Notice anything missing from the E3 games show this year? Okay, maybe not entirely missing ,although an easy mistake given the fact that all there was present was a miniscule mobile games sector to highlight what has become, the biggest growth area in games.
Si que pasa hombre? Santa Monica sin juegas?
There may be a few explanations for this strange case of the missing mobile.
Firstly , last year wasn't exactly a great showcase. With only Namco and Gameloft attempting to compete in the same halls and at the same level as the big boys. Everyone else was banished to the low budget basement hall ( a brisk walk away along the long hot corridors). So no wonder mobile companies deserted E3 this year as the organisers did not provide value for money last year. €200k spent on a good marketing effort generates far better yields from carriers that E3 second rate displays.
Secondly , based on the experience of last year the mobile games industry realised it doesn't have the same need to make such a public appearance as console firms do.
After all, a demo can be done anywhere on a small phone.
Then perhaps mobile games don't suit big tradeshows. Separate PR launches may work best with careful attention to invitation lists and venues.
Or maybe the mainstream console industry still thinks mobile games are not worthy - too limited and too basic to be worth any attention.
If this is the case and the big boys do not spend marketing dollars promoting their mobile cousins they are missing a key segment of the market. The novice gamer. It is much easier to get a newbie to play and try a mobile game on their phone for a small cost rather than go to the effort and cost of acquiring a console and expensive game. If they dip their toes into a new mobile title and like it. They may well progress to the console version with the promise of better things.
The world is full of 'would be' gamers waiting to be inducted into the pleasures of gaming.
Separate events are the way to go as mobile companies will never have the cash to compete for eyeballs at such big budget dominated events. Mobile is a separate space, a slightly different demographic and a different experience so let's promote it differently also.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Selatra signs Tropix, Island Paradise of Gaming fun
The award winning game will be distributed through Selatra's channels in the second quarter of 2007 following a deal with Airborne Entertainment Inc, the leading provider and publisher of premier mobile entertainment content and applications.
A big PC hit created by Robot Super Brain, Tropix is a unique combination of four different games, all set within a sunny island paradise. Players collect 'sand dollars' enabling them to travel to new islands, buy toys and food for their Tamagotchi-styled monkey and discover even more games to play.
"Easy to play and highly addictive, Tropix blends many classic game play ideas into one title," Cronin said. "Tropix is undoubtedly a fantastic deal for our casual gamers - one download delivers four games with state of the art graphics, which are quick and easy to learn and can be played in short bites or in long sessions." "We have relationships with every major wireless carrier in North America, so when we were looking for a global distributor of mobile entertainment content to help Tropix reach the widest possible audience, it had to be Selatra," said Airborne President Andy Nulman.
Puzzle fans will relish the challenge of 'Sandoku', the familiar Sudoku game, while shoot-'em-up fans will head for Puffer Popper action. Jungle Jump, is an adventure through the Tropix rainforest, but don't forget to look after your pet monkey or he will misbehave!
"Tropix has been developed to the highest standard by Creative North, a world class developer of games for the mobile phone," Sean Cronin continued. "Whether you're a fan of puzzles, adventures or word games, Tropix offers 'an island of fun' for everyone."
Phil Mundy of Creative North added: "We are very excited by the launch of Tropix across the US and the rest of the world territories. Tropix offers great playability and superb value with truly global appeal. We also look forward to forthcoming projects with Selatra and anticipate an excellent future relationship."
A big PC hit created by Robot Super Brain, Tropix is a unique combination of four different games, all set within a sunny island paradise. Players collect 'sand dollars' enabling them to travel to new islands, buy toys and food for their Tamagotchi-styled monkey and discover even more games to play.
"Easy to play and highly addictive, Tropix blends many classic game play ideas into one title," Cronin said. "Tropix is undoubtedly a fantastic deal for our casual gamers - one download delivers four games with state of the art graphics, which are quick and easy to learn and can be played in short bites or in long sessions." "We have relationships with every major wireless carrier in North America, so when we were looking for a global distributor of mobile entertainment content to help Tropix reach the widest possible audience, it had to be Selatra," said Airborne President Andy Nulman.
Puzzle fans will relish the challenge of 'Sandoku', the familiar Sudoku game, while shoot-'em-up fans will head for Puffer Popper action. Jungle Jump, is an adventure through the Tropix rainforest, but don't forget to look after your pet monkey or he will misbehave!
"Tropix has been developed to the highest standard by Creative North, a world class developer of games for the mobile phone," Sean Cronin continued. "Whether you're a fan of puzzles, adventures or word games, Tropix offers 'an island of fun' for everyone."
