Have Cell Phone, Will Shoot "The carnage occurs with cellular phones, not guns -- courtesy of new technologies that allow cell phone users to locate each other to within several hundred meters.... The games rely on a cell phone technology that allows mobile operators to pinpoint users' positions within "cells" formed by their phones' locations relative to nearby transmitters...."
"The company's signature game is BotFighters, which Hålling says has attracted between 7,000 and 8,000 players in Sweden and Finland. The game will launch shortly in Ireland. In BotFighters, users role-play as robots that they pick from a community website. They can pick all kinds of extras like laser guns and missiles, using play money called 'Robucks.' "
"But once they start firing at each other in the real world, they pay real money -- about 20 cents for each move in the game. (The cell phones can "get" missions from the company's servers, "scan" for nearby enemies and, of course, "fire.") Since intense battles often involve many moves, the games can quickly add up to some big phone bills. Sweden's Taxi31, for instance, has chalked up bills as high as $4,000." [at Wired News]
I'm quoting liberally from this article because most of the adults I know don't believe that kids - let alone other adults - will want to play games on their cell phones. Granted, the U.S. will be a different market, but any kid that's grown up with Gameboys will feel right at home with something like this. I mean heck, it's interactive and you can play against anybody, not just your next door neighbor.
In my Information Shifting presentation, I note that wireless companies plan to target their advertising at kids 10 years old and younger because they are considered to be the first big wave for this market. After all, what 10 year old wouldn't want to collect zombies and play virtual paintball using their PDA/phone combo? They don't know cell phones are supposed to be for calling people. To them, it will be an information appliance, game console, and IM tool all rolled into one.
BTW, you can find out more about BotFighters and other games at the It's Alive site. It's nice to see that it still has the heartbeat along the top and the funky background sounds. The site is perfect for a cellular game company. "Pervasive gaming" is a term you'll hear a lot more of over the next few years.
10:28:52 AM 
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