Greystripe Signs Up Sega

Ad-supported mobile games and applications distributor Greystripe has signed a deal with Sega to deliver free mobile games.
Three classic game titles from the Sega collection will be delivered across mobile phones worldwide through all 50 of Greystripe's Catalog Platform partners in addition to GameJump.com, the world's largest ad-supported mobile game portal. Additionally, Sega will monetize its mobile game content via Greystripe's AdWRAP advertising network, which includes brands like Diet Coke, Yahoo!, New Line Cinema and eBay. The three games available initially are ‘Sonic Jump’, ‘Afterburner II’, and ‘Golden Axe’.
“Sega has selected to be a part of the Greystripe’s distribution network of sites as it opens up the category to a whole new market of consumers,” says Linda Chaplin, VP of Mobile at Sega. “The ‘free games’ proposition allows consumers to try mobile games without risk, and we’re confident that our brands and commitment to quality will convince consumers to stay and continue gaming on their mobile phones.”
Greystripe CEO Michael Chang adds:
“Besides being the biggest name in gaming, Sega has incredible IP and truly understands the move to mobile with their classic game titles. Our partnership with them is a huge win for our end users and demonstrates that Greystripe is able to bring the biggest brands to the mobile gaming audience.”
Greystripe recently celebrated 50 million game downloads, including titles from Sega, Digital Chocolate, Vivendi Games Mobile and Hands-On Mobile, downloaded from GameJump.com, Greystripe’s proprietary mobile game portal.
Greystripe's patent-pending AdWRAP technology automates the process that enables ads to be wrapped directly with mobile games and applications without any complex coding and development for the content owner.

Iron Man Comes to Mobile

Hands-On Mobile, which develops connected games and applications, and Marvel Entertainment, have announced the availability of the mobile game and personalisation content around the big-screen adaptation of Marvel’s legendary superhero, Iron Man. The game and content is currently available on select carriers around the world, and will continue to roll out to additional carriers in the coming weeks.
In the vertically scrolling shoot-em-up Iron Man mobile game, players take control of the invincible Iron Man while fighting through four levels of non-stop action, based on the movie starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard. 
“We are thrilled to add Iron Man to our extensive Marvel Mobile catalogue,” says Hands-On Mobile President, Niccolo de Masi. “This summer promises to be a blockbuster for mobile content, and we look forward to continuing to provide mobile gamers with stylish and exciting content based on the much-loved Marvel characters.”
Hands-On Mobile is also developing a mobile game and content around Marvel Studios’ upcoming film ‘The Incredible Hulk’, distributed by Universal Pictures, which will hit the big screen on June 13. The mobile properties will launch in conjunction with the film’s release.

Mippin Goes Game Crazy

Refresh Mobile, the company behind mobile portal Mippin, has introduced a free mobile games service for its users.Mippin users now have access to a portfolio of over 800 free mobile games.
Refresh says the move is in response to the results of a series of user surveys that have requested games within the Mippin service. The games are being provided in partnership with ad-funded games specialist Greystripe.
Refresh says that the quality of its ad-supported games will be as high as those available from any other service, and that the advertising does not interrupt the game or affect playability. Ads are inserted when a game is launched and when a user completes a gaming session. Mippin users will be offered a choice of 200 games at a time, with the full set rotated to a new selection on a regular basis. The games are accessible to all users without charge through Refresh Mobile’s use of Greystripe’s AdWRAP Catalogue service.
“We wanted to continue our philosophy of providing free ad-supported quality content to our users and Greystripe provide some of the best free games we’ve seen,” says Refresh Mobile Co-Founder, Robin Jewsbury. “Following on from the successful launch of our free video downloads service, the launch of our games section underlines our commitment to bringing the best free content to mobile users through a single mobile portal.”

Age of Empires III Comes to Mobile

Mobile games publisher Glu Mobile has announced the North American launch of the latest in the best-selling Age of Empires franchise to come to mobile phones. ‘Age of Empires III Mobile’ was developed and published through Glu’s worldwide partnership with Microsoft, and is based on the award-winning real-time strategy (RTS) franchise for the PC developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios.
Age of Empires III Mobile lets users experience the epic age of discovery by exploring the New World as they build and conquer rival colonies in pursuit of the ultimate empire. The mobile version includes a variety of historical battles in skirmish mode and the task of defending Malta from the Ottoman Empire in an extended campaign mode which serves as a prequel to the Age of Empires III PC game.
Features include an historically immersive setting; real-time strategy; depth of gameplay; intuitive controls; and two gameplay modes.
The game is available now available via major wireless carriers in Europe, North and South America.