Phil Mundy of Creative North added: "We are very excited by the launch of Tropix across the US and the rest of the world territories. Tropix offers great playability and superb value with truly global appeal. We also look forward to forthcoming projects with Selatra and anticipate an excellent future relationship."
Selatra shines the light on Flash Lite
Company adds three new games to Flashlite catalogue
March 13, 2007: Selatra, the global distributor of mobile Java games, announced today the availability of the three exclusive new games from its Flashlite catalogue. Sean Cronin, CEO of Selatra confirmed that Meteors, Reversi and Invasion, all gaming classics, are now available and he said, Selatra would be announcing further titles shortly. "We foresaw the great impact FlashLite would have on the mobile gaming market and committed early to producing a comprehensive catalogue with content developed aggressively through our partner programme," said Cronin. "The latest figures from Adobe show that shipments of Flash-enabled devices have passed the 200 million mark, confirming we were right to have faith in the market. We firmly believe casual gaming will grow strongly as consumers seek to bring their PC console experience to the mobile and play their favourite flash games while on the go."
The three new exclusive titles available from today in the Selatra Flashlite range are Meteors - a shoot-em-up space game, Reversi (also known as Othello) the instantly recognisable puzzle game and Invasion, a classic style alien shooter game.FlashLite is a key technology for developers seeking to offer next generation mobile content. Over 30 Nokia models already include the FlashLite Player, allowing millions of customers to access the applications offered in Selatra's dedicated FlashLite catalogue:
"By working with Selatra, FlashLite developers can be confident their games will have the widest possible reach and revenue earning potential, as they tap into markets which they otherwise might not have been able to access with their games," Cronin said. Selatra has partnered with Buffalo, NY based JRVisuals Studio, a best of breed developer who has delivered some of the most played Flash games on the Internet to bring these titles to market: "We have been creating games on the Flash Platform for as long as it has been possible," said Jose R. Rodriguez, Managing Director of JRVisuals. "The move to mobile with Flashlite was a natural one and working with Selatra has made it possible to do so ahead of the curve."All games are available on GSM and 3G networks. Selatra's full range of games is available on www.selatra.com
March 13, 2007: Selatra, the global distributor of mobile Java games, announced today the availability of the three exclusive new games from its Flashlite catalogue. Sean Cronin, CEO of Selatra confirmed that Meteors, Reversi and Invasion, all gaming classics, are now available and he said, Selatra would be announcing further titles shortly. "We foresaw the great impact FlashLite would have on the mobile gaming market and committed early to producing a comprehensive catalogue with content developed aggressively through our partner programme," said Cronin. "The latest figures from Adobe show that shipments of Flash-enabled devices have passed the 200 million mark, confirming we were right to have faith in the market. We firmly believe casual gaming will grow strongly as consumers seek to bring their PC console experience to the mobile and play their favourite flash games while on the go."
The three new exclusive titles available from today in the Selatra Flashlite range are Meteors - a shoot-em-up space game, Reversi (also known as Othello) the instantly recognisable puzzle game and Invasion, a classic style alien shooter game.FlashLite is a key technology for developers seeking to offer next generation mobile content. Over 30 Nokia models already include the FlashLite Player, allowing millions of customers to access the applications offered in Selatra's dedicated FlashLite catalogue:
"By working with Selatra, FlashLite developers can be confident their games will have the widest possible reach and revenue earning potential, as they tap into markets which they otherwise might not have been able to access with their games," Cronin said. Selatra has partnered with Buffalo, NY based JRVisuals Studio, a best of breed developer who has delivered some of the most played Flash games on the Internet to bring these titles to market: "We have been creating games on the Flash Platform for as long as it has been possible," said Jose R. Rodriguez, Managing Director of JRVisuals. "The move to mobile with Flashlite was a natural one and working with Selatra has made it possible to do so ahead of the curve."All games are available on GSM and 3G networks. Selatra's full range of games is available on www.selatra.com
Selatra 'breaks the ice' in Iceland!
Selatra's mobile games are due to break into the Icelandic market this August via a partnership with operator Siminn.
High profile brands in Selatra's portfolio include Tom and Jerry, Sonic the Hedgehog and Pac-Man.
"Selatra's industry leading games catalogue, featuring major brands and latest releases is now available to enjoy in Iceland," said Sean Cronin, CEO of Selatra.
"Siminn, which has one of the highest mobile usage rates in the world, will benefit from our robust, scalable games service that saves them time, money and helps build new revenue streams quickly," he added.
Brynjólfur Bjarnaso, CEO of Siminn added: "We chose Selatra because of their flexible support and their outstanding games catalogue.
