I-play Enters Mobile Market

(CBS)  GameCore is a weekly column by CBSNews.com's William Vitka and Chad Chamberlain that focuses on gamers and gaming.

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The hand held gaming industry has catapulted into a pop culture phenomenon especially with the insurgence of devices by top companies like Nintendo and Sony. Both the Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP (PlayStation Portable) have set the stage for a true on-the-go gaming experience. However, what these two companies don't have is the install base of mobile telephones.

Approximately 1 in 6 Americans own a mobile phone currently and thousands continue to join the group every day. This growth is not only isolated to the Americas, but also to Europe, Asia, and other areas that also see a similar spike. With numbers like these it's no surprise that I-play, a European based publisher of mobile games, is entering this market.

Founded in 1998 as a company formally known as Digital Bridges, I-play, is taking advantage of this consumer mobile gaming industry through the formation of a recognizable brand to connect with their customers. With support of over 80 carriers globally, I-play has access to at least 500 million subscribers globally.

According to David Gosen, COO of I-play, 50% of the people that are playing these types of games in the U.S., are women, which is an incredibly new demographic in on-the-go gaming market. That said, it's no surprise that I-play will offer a very balanced list of what they call "one thumb gaming" products that are engineered for casual gamers that are challenging but simple to play. Neat concept. I tested this theory of "one thumb gaming" on one of their most downloaded titles, Maria Sharapova Tennis. Being a big Tennis fan, I got a kick out of playing this title on a mobile phone. Surprisingly quite simple to play and although two fingers offered smoother game play, certainly, the "one thumb gaming" concept holds true here.

Working with several media and entertainment brands, I-play is solely focused on mobile gaming for your cell phones. To that effort they've lined themselves up with popular publishers like EA, SNK, Vivendi Universal Studios, etc, to give I-play users a nice blend of gaming experiences. They have also provided various distribution channels and network portals for user to access downloadable games. But the magic doesn't stop there. The concept of 'connector gaming' provides a semi-online experience. For example, if you are on Sprints system, you can save your high score to a game lobby. Through this 'community gaming' portal, one can then download high scores, or shadow races onto your mobile and then attempt to beat those scores. If it's someone's race then you will be able to race against someone's shadow in order to win. Therefore, I-play has sort of an online community where you simply download existing content and compete off line.

I-play's title line up includes: Maria Sharapova Tennis, FIFA Football 2005, Jewel Quest, 3D pool, Metal Slug? Mobile, Platoon, 3D Golf, The Fast and The Furious, etc.

I-play's products are available on any Java enabled handsets, which is approximately 95% penetration of roughly 250 currently available mobiles in North America and Europe. At roughly 159kb per game, I-play is in a position to drive the mobile gaming revolution into the next phase.


By Chad Chamberlain