LemonQuest Adds Three

Mobile content comapany LemonQuest has increased its foothold in the mobile gaming market with three new titles: ‘Dots & Boxes’, ‘Gravity 360º’ and ‘Pro Pinball: Big Race USA’. The games increase LemonQuest’s catalogue to over 30 titles, with a further 25 expected in 2008.
In Dots & Boxes, gamers have to join the dots that are next to each other in twos, either horizontally or vertically, until the four sides of the box are formed. Gravity 360º is a puzzle game in a 3D world where players burst bubbles to progress through the 15 different levels. And Pro Pinball: Big Race USA stars a traditional American yellow cab in an adrenaline-pumping action game as players take a white-knuckle ride across the country for their chance to complete the race. 
“These new games add a variety of different gaming experiences to the mobile phone,” says LemonQuest Licensing Manager, Bernard Seco. “Bringing games like this to our catalogue ensures mobile phone gamers are able to enjoy a similar level of graphics, playability and enjoyment to those playing games on other platforms."

AOL Partners with Cellufun for Ad-funded Mobile Games

AOL has begun offering free mobile web-based (WAP) games through its mobile portal at http://wap.aol.com/games. The games are accessible through consumers’ mobile web browsers and require no downloads. They are being provided by New York-based Cellufun, which last month took the 2008 Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Game at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for its game,  ‘Call of the Pharaoh’.
The games are available now through AOL's mobile portal, and will be offered on a free, ad-supported basis. Advertising inventory will be sold by AOL's ad network,  Platform-A's Third Screen Media. All of Cellufun's most popular mobile web titles are available, including ‘Call of the Pharaoh’, ‘Space Wars’, ‘Ice Fishing’ and more.
“We're thrilled to offer Cellufun's catalog of popular games to our mobile users,” says Steve Murphy, Senior Vice President, AOL. “Games are a great complement to the robust entertainment offerings available through the AOL mobile portal.”

The Sun Shines on Football Pro Game

Mobile and online football gaming company Sports Pro Games has signed a sponsorship deal with News Group Digital. The agreement allows Sports Pro Games to use ‘The Sun’ logo in-game with its mobile phone and Internet football game 'Football Pro', which launched yesterday.
According to Sports Pro Games, Football Pro is the world’s first online and mobile football game where users ‘train’ their own virtual player by putting him through a series of drills and coaching challenges. Fans can then upload their player’s stats onto Sports Pro Games’ website where, once the player hits the required level of ability, he is selected to sign for a virtual team. Teams go head-to-head in online League and Cup competitions, and the players develop their Football Pro careers just like players in the real world.
“We’re delighted to enter a partnership and sponsorship package with such a massive and recognisable brand as The Sun,” says Sports Pro Games Head of Development, Rob Henderson “Football Pro is the world’s first mobile-to-online, fully-connected football gaming experience.”
To download Football Pro for a free two-week trial, text FOOTBALLPRO to 62866.
After the Free trial, customers can subscribe to play on for £1 per week, which is collected through their mobile phone operator, or at discounted rates online on the Sports Pro Games website.

Glu Inks Madagascar Game Deal

Mobile games publisher Glu Mobile has signed a deal with DreamWorks Animation to develop and publish the mobile game for the 2008 movie release of ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’, the sequel to the studio’s 2005 hit animated movie, ‘Madagascar’. Glu will develop and publish a mobile game that will launch worldwide in conjunction with the film’s US premier on 7 November, 2008.
“Madagascar was an enormous success and created a broad fan base around the world,” says Jill Braff, Senior Vice President of Global Publishing at Glu Mobile. “We’re very pleased to announce this license with DreamWorks Animation to bring the Madagascar brand and its well-loved characters to mobile subscribers worldwide. Our production team is working closely with the DreamWorks team to create a vibrant and entertaining game that contains elements of the movie but has a storyline and game mission unique to itself.”
The film will be distributed by Paramount Pictures. Glu’s global launch of the mobile game and content will be available to consumers in October 2008.

