Each week MobileCrunchArcade compiles the biggest news from the world of mobile gaming.
Research from Frank N. Magid associates has found that a majority of cell phone users don’t play mobile games. I know how ridiculous that sounds but the evidence is in. Over 80% of Internet users, ages 12 to 64, own a cell phone or PDA but only a little over 10% of this population played a mobile game at least once a week — even free games! People aged 12 to 24 are the most likely to play mobile games. This means there is great growth potential in mobile games if we can just get the word out how great this pastime can be. Tell Grandma and Grandpa to pickup the handset and thumb thump those keys.
In the near future you may be playing mobile games with Vollee, a new technology that streams PC games to mobile phones. Vollee’s Head of Business Development, Julian Corbett, explains how Vollee’s service works: “Vollee streams console and PC games directly to a mobile handset using 3G networks. We host the games on our servers, and users download a player or thin-client to their handset which gives them access to the titles we have licensed and adapted for mobile.”
If you have an iPhone and hanker for an old PlayStation game, now you can revisit past glories. ZodTDD has revealed its PlayStation/iPhone emulation software. The psx4iphone application is open to anyone with an iPhone and doesn’t require any registration. The emulator divides the iPhone screen in two, with game play on one half and the game’s standard face button controls and directional movement pad placed on the other. The onscreen control works much like a regular PlayStation controller.
India is seeing a video game war. Console and computer games are fighting mobile gaming in India’s growing gaming market. In India mobile phone games are king, constituting around 50% of the gaming industry. “Mobile gaming is for the more casual gamer. For the high-end gamer, the console or online is the answer,” says Smita Jha, principal consultant (Entertainment & Media Practice), PwC. She adds that even five years from now, the mobile base will be much larger, considering the numbers that are swelling by the month. Gandhi may have preached non-violence, but if he were around today he would secretly be pulling for the mobile gamers to win this war.
That is this week’s mobile gaming new roundup. Remember to exercise those thumbs, recharge the battery and never take you eyes off the screen.