"By delivering the best games to our demanding subscribers, we can establish an even stronger relationship with our customers and continue to drive value added revenues. Partnering with Selatra allows us to achieve this.''
High profile brands in Selatra's portfolio include Tom and Jerry, Sonic the Hedgehog and Pac-Man.
"Selatra's industry leading games catalogue, featuring major brands and latest releases is now available to enjoy in Iceland," said Sean Cronin, CEO of Selatra.
"Siminn, which has one of the highest mobile usage rates in the world, will benefit from our robust, scalable games service that saves them time, money and helps build new revenue streams quickly," he added.
Brynjólfur Bjarnaso, CEO of Siminn added: "We chose Selatra because of their flexible support and their outstanding games catalogue.
"By delivering the best games to our demanding subscribers, we can establish an even stronger relationship with our customers and continue to drive value added revenues. Partnering with Selatra allows us to achieve this.''
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Let the match making begin:Google and Paypal mark the beginning of the end of Operator Dominance
July 18th 2007.
This weeks announcements by Google (mobile search results placing bidding opens for business) and Paypal (Mobile payments service launches) mark the beginning of the end of Operator dominance in the control of mobile content and loosens their grip on the lion’s share of revenues. It comes in the wake of a series of, long overdue, ‘flat rate’ data announcements from the Carriers.
Taken together, the Google and Paypal news stories follow the inexorable trend, previously witnessed in the online world where ISP walled gardens collapsed in favour of open access models. Now the hitherto captive mobile subscriber, encouraged by the arrival of ‘near’ flat rate data and a more open mobile internet world, is ready to go fully mobile. The days of the Operator controlled mobile online experiences, much like the old AOL ISP walled garden experiences are over.
But while there are profound impacts on the subscriber and their usage patterns the impact will also be felt in the pockets of Carriers and their on deck suppliers of content. A power shift is emerging.
Firstly data usage rates will rise, more content will be consumed but not from the ‘on deck’ WAP stores.
The prevailing wisdom today is that 80% of mobile content (games, tones, videos etc) sales come through operator portals today. That’s where the ELSPA mobile charts draw their data. And who would argue since the myriad of off deck portals, WAP sites and direct print retailers are never approached for their sales figures. There remains a deep question mark over the validity of the data collected as the notion that operator sales comprise over 80% is not backed up by any data from the combined set of all other channels. Now if these 80% of sales migrate to the ‘more level’ flat rate playing field . Then savvy off deck vendors will make big gains. Freed mobile subscribers will find their content easier, pay less to buy and incur less overheads in the purchase. The experience will be simpler and enjoyable and more importantly, repeated .
Why the off deckers?, because they are better at what they do. They have had to survive in an unequal playing fiield for years. They are faster and hungrier than carriers and far more focused.
So the current offdeck channels will quickly grow. (and quick in Mobile terms is within a few months). We see it all the time when we service emerging retailers with a nice D2C marketing budget and watch their volumes grow rapidly when they get the mix right. Now with flat rate ,or what passes for it today. takes off they are at no disadvantage. With Paypal Mobile, although it is still cumbersome to get registered, the PSMS revenue slices lost to Carriers are available for re-investing in better promotion and ultimately sales.
Then comes the icing on the cake. If Carriers use Google as an entry point search page, much like the current internet location of Google search on almost everyone’s screen users will become Google hooked rather than carrier portal addicted. It’s a short step to having Google as the home wap page rather than the carrier’s and then the battle is truly lost.
The retailers willing to spend on Google marketing and promotion reap the rewards and carrier portals fade away into the distant past.
The same question that applied to ISP home pages will now apply to carrier home WAP pages….why bother? The subscribers now have the keys to the whole shopping mall and will make straight for the best stores.
Winners : off deck portals who spend on Google and build awareness. Aggregators not tied into big carriers but widely spread between carriers and off deckers.
Publishers who embrace the new regime and spend accordingly. Good retail brands that can transpose their credibility to WAP supermarkets.
Users, who will grow in number now that they understand the whole buying experience better.
Losers : Carriers (will become dumber pipes since they have long ago stopped sending on marketing themselves but rely on co-promotion with developers/publishers and aggregators). Now these people can do it themselves via Google and divert purchasers to their own wap storefronts.
Large publishers who have cosy Carrier relationships and are valued on these contracts. The value of the contracts will diminish rapidly and hence their share prices???
We in Selatra have played a predominantly off deck game waiting for such an inevitable shift to happen. We expect our off deck clients to prosper more than most as the icebergs melt away.