Free Games for Me and You

Mobile entertainment company MoConDi has announced a partnership with Greystripe to make over 800 free mobile games available to members of the MoConDi-run ‘MeYou’ Community.
The deal means that MeYou users can browse through the Greystripe catalogue and download desired games, recommend them to other users, or share them web-to-mobile or mobile-to-mobile with one click for free. Friends receive mobile message recommendations that contain a message from users, a download link for the content and a link to install the MeYou application.
“Mobile social networks are an ideal place for users to discover and share ad-supported mobile games and we are thrilled to provide MoConDi’s users with our catalogue.” Says Alvaro Bravo, VP of Business Development at Greystripe. “By implementing our AdWRAP Catalog Platform, they are joining a worldwide movement of shifting from for-pay mobile content to one that is entirely ad-supported.”
Greystripe notes that ad-supported content has been shown to increase user stickiness, while providing a new, scalable revenue source. MoConDi will now be able to offer its MeYou users the largest collection of mobile games from top tier publishers such as Vivendi Games Mobile, Hands-On Mobile, Skyzone, Punch Entertainment, and Digital Chocolate. Greystripe’s games, in turn, will benefit from the viral distribution of mobile content through the users of the MeYou social network. The partnership allows Greystripe to extend its products and services into an on-device portal, exposing free games to more consumers than traditional off-deck markets.
“We are thrilled to enter into a partnership with Greystripe,” says MoConDi CEO, JT Klepp. “They are pioneering ad-supported mobile games and provide the best quality and quantity of entertainment for our audience. The initial response from our community is overwhelmingly positive.”

Glu Reveals N-Gage Line-up

Nokia and mobile games publisher Glu Mobile have jointly announced Glu’s initial line-up of games to be launched on the N-Gage platform in 2008. The titles launching are based on two major forthcoming films from Warner Bros. Pictures, ‘SPEED RACER’ and ‘The Dark Knight’, as well as ‘Super Slam Ping Pong’, a new original Glu title in the spirit of Glu’s popular ‘Super K.O. Boxing!’ game.
In ‘SPEED RACER’, players attempt to become the ultimate grand prix champion. Super Slam Ping Pong features a cast of wacky opponents such as Master Wu-Pong and the Gnarly Gnome. In The Dark Knight, Batman fights to eradicate street crime in Gotham City using his advanced combat skills and an array of unique gadgets.
“We’re pleased to bring these key titles from Glu to N-Gage,” says Glu CTO, Alex Galvagni. “N-Gage is a great innovation in mobile gaming technology, and this line-up of games from Glu utilizes the platform capabilities to offer richly rewarding game experiences.”
Gregg Sauter, Director of Third Party Publishing at Nokia, says the titles are valuable additions to the N-Gage platform, and will deliver exciting gaming experiences for N-Gage players.
“We’re delighted to further our relationship with Glu Mobile,” says Sauter. “Their catalogue of games is extremely strong and offers something for everyone.”

Jump Games in Man U Tie-up

Mobile games publisher and developer Jump Games has announced that it is open for business in Europe. The company has also revealed an exclusive global deal to design, develop and distribute mobile games with Manchester United Football Club, and says that further IP partnerships will be announced during the course of the year
“Working with Jump Games, a leading games developer in the mobile space, will mean that fans will be able to extend their experience of Manchester United, increasing their knowledge and enjoyment of the brand, wherever they are in the world,” says MUmobile Manager, Mike Dunphy.
The European launch and global announcement of ‘Official Mobile Games Partner of Manchester United’ were announced at a launch party in London last night, at which Man United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson sent a video message, and ex-Manchester United and England player Paul Parker made an appearance. 
Jump Games says it will develop six Manchester United mobile games during 2008.
The first is ‘Manchester United Word It!’ which will be available on all top operators globally. It will be priced at around £3.
Jump Games CEO, Salil Bhargava, says the company is pleased to be moving into a new phase for the business at a time when so much interest is focused on the mobile platform and its development beyond voice revenues.
“Our experience in creating and distributing quality content in one of the fastest-growing, yet cost-savvy mobile societies in the world puts us in a great position to help brands launch new and exciting content to entertainment-hungry consumers of mobile content in Europe and globally,” says Bhargava. “Our association with Manchester United is the ideal platform for us to further strengthen our offerings and reach out to a much larger set of audiences worldwide.”

