Mobile Monday Barcelona

Mobile Gaming and Beyond

6 Comments Published March 16th, 2007 in MobileMonday, MobileMonday Barcelona, MobileMonday Spain, Mobile Gaming

In our next MobileMonday Barcelona event on Monday, April 2, we will discuss the current state of the mobile gaming industry and present the new opportunties and challenges that lay ahead.

Currently, the mobile game market is highly dominated by games that have an easy gameplay, few simple rules and do not require special skills to enjoy. These games are mostly clones of successful casual games such as Minesweeper or Tetris.

However, the future of mobile gaming seems to rely on new types of gameplays that embed the new capabilities of mobile phones to sense their context. Like the newly released and successful Wiimote, mobile devices become sensitive to movements (e.g. Nokia N5500), engaging players to physically move as part of the gameplay. In addition, the emergence near-field communication (RFID, Bluetooth, QR codes) and location-aware technologies enable new types of scenarios that link virtual worlds with the players’ physical surroundings. For example, multi-player location-based games played out on city streets and built up urban environments.

The increasing contextual and proximity awareness of mobile devices provide new opportunities for players to engage in collaborative or competitive game settings. In contrast to this pretty picture, many issues such as the operators walled gardens, the size of the screens, network quality and coverage as well as the processing power of the mobile phone challenge the development and deployment of these new types of games. Finally, the Economic future: who is going to pick up the fragmentation and the distribution challenge? Where is the 8 bn mobile gaming market?

DATE: Monday, April 2 2007

SPEAKERS:

Nicolas Nova (Switzerland) - researcher at EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)

His current research is directed towards the user experience of mobile and ubiquitous computing. He recently completed a PhD in computer sciences, which investigated the usage of location-awareness in a collaborative pervasive game (CatchBob!). He also works as a consultant for video-game companies, focusing on ‘user experience’ analysis, usability testing and foresight research. Read his blog here.

Maarten Noyons (France) - Managing Director, International Mobile Gaming Awards

Maarten Noyons has been a media entrepreneur since 1986 and works in mobile entertainment since 1998. Maarten runs the media consultancy company NCC & Partners and works for clients in the public and private sector. In 2004 he launched the International Mobile Gaming Awards, now the leading award for innovation in mobile entertainment in the world with US$ 40,000 of prizes to win and, in 2006, 400 innovative companies from 42 countries participating. Maarten will bring us an overview of the winning game companies of the International Mobile Gaming Awards and will give us his vision on the creative and economic future of mobile ‘connected’ games.

Ignacio Cavero (Spain) - President and CEO, LemonQuest

LemonQuest is a global publisher of mobile games and personalization products for network operator portals, delivering a vast ray of content in 48 countries worldwide. LemonQuest develops and publishes some of the world most innovative and exciting mobile games and entertainment applications and gives leading mobile operators everything they need — premium and niche brands, a comprehensive catalogue of content, and delivery technology to successfully provide these products to their subscribers. LemonQuest recently announced the acquisition of the Chinese company i4Game, an innovative developer of mobile games. The acquisition gives LemonQuest new territories of operations and a true 3D games portfolio ready to be sold to their mobile carrier customers.

Marta Vieira (Portugal) – Head of Entertaiment Division, YDreams

Marta has been with YDreams since 2005. She currently runs the Entertainment Division where she oversees the development and distribution of mobile games, business strategy, and marketing and product management.

YDreams Entertainment is an innovative developer and publisher of entertainment solutions & games, working with partners worldwide to develop original and licensed titles and interactive experiences for the future. A recognized world leader in location-based gaming, YDreams has brought exciting new experiences to gamers worldwide with titles ranging from location-based Massively Multiplayer On-Line Games (Undercover, Undercover 2: Merc Wars) to online cross-media (MS4 Spooks: Mobile). Their latest location-based game, Wall Street Fighter, was recently a finalist at Mobile Game Innovation Hunt at GDC2007 and is a finalist at the 2007 LBS Challenge.

Location has been described as the next killer app. The interesting question is: what can it do for your gaming experience? Find out why this is an innovative way of using your mobile, and why you can forget location’s boring connotation of navigation. Examples of LBG’s will be provided as quick cases, incorporating YDreams’ experience and, most importantly, what was learned every step of the way.

Thanks to Fabien Girardin from the Interactive Technologies Group, UPF University for his inspiration and energy on this topic.

As usual, a networking party will follow the conference where participants will enjoy a glass of cava while sharing experiences about life and work. Attendance is free; all you need to do is register and/or confirm your presence for this event at www.mobilemondaybarcelona.com/subscribe/ to reserve one of the 150 seats available. Book now to avoid being left out!

19h00 Registration and Pre-Networking
19h30 Mobile Gaming and Beyond speaker sessions & discussion
21h30 Cocktail and Networking Party
22h30 End

Venue: Auditorium University of Pompeu Fabra - França Building (Edifici França), Passeig de Circumval·lació, 8 - Barcelona 08003

Location and Directions here at Google Maps.

MobileMonday is a community of mobile professionals organised around local networking events in almost 40 cities around the world. This open community promotes the mobile industry and fosters cooperation and networking among industry people and their companies by providing opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.

MobileMonday Barcelona is organised by Rudy De Waele, Carles Ferreiro and Barcelona Media.

Our Partners
Our thanks to our partners Telefónica Movistar, 22@Barcelona, Alcatel-Lucent, Ajuntament de Barcelona, CIDEM (Centre d’Innovació i Desenvolupament Empresarial of the Generalitat de Catalunya) and Agora 22@ for their invaluable support.