The CMP Group has released the roster of speakers for the Game Developers Conference Mobile 2008.
Featured speakers for the year include Mofactor CEO John Szeder; Mitch Lasky, partner at Benchmark Capital; Rich Moran, partner at Venrock; Chip Austin, managing principal of i-Hatch Ventures; Pikkle KK president David Collier; Tom Park, director of operations at Digital Chocolate; and Rick Marazzani, general manager of iQ212.
“GDC Mobile is uniquely positioned to bring together leading creative and business professionals in the mobile games industry to showcase and brainstorm innovation at both the development and business levels,” said Jamil Moledina, Executive Director of the Game Developers Conference. “We’re also excited to put our thumb on the scale a bit, and reward some of the most ambitious mobile game developers at our first annual IGF Mobile awards.”
The GDC will will be held February 18th and 19th as the Moscone Convention Center. A full roster of sessions and speakers can be found at the conference’s website.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Capcom has announced that they will be bringing their popular Devil May Cry series to mobile phones.
The game is based on Devil May Cry 3, which debuted on the PlayStation 2. Players take control of Dante, a mercenary specializing in paranormal cases. The fully 3D game features over 10 hours of gameplay spread throughout 45 missions. Players can use the sword, Rebellion, and the twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory–and a variety of other weapons that are found throughout the game–to unleash huge combos on wide variety of enemies.
The game will be available throughout Europe in February of 2008.
Popularity: 9% [?]
I-play has announced plans to bring Pandemic Studios’ Mercenaries 2 to mobile phones.
Based on the popular PC and console series, Mercenaries 2 follows the story of a group of mercenaries battling against a power-hungry tyrant who is after Venezuela’s oil supply. There are no details yet about how the translation from console and PC to mobile will affect the gameplay.
“Pandemic Studios is a AAA developer, and we are excited to be partnering with them to bring the Mercenaries franchise to mobile,” said I-play’s president, David Gosen. “We are thrilled that Pandemic Studios has chosen I-play to expand the Mercenaries universe.”
The mobile game will launch early in 2008.
Popularity: 14% [?]
Sandlot Games has announced the opening of a new online store powered by Movaya’s e-commerce software.
Movaya’s software allows gamers to purchase Sandlot titles like Cake Mania and Slyder, and also handles transactions, real-time reporting, and customer support. This is the first new user of Movaya’s software that we’ve heard of since their revealing in March.
“Now consumers have a very easy, instantaneous way to get the most popular Sandlot Games’ on their phones,” said Daniel Bernstein, founder and CEO of Sandlot Games. “Movaya’s e-commerce mobile game solution is a great fit for our online store and we expect it will dramatically improve sales of our mobile titles.”
The titles are available at Sandlot’s website.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Acme Mobile has announced the addition of two industry veterans to their executive roster.
Kristan Rivers has taken the role of Acme’s chief operating officer. Before the new position, he was general manager of the Asia/Pacific region (where Acme Mobile is located) for Player X, and before that was the business development director for Digital Bridges–now known as I-play.
Bryan Head, now country manager for Acme’s Philippines operations, worked most recently at Red Circle Technologies as general manager of the Asia/Pacific region. He has also worked for Hands On Mobile and Riot Entertainment.
“This has been a great year of growth for us,” said Paul Meyers, Acme Mobile’s CEO. “We’ve signed many strong content partners, expanded our Amob.com channels, launched a wide range of great new products and now we’re thrilled to add two mobile industry veterans to our team. Kristan and Bryan bring to Acme an enormous amount of experience and expertise, from which we can only benefit.”
Meyers went on to say that Meyer’s and Head’s “knowledge and wisdom will be invaluable as Acme continues to grow.”
Popularity: 10% [?]
Ojom has announced the launch of a mobile game version of Magnum P.I.
Players take control of Thomas Magnum, the iconic Navy Seal-turned-private investigator, scouring Hawaii for criminals. The adventure game features 20 levels, including bonus levels, and easy, intuitive controls. Magnum will run automatically, and players use the control pad to jump, slide, and adjust his position.
“Magnum P.I is an exciting addition to our range of mobile game titles,” said Marc Buße, Channel Manager of Ojom GmbH. “Many people will remember the immensely popular and iconic 80s TV series. This is an exhilarating and addictive jump ‘n’ run style game that we hope will appeal to a cross section of mobile gamers.”
The game is available on Java-enabled handsets from major operators in a range of European languages.
Popularity: 11% [?]
OrangePixel has announced two new games, both developed by Gidax: Druid and 7th Space.
In 7th Space, players take control of the heroine Lea who is simply looking for her lost dog and ends up saving a whole planet. Druid puts players in the role of a druid with the power to transform into a dragon. Trapped in a castle, he must use all his cunning to avoid the traps and monster and make his way to the surface.
“Gidax has developed a couple of great games that sadly have not found a way to the playing audience they deserve,” said OrangePixel CEO Pascal Bestebroer. “OrangePixel aids developers like this with a world-wide distribution network and we like to get their games known with a bigger audience.”
Both games will be available worldwide via normal distribution in the coming weeks, with an ad-wrapped version following after.
Popularity: 9% [?]
HeroCraft has announced the release of Kamikaze 2: The Way of Ninja.
Players take control of the peasant Fujiyama, who has become the leader of a clan of ninja. He must lead his clan in an effort to save Japan. The game feature 4 controllable characters, 10 locations and quests, and a wide variety of weapon, armor, and stat upgrades for each character.
HeroCraft has designed a website for the game and released a trailer on YouTube.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Hands-On Mobile has announced a new game pack called Japanese Puzzles.
The game combines three Japanese puzzle game together in one pack: Tenpenki, Kakuro, and the ubiquitous Sudoku. Tenpenki is a logic puzzle where players must use clues, in the form of numbers on each row and column, to create a picture in a grid. Kakuro is a form of mathematical crossword puzzle and is second only to Sudoku itself in popularity in Japan.
“Japanese Puzzles is a unique game that combines the familiarity of Sudoku with different and equally challenging games that will attract both new and avid puzzle fans,” said Eric Hobson, President and General Manager EMEA at Hands-On Mobile. “The puzzle sector is a vast market, and one where demand still exceeds supply. We are looking forward to helping people everywhere combat boredom wherever they may be with the three addictive and re-playable puzzle games in Japanese Puzzles.”
Popularity: 13% [?]
Electronic Arts has announced SimCity Societies for mobile phones.
Based on the popular PC title, SimCity Societies put players in charge of building and managing a thriving city. Players can start from a number of different scenarios or an empty patch of bare land, then place 50 building types to create everything from a police state to a liberal utopia. As the city grows, even more buildings are unlocked, and challenges–such as earthquakes–can upset the delicate balance.
“We are very excited to release the mobile version of SimCity Societies,†said Javier Ferreira, VP of European Publishing at EA. “This is a great game for either someone new to the SimCity experience as it is engaging and rewarding quickly or for loyal SimCity fans to take the their game experience with them anywhere they go. The creativity and immersion offered on the mobile platform demonstrates the universal appeal of SimCity and its ability to translate well to the mobile game experience.”
The game will hit Europe later this month and will follow in North America shortly after.
Popularity: 8% [?]
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