Greystripe Sings Opera's Praises

Greystripe, which distributes ad-supported mobile games and applications, has announced early results from its partnership with Opera, the mobile web browsing software company, to bring free mobile content faster and easier to consumers browsing on their mobile phones. Opera is the latest of 20 distribution partners to use Greystripe’s AdWRAP Catalog Platform, bringing ad-supported award-winning mobile games to users of its Opera Mini browser.In the first month since the partnership launched, Opera users have downloaded over 1.6 million games and applications. The Opera Mini homepage now includes a GameJump bookmark, allowing users to access Greystripe’s free mobile game portal with one easy click. The GameJump bookmark joins other consumer brands such as Myspace, the New York Times, BBC and Yahoo! on the browser’s worldwide-accessible homepage. “We're excited to partner with Greystripe because they share our common belief in giving high-quality, engaging mobile experiences to consumers,” says Tatsuki Tomita, SVP consumer products at Opera. “Both Opera and Greystripe are well positioned to take advantage of the mobile web's explosive growth. By partnering now, we can offer more options to users today, and even more as we expand and develop our offerings.”Greystripe’s AdWRAP Catalog Platform enables mobile websites, Internet portals, social communities and mobile applications, like Opera Mini, to distribute Greystripe’s catalogue of over 900 mobile games to their users. The AdWRAP Catalog Platform is a hosted and customizable combination of mobile web and Internet technologies that can be tailored to the look and feel of any site, much like the added GameJump bookmark on Opera Mini’s customized browser homepage.“We are always looking for creative and effective ways to get great content to people,” says Greystripe CEO, Michael Chang. “This in-browser deal has been a coup for us and the early results have already deemed the deal a win-win-win for Greystripe, Opera, and most importantly, our consumers.”

Game Mobile Launches Mobile Games Top 20

Mobile games portal Game Mobile has launched the first weekly Top 20 chart to reveal mobile gamers' favourite games from all over the world. The company says the chart fills an industry gap for a weekly chart compiled from global downloads, rather than country or mobile network specific sales.
The chart, published each Friday at 2pm, tracks movements up and down, as well as peak positions, to give a true picture of the most popular mobile games. The chart is produced in an RSS standard form so that other sites can pull through and publish the data on a weekly basis.
Recent research from Juniper predicts that the mobile games market will be worth $10 billion (£5 billion) by 2009, with game downloads overtaking ringtones in many Western European markets.
“With a potential user base of well over 400 million mobile phones worldwide, we are about to witness an explosion of games for mobile phones,” says Game Mobile Director, Richard Hawley. “Our chart will provide a truly global marker of the most popular games as the mobile gaming market goes mainstream.”
Game Mobile was one of the first online portals for mobile games, applications, software, ringtones and wallpaper. All games and other content are fully tested, and a range of free content can be downloaded from the site to tempt new gamers.
Customers receive loyalty credits with every purchase, which can be traded for games, ringtones or wallpaper. Game Mobile does not charge a subscription or registration fee, and each customer is given a personalised account page, designed around their own phone.
You can see the Game Mobile chart here. And the RSS feed here.

Gamestripe in Digital Chocolate Deal

Greystripe, the distributor of ad-supported mobile games and applications and the creator of the first mobile in-game advertising network, has announced a Tier-1 game publisher deal to distribute free mobile games with award-winning publisher, Digital Chocolate.
A selection of Digital Chocolate’s mobile games will be delivered through all 20 of Greystripe’s Catalog Platform partners in addition to GameJump.com, the world’s largest free, ad-supported mobile game portal. Additionally, Digital Chocolate will monetize its content via Greystripe’s AdWRAP advertising network, which includes brands like Yahoo!, New Line Cinema, Progressive Insurance and Zagat.
“We are very supportive of new models that drive discovery and trial of mobile content,” says Digital Chocolate COO, Jason Loia. “Partnering with Greystripe is a big step towards this goal. Greystripe’s approach of ad-enabling content could open up a large segment of new consumers to our award-winning, made-for-mobile games.”
The Digital Chocolate games to be distributed by Greystripe include ‘Tower Bloxx’, ‘Café Solitaire’, ‘Johnny Crash’, ‘Mafia Wars Yakuza’, ‘Night Club Empire’, and ‘Rollercoaster Rush’.
“It’s a delight to offer our consumers such high quality, community driven, original mobile content,” says Erica Chriss, VP Business Development and Strategy at Greystripe. “Digital Chocolate has proven their content works in mobile and use is what drives real monetization inside an ad-based channel, like Greystripe.” Greystripe’s patent-pending AdWRAP technology automates the process that enables ads to be wrapped directly with mobile games and applications without any complex coding and development for the content owner. AdWRAP provides game publishers, Web and mobile media portals, and carriers with an additional source of revenue, while simultaneously building customer retention and loyalty.

