CTIA panel shills for mobile gaming

SAN FRANCISCO--CTIA Wireless, a trade show devoted to the mobile beat, including wireless gaming, kicked off its four-day run in San Francisco with a daylong conference program this past Sunday. After enduring a lineup of mostly self-congratulatory industry panels--during which the most important news came from Verizon Wireless VP Paul Palmieri, who announced that the company's Get It Now! service had reached the 100-million-download milestone--eight mobile pundits finally got around to discussing what we all care most about, the games.

Unfortunately, not much of importance was discussed or revealed. The panel, titled "Load, Lock, N-Gage! Mobile Gaming Takes Off," was moderated by Konny Zsigo, the president of the Wireless Developer Agency. Zsigo claimed he was well suited for the role, as his company deals "with players at different levels of the mobile food chain." He spoke enthusiastically of advancements in the mobile sphere, citing increased market stratification and higher spending on game development. His panelists briefly introduced themselves as follows:

Roy Sehgal, VP of business evelopment, July Systems: "We work with game publishers to reach the mass market, and to help them maximize the longevity of their titles."

Trip Hawkins, founder, Digital Chocolate: "At Digital Chocolate, we think of the phone as the 'social computer.' We're exploring in different market segments, because we don't believe anyone's found the heartbeat of mobile yet."

Ray Schaaf, president of publishing, Sorrent: "We've been successfully concentrating on producing consolelike titles, working with publishers like Atari to bring you great content. Casual gaming is an important phenomenon, however, and one that needs attention as well. We've recently licensed some PopCap games to serve that end. We're looking to go for a wide approach with our content."

Andy Nulman, president, Airborne Entertainment: "We make great games, and work with interesting properties."

Vishal Gondal, funder and CEO, Indiagames: "Or first major launch was Spider-Man Classic, which we rolled out in 40 countries. That was followed by Predator, Buffy, and now Bruce Lee. The keys to success on mobile are quality branding, good time-to-market figures, and fostering a great experience for the consumer."

Dan Silberberger, manager, games content, Nextel, and Mike Yuen, director, BREW developer relations, declined to make an introductory comment.

From there, the panel started in earnest, with questions SMS messaged in onto two large screens. Unsurprisingly, the first query pertained to Jamdat's recent IPO, about which the panelists were asked to generally comment. Mike Yuen, recovering from his early reticence, spoke first, saying, "[The stock] closed over $30 recently--just shy of THQ's. The market is here, it's real. You can make money in this industry." Vishal Gondal mirrored Yuen's positive outlook, adding, "Jamdat may act as a catalyst to unite this fragmented industry. We need convergence to put this thing in a much bigger place." Andy Nulman, ever irreverent, interjected, "Yeah, and now they [Jamdat] don't have to come here anymore."

Next, the panelists fielded questions about achieving deck placement, but fortunately, quickly moved on to discuss "the next big thing" for mass-market mobile, and whether it will be GPRS multiplayer or three-dimensional graphics. The panel speculated that both multiplayer and 3D gaming will become widely available, and consumer demand will determine which breaks through first.

The next question asked how long J2ME will last as a viable platform, given the emergence of Macromedia's Flash--already a popular gaming solution in the Japanese mobile market. "Two days," quipped Nulman, brushing some imperceptible piece of lint from his sport coat.

To conclude the discussion, moderator Konny Zsigo asked each panelist to describe a mobile development within the past year that really impressed him. Without exception, the panelists took the opportunity to promote their latest games. In one memorable moment, Andy Nulman flung about 100 singles in the air. Although each of these had an advertisement for the company's Donald Trump's Real Estate Tycoon printed on it, they were much sought after by a suddenly enlivened crowd.

Sunday's proceedings in general seemed like a mad grasping for investment and interest. Several dozen mobile executives scrambling in response to Nulman's extension of largesse seemed an appropriate metaphor.