have come a very long way. Their graphics are about the same as you would expect on a 4th or 5th generation game console (which may not seem like a very big improvement yet is considered one because the game (
mobile games ) is being played on a cell phone).
Mobile games now tend to take up a large amount of memory on cell phones, which is part of the reason why they still are not too popular. Still, certain
mobile games such as "Tetris" and "Solitaire" are somewhat popular
mobile games.
Total global revenues from
mobile games were estimated at $2,600 million in 2005 by
Informa Telecoms and
Media.the total revenue generated in the year 2008 ia 5800 million US dollar.
Different platforms
Mobile games are developed using platforms and technologies such as Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian OS, Adobe's Flash Lite, DoCoMo's DoJa, Sun's Java ME, Qualcomm's BREW, WIPI, iPhone OS or Google Android platforms. Other platforms are also available, but not as common.
Java is the most common platform for
mobile games, however its performance limitations lead to the adoption of various native binary formats for more sophisticated
mobile games.
Mobile games tend to be small in scope and often rely on good gameplay over flashy graphics, due to the lack of processing power of the client devices. One major problem for developers and publishers of
mobile games is describing a game (
mobile games ) in such detail that it gives the customer enough information to make a purchasing decision. Currently,
mobile games are mainly sold through Network Carriers / Operators portals and this means there are only a few lines of text and perhaps a screen shot of the game to excite the customer. Two strategies are followed by developers and publishers to combat this lack of purchasing information, firstly there is a reliance on powerful brands and licenses that impart a suggestion of quality to the game (
mobile games ) such as Tomb Raider or Colin McRae and secondly there is the use of well known and established play patterns (game play mechanics that are instantly recognisable) such as Tetris, Space Invaders or Poker. Both these strategies are used to decrease the perceived level of risk that the customer feels when choosing a game (
mobile games ) to download from the carrier’s deck.
Recent innovations in
mobile games include Singleplayer, Multiplayer and 3D graphics. Virtual love games (
mobile games ) belong to both of singleplayer and multiplayer games (
mobile games ). Multiplayer games (
mobile games ) are quickly finding an audience, as developers take advantage of the ability to play against other people, a natural extension of the mobile phone’s connectivity. With the recent internet gambling boom various companies are taking advantage of the mobile market to attract customers, Ongame the founders of PokerRoom developed in 2005 a working mobile version of its poker software available in both play money and real money. The player can play the game (
mobile games ) in a singleplayer or multiplayer mode for real or play money. As well, the MMORPG boom seems to hit the world of
mobile games. According to their website CipSoft has developed the first MMORPG for mobile phones, called TibiaME.
Often trivia or quiz games (
mobile games ) will run out of questions on mobile devices. Some publishers like
MobileQs will offer expansion packs to the original game (
mobile games ) to get around this problem.
Mobile games played on a mobile device using localization technology like GPS are called location-based
mobile games. These are not only played on mobile hardware but also integrate the player's position into the game (
mobile games ) concept. In other words: while it does not matter for a normal
mobile games where exactly you are (play them anywhere at anytime), the player's coordinate and movement are main elements in a Location-based
mobile games. The best-known example is the treasure hunt game Geocaching, which can be played on any mobile device with integrated or external GPS receiver. External GPS receivers are usually connected via Bluetooth. More and more mobile phones with integrated GPS are expected to come.
Besides Geocaching, there exist several other location-based
mobile games which are rather in the stage of research prototypes than a commercial success.
A
Multiplayer mobile games is often a re-branding of a multiplayer game (
mobile games ) for the PC or Console. Most
mobile games are single player
mobile games perhaps with artificially intelligent opponents. Multiplayer functionality is achieved through:
- Infrared
- Bluetooth
- GPRS
- 3G
- Wi-Fi
- AI
- MMS
- Wireless LAN
Some "community" based
mobile games exist where players use their cellphones to access a community website where they can play browser-based
mobile games with thousands of players. Such
mobile games typically have limited graphical content so that they can run on a cellphone, and the games (
mobile games ) focus on the interaction between a large number of participants.
Infrared connectivity
Older mobile phones supporting
mobile games have infrared connectivity for data sharing with other phones or PCs. This connectivity is not practical as any disturbances in the infra-reds line of sight could cause loss of connection, hence this technology was seldom used in
mobile games.
Mobiles are connected through a wireless protocol called Bluetooth using special hardware. The
mobile games are designed to communicate with each other through this protocol to share game (
mobile games ) information. The basic restriction is that both the users have to be within a limited distance to get connected. A bluetooth device can accept up to 7 connections from other devices using a client/server architecture.
WAP / GPRS / UMTS / HSDPA multiplayer mobile games
A GPRS connection which is common among GSM mobile phones can be used to share the data globally. Developers can connect a mass number of
mobile games with a single server and share data among the players. Some developers have achieved cross platform games (
mobile games ), allowing a mobile player to play against a PC. WAP and GPRS best supports turn based
mobile games and small RPG games. (Most of the counties have a weak GPRS speed in their carriers. In these types of games, the game (
mobile games ) communicates with a global server which acts like a router between the mobile phones. Faster connections like UMTS and HSDPA allow real time multiplayer gaming though speeds will still give some level of lag. Currently, there are a lot of multiplayer
mobile games entering the market.
3G and WiFi
3G allows in most cases realtime multiplayer gaming (
mobile games ) and is based on technologies faster than GPRS. Wi-Fi is often used for connecting at home. Not every mobile device allows games (
mobile games ) to use the wifi connection.
Mobile games can be distributed in one of four ways:
- Over the Air (OTA) - a mobile games binary file (usually BREW or Java) is delivered to the mobile device via wireless carrier networks.
- Sideloaded - a mobile games binary file is loaded onto the phone while connected to a PC, either via USB cable or Bluetooth.
- Pre-installed - a mobile games binary file is preloaded onto the device by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
- Mobile browser download - a game ( mobile games ) file (typically Adobe Flash Lite) is downloaded directly from a mobile website.
In the US, the majority of
mobile games are sold by the US wireless carriers, such as ATT, Verizon, Altel, Sprint and T-Mobile. In Europe,
mobile games are distributed equally between carriers, such as Orange and Vodafone, and off-deck, third party stores such as Jamba, Jamster, Kalador and Gameloft. Third party, off-deck game stores have not yet taken off (as of 2007) in the US, as the US based carriers use a 'walled garden' approach to their business models.
The popularity of
mobile games has increased in the 2000s, as over $3 billion USD worth of games were sold in 2007 internationally, and projected annual growth of over 40%.
In recent years, there has been a move towards
mobile games which are distributed free to the end user, but carry prominent, paid advertising.