Shazam Launches Shazam iD

Shazam, the mobile-to-web music services provider, has announced the release of Shazam iD, a mobile application which it says takes its award-winning mobile music recognition service to a new level of interactivity.
Shazam iD is a Java application that can be downloaded for free to mobile phones (though data charges apply), giving users more features and flexibility to discover and experience music. Shazam iD incorporates Shazam's native mobile music recognition technology as a primary function, but enhances the end-user experience by delivering a richer, more engaging music experience. The application prompts higher levels of repeat usage, which the company says should naturally result in increased data revenues for all network operators.
Once downloaded, the application sits on the handset’s main menu and offers the user one-click initiation utilising GPRS connectivity. At the touch of a button, users can 'iD' the music they are hearing and go on to access related information, including artist biographies and  recommendations, and ultimately purchase associated products from a range of integrated vendors.
"We have long recognised that the mobile device was set to become the centre of users' music experiences, as evidenced by the 11 million Shazamers who have used our services," says Shazam CEO, Andrew Fisher. "With the rapid adoption of more sophisticated handsets, we are delivering a greatly enhanced user experience via Shazam iD, that provides vastly optimised music discovery, transaction and community features to users worldwide."Shazam iD is compatible with 22 Java-enabled handsets in the UK and there is a rapid additional handset rollout programme planned for early next year. Initially offered with a free, 3-day trial period, Shazam iD is based on a monthly subscription service of £2 per month, which gives unlimited use of the service.
Shazam says that the new service offers a faster music recognition experience, and one-touch initiation means there is no need to dial the 2580 number. On-device audio fingerprinting provides the ability to initiate recognition of the music regardless of mobile network coverage. If there is no network coverage, the sample is held on the device and then ‘pushed’ via GPRS to Shazam once coverage is available. 
To download the application, text SMART to 80805 and follow the link provided by return. 

Mobile Games Under the Spotlight

Juniper Research has released its report, ‘Mobile Games - Subscription and Download, 2007-2012 (Fourth Edition)’. Through a combination of in-depth primary research, and one-to-one interviews with leading company executives, the report provides a detailed view of the fast-developing mobile games market.
Focusing on downloadable and subscription-based games, the report offers detailed analysis of the major hurdles towards customer adoption and retention, outlining the strategies that operators, vendors and publishers should employ in order to maximise their respective returns in the mobile games sector.
The report also provides company profiles for more than 20 games publishers and developers, together with an examination of gaming business models and discussion and evaluation of how the mobile games value chain is likely to evolve.
The report also provides a complete forecasting suite for the next five years, including a detailed consideration of one-time downloadable mobile games and subscription-based games, broken down by number of users, average price per download/subscription, and total revenues, plus average revenue per user.
In addition, the report also includes total end-user generated revenues from mobile games, and total revenues from advertising in mobile games. All forecasts are split by eight key regions, including North America, South America,Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Far East & China, the Indian Subcontinent, the rest of Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.
The report details opportunities and strategic recommendations for operators, service providers, vendors and regulators. It considers the strategies that operators, vendors and publishers should employ to maximise their respective returns in the mobile gaming sector; the current and future size of the mobile games market; the key drivers in the mobile games market; the impact that 3G has had on the mobile games market; and the major hurdles to greater adoption of mobile games.
The report costs £1,490 for a single-user PDF or hardback copy; £1,990 for a multi-user licence; or £2,990 for an enterprise-wide licence.
You can get more information here. A brochure here.  And a free Whitepaper here.