Whither Carriers then ? The era of flirting with captive clients is over. Video, TV, Tones, Music and Games is not their core business and they are ill suited to the entertainment world. They should realise that consumer service innovation comes mainly from 3rd party service developers and should develop platforms that link service providers with advertisers and mobile consumers. Their future is not in Content sales but in voice added services and services brokering which is what they are best at doing. They will also play a key role in introducing content to subscribers and play the service ‘matchmaker’ role. i.e. provide service pipes rather than dump pipes. This is the ultimate win –win for them with revenue at both service ends. Let the match making begin…….
This weeks announcements by Google (mobile search results placing bidding opens for business) and Paypal (Mobile payments service launches) mark the beginning of the end of Operator dominance in the control of mobile content and loosens their grip on the lion’s share of revenues. It comes in the wake of a series of, long overdue, ‘flat rate’ data announcements from the Carriers.
Taken together, the Google and Paypal news stories follow the inexorable trend, previously witnessed in the online world where ISP walled gardens collapsed in favour of open access models. Now the hitherto captive mobile subscriber, encouraged by the arrival of ‘near’ flat rate data and a more open mobile internet world, is ready to go fully mobile. The days of the Operator controlled mobile online experiences, much like the old AOL ISP walled garden experiences are over.
But while there are profound impacts on the subscriber and their usage patterns the impact will also be felt in the pockets of Carriers and their on deck suppliers of content. A power shift is emerging.
Firstly data usage rates will rise, more content will be consumed but not from the ‘on deck’ WAP stores.
The prevailing wisdom today is that 80% of mobile content (games, tones, videos etc) sales come through operator portals today. That’s where the ELSPA mobile charts draw their data. And who would argue since the myriad of off deck portals, WAP sites and direct print retailers are never approached for their sales figures. There remains a deep question mark over the validity of the data collected as the notion that operator sales comprise over 80% is not backed up by any data from the combined set of all other channels. Now if these 80% of sales migrate to the ‘more level’ flat rate playing field . Then savvy off deck vendors will make big gains. Freed mobile subscribers will find their content easier, pay less to buy and incur less overheads in the purchase. The experience will be simpler and enjoyable and more importantly, repeated .
Why the off deckers?, because they are better at what they do. They have had to survive in an unequal playing fiield for years. They are faster and hungrier than carriers and far more focused.
So the current offdeck channels will quickly grow. (and quick in Mobile terms is within a few months). We see it all the time when we service emerging retailers with a nice D2C marketing budget and watch their volumes grow rapidly when they get the mix right. Now with flat rate ,or what passes for it today. takes off they are at no disadvantage. With Paypal Mobile, although it is still cumbersome to get registered, the PSMS revenue slices lost to Carriers are available for re-investing in better promotion and ultimately sales.
Then comes the icing on the cake. If Carriers use Google as an entry point search page, much like the current internet location of Google search on almost everyone’s screen users will become Google hooked rather than carrier portal addicted. It’s a short step to having Google as the home wap page rather than the carrier’s and then the battle is truly lost.
The retailers willing to spend on Google marketing and promotion reap the rewards and carrier portals fade away into the distant past.
The same question that applied to ISP home pages will now apply to carrier home WAP pages….why bother? The subscribers now have the keys to the whole shopping mall and will make straight for the best stores.
Winners : off deck portals who spend on Google and build awareness. Aggregators not tied into big carriers but widely spread between carriers and off deckers.
Publishers who embrace the new regime and spend accordingly. Good retail brands that can transpose their credibility to WAP supermarkets.
Users, who will grow in number now that they understand the whole buying experience better.
Losers : Carriers (will become dumber pipes since they have long ago stopped sending on marketing themselves but rely on co-promotion with developers/publishers and aggregators). Now these people can do it themselves via Google and divert purchasers to their own wap storefronts.
Large publishers who have cosy Carrier relationships and are valued on these contracts. The value of the contracts will diminish rapidly and hence their share prices???
We in Selatra have played a predominantly off deck game waiting for such an inevitable shift to happen. We expect our off deck clients to prosper more than most as the icebergs melt away.
Whither Carriers then ? The era of flirting with captive clients is over. Video, TV, Tones, Music and Games is not their core business and they are ill suited to the entertainment world. They should realise that consumer service innovation comes mainly from 3rd party service developers and should develop platforms that link service providers with advertisers and mobile consumers. Their future is not in Content sales but in voice added services and services brokering which is what they are best at doing. They will also play a key role in introducing content to subscribers and play the service ‘matchmaker’ role. i.e. provide service pipes rather than dump pipes. This is the ultimate win –win for them with revenue at both service ends. Let the match making begin…….
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