Mobile phone users are no longer content with making phone calls or sending text messages, while makers are responding by offering other functions such as games.
Mobile phone operators and television broadcasts have introduced games for mobile phones, and personal computer makers, along with games console developers are constantly bringing new games to the market.
“The games are being brought out in a variety of versions to ensure compatibility with many of the mobile phones on the market,” says Uwe Baltner of telecoms portal Xonio.com in Munich.
“The classic is Snake from Nokia. In this game you have to collect blocks in a labyrinth in order to make the snake grow longer.”
Among the newcomers there are often complex, sometimes three-dimensional, versions of games originally designed for the pc or the various games consoles, Baltner says.
Electronic Arts for example now has mobile versions of “FIFA 06” and “Need for Speed Most Wanted”.
There are also games that have been specifically designed for the mobile phone, such as the ambitious strategic game “Townsmen” by HandyGames. The third part has just come onto the market.
Naturally mobile phone users can play games with or against each other. “Two mobiles are connected via Bluetooth,” says Baltner.
Markus Kassulke of HandyGames in Bavarian says some of the games have become “very popular”, such as “Bowling”, which can be played with the standard keys.
Often the games are played by means of a small Joystick attached to the mobile. “These have attained the quality of a C64 Joystick,” Kassulke says. The displays have also become larger and the colours better.
Some of the simpler games are now being included as standard when the phone is sold, Baltner says, but most are downloaded from the Internet from the provider.
“This works without any difficulty, and the games are priced at around 5 euros (6 dollars) each,” he says.
Tech watchers believe there is still some way to go before, but add that there are limits. “The graphics and the sound will continue to see improvements,” Baltner says.
Florian Stein, editor of the Stuttgart magazine Connect, says that the 5-euro games will, for most users, represent a kind of “sound barrier” for the foreseeable future.
“I do not believe that playing games on the mobile phone will take off as a market segment all on its own,” the dedicated tech watcher says.
Games fans after all have other means of making their hobby portable, such as consoles like Playstation Portable (PSP) and Nintendos DS.
