Mobile game

A mobile game is a commercial product that is distributed to the customer using mobile operator 's network.

Devices used for mobile games include mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) devices.

Mobile Games are developed using technologies such as Sun's J2ME (Java2 Micro Edition) Qualcomm's BREW (Binary Runtime for Wireless) or Infusio's ExEn (Execution Environment). Other platforms are also available, but not as common.

Mobile Games tend to be small in scope and often rely on good gameplay over flashy graphics, due to the lack of processing power of the client devices. One major problem for developers and publishers of mobile games is describing a game in such detail that it gives the customer enough information to make a purchasing decision. Currently, Mobile Games are mainly sold through Network Carriers / Operators portals and this means there are only a few lines of text and perhaps a screenshot of the game to excite the customer. Two strategies are followed by developers and publishers to combat this lack of purchasing information, firstly there is a reliance on powerful brands and licences that impart a suggestion of quality to the game such as Tomb Raider or Colin Mcrae and secondly there is the use of well known and established play patterns (game play mechanics that are instantly recognisable) such as Tetris, Space Invaders or Poker. Both these strategies are used to decrease the perceived level of risk that the customer feels when choosing a game to download from the carrier’s deck.

Recent innovations in mobile games include Singleplayer, Multiplayer and 3D graphics. Virtual love games belong to both of singleplayer and multiplayer games. They can solve the problem that people feel lonely in the morden life, help people find their love and happy mood in the virtual world. Multiplayer games are quickly finding an audience, as players find the ability to play against other people, a natural extension of their mobile phone’s connectivity.

While multiplayer is becoming an essential facet of mobile games, the increase in development cost for developing 3D games is preventing many developers from implementing this technology.

External links

• Commercial site describing mobile phone features from the USA point of view.
• Cell Phone Safety
• How Cell Phones Work
• Linux on mobile phones
• Mobile Imaging and Printing Consortium (MIPC).
• An integrated phone, mp3, camera and PDA device
• Wikipedia on WAP enabled cellular phones
• Wireless Local Number Portability - WLNP
• Mobile Banking