An interesting article was posted today by Stuart Dredge at PockGamerz.biz today following an interview with Alistair Hill of M:Metrics.
Some key pieces of information from Alistair regarding the gaming market in Europe and the US:
- 13.5m UK users are browsing and downloading applications
- 25-34 year-old women are the largest group of mobile games buyers
- 27% of Europeans have Flash Lite capable handsets (compared to 15.5 per cent in the US)
- Nokia’s N70 is the most popular gaming device
- 70% of people who were purchasing games were under the age of 35
Stuart and Alastair both point out that despite huge numbers of people playing games, there are not as many purchases. This could indicate a number of issues, piracy is one but what’s most likely is that users are playing pre-installed games.
What is completely clear is that users are happy to play but are not quite as happy to pay. That is a clear signal that advertising or brand endorsement within the content is a likely track for the future.
So what is the recipe for the *perfect* mobile game?
- Event, advertising or brand funded
- Casual puzzle game like Suduko or Tetris
- Targeting female and male audiences
- DRM protected
- Easily accessible in a branded store
- Social features built in, sharing, high scores, levels etc
Let’s look at the Google generation statement, “People know how to plug their mobile into their computer, and they know how to go to Google and type in ‘free mobile games’”. We already know this to be true, last week I read a forum question from an end user (it happens!) who wanted to know why a screensaver wouldn’t work on their phone.
Rather than focus on the copyright issues what I was surprised/shocked by was the response when I told the user that it had been removed.
User Nokia5700: “How could i know it was from Sony Ericsson? At MOSH you can even find FIFA for phones.. I just love it so much ”
There are three statements above:
- How could I know that it should be paid for?
- Everything else is free, so why not this?
- I would pay for it, given the opportunity.
iPod, iPhone and Touch users have been in training for years at the school of iTunes. That’s the secret behind the AppStore, everyone already knew how to use it and EVERYONE was clear that there would be a price.
Ok, ok some are free I hear you.. but you get the point!
Given the post title … you might want to crop out the iPhone out of the image here, Mark.
Well, at least for now? 
Also, to my knowledge no “Crackberry” devices run Flash Lite (at this time), correct?
Come on, Bill had an iPhone image for his banner for two days last week. Even if Flash doesn’t happen on the iPhone it doesn’t mean that it should be ignored, it is a great device.
The image shows an on device catalogue and applications running across platforms. While developers can’t deliver their applications consistently across platforms, this is our joint goal and we’re moving swiftly towards it.
RIM devices do not currently support Flash.
Hi Mark,
Dont want to poopoo the news, as 40% is a fantastic number, but as Im sure you are aware, it takes at least 75-80% penetration before an operator will even take a look at a game for their on-deck delivery.
This is totally ridiculous of course, but its the reality. And even if we did have 75-80% for Flash Lite, game developers would still have to compete with the vast amount of branded games out there that get top placement just because of the brand recognition. 1 in a million shots like Tetris dont come round that often! You just need to look at the top 10 charts for game downloads in the UK to see that the majority of them are branded.
It a frustrating business!
Hey Paul,
This is true, operators do want higher penetration. However if you look at platforms like NGage etc it is clear that there are exceptions.
Some operators are beginning to wake up to the fact that their requirements are too high. If they want to remain competitive with so many internet service providers reaching into mobile then things need to change.
I still believe that ’services’ for games with a social backend are an opportunity. Sharing of games and usage across screens is a strong point for Flash and I believe that Flash developers have a clear shot at it.
If you are a mobile developer then this means diversifying toward the desktop.
Mark
Unfortunately the link to the article is broken. I couldn’t find it using Google so it would be great if you could provide it…
Thank you!
Hi guys,
its kind of funny. The graphic with the devices shows mippin.com being rendered on them. A mobile 2.0 web app for all mobile browsers.
From a company who did Flash-Lite and J2me for the last 3 years.
Can’t wait until we get full Flash as a plugin for all major mobile browser vendors. That would rock!
David