Mobile Gaming News Roundup

Each week MobileCrunchArcade compiles the biggest news from the world of mobile gaming.

I-play released the findings of its mobile game survey this week. It seems a lot of us can’t put those magic handsets down. The survey revealed that 38% of casual online games customers play games on their mobile phones and almost half, 45%, would play their favorite online games if they were available on mobile devices. When asked whether they played games on their mobile phones 22% answered “yes” and 16% said “sometimes”. This combined 38% compares favorably to the industry average of 20.5% of North Americans who play a mobile game on their handset each month. These findings show that online causal gamers are almost twice as likely to play mobile games as the average mobile user. I’m not sure what all this means, but if people are playing games it is a good thing.

CAPCOM released a remake of the classic game Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. This copy of the classic arcade game has the player take the role of Sir Arthur, a knight on a quest to restore souls taken by Lucifer. Beginning in a graveyard, Sir Arthur jumps, runs, hacks and slashes his way through seven levels which are populated with all kinds of obstacles, enemies and infuriating hazards. Sir Arthur is prepared for the quest. He can use lances, swords, axes and knives, most of which can be powered up magically when things get tough. I’m hoping a prequel will be released where a player takes the role of Lucifer. The Devil could battle cute bunnies and docile unicorns while making deals for people’s souls.

Gameloft announced its deal with Universal Pictures this week to release American Gangster: The Mobile Game. The game is based on Universal Pictures’ upcoming crime drama, American Gangster. Set in Harlem in the 1970’s, players can take the role of Frank Lucas the crime boss or Richie Roberts the outcast cop who tries to take the crime empire down. Missions include setting up a weapons trade, eliminating enemy bosses and taking on a snitch in Lucas’ gang. Firepower and influence play a big role and it takes a lot of both to survive. I hope the movie has some classic 70’s Harlem costumes. The film might be worth seeing just for a good fashion laugh.

I-play announced the release of The Weakest Link 2008 on Thursday. Based on the trivia quiz show, the game lets your test your knowledge to see how weak of a link you are. Packed with sharp-witted phrases and challenging questions, you must answer a series of multiple-choice questions on a variety of subject categories all before time runs out. Categories include entertainment, geography, history, general knowledge and science. This game doesn’t do it for me. The whole point of a trivia game is to impress real people with your ability to recall useless bits of information.

That is this week’s MobileCrunch Arcade game roundup. Remember, exercise those thumbs, recharge the battery and never take your eyes off the screen.