LOS ANGELES-The wireless industry is looking to make a major show at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the main trade conference for the video game industry. A range of wireless players are announcing new products and new deals.
Indeed, wireless gaming will likely be a big deal-research firm IDC predicts the revenues from mobile gaming will grow from $130 million last year to $4 billion by 2007.
In the news, Sega Mobile, a division of Sega.com Inc., announced it will sell its content over Handango’s own Web site and the various download portals it manages, including Yahoo! and Wireless Gaming Review. Sega’s games will sell for between $3 and $6.
“We look forward to working with Handango to provide their users better, more immediate access to our premier mobile-phone gaming content,” said Jennifer Walters, director of marketing at Sega Mobile. “Partnering with a trusted source such as Handango helps ensure that mobile users can find Sega Mobile content wherever they look for mobile-phone content.”
Separately, wireless publisher Thumbworks Inc. released eight new games for Qualcomm Inc.’s BREW application download service, including Barry Bonds Baseball and Jeep Off-road Jam. Publisher Airborne Entertainment Inc. also announced new titles for BREW, including Six Feet Under: The Parlour Game and MAXIM Gentlemen’s Ringers & Manly Tones.
Such branded and copyright protected content has recently raised the issue of digital rights management, one that the wireless industry is in the early stages of confronting. Along these lines, End2End announced it will work with DRM company BitArts to develop copyright protection software for its Java application download service. End2End operates wireless content delivery for several European carriers.
Finally, The Mobile Entertainment Forum, which represents many of the wireless gaming companies, at the E3 trade show announced it will form a new initiative to drive mobile communities, which allow users to communicate with other people through applications or services over mobile phones.
