A mobile phone gaming company has delivered a blow to the Android platform - in PR terms at the very least - by unfavourably comparing it to Apple's rival offering and revealing it is to cut funding for its Android products.

A senior executive from the French company Gameloft is quoted by Reuters whilst at an investor conference as revealing Gameloft sells 400 times more games on iPhone than it does on Android.

"We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like ... many others", Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said, suggesting other games companies were seeing similar results.

"It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue".

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone games Android Gameloft Biz iPhone apps Android Marketplace Google Gaming

Gameloft: iPhone game sales 400 times that of Android originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:43:09 +0000

RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry handsets, is hoping to appeal to gamers in the future with an announcement that it will be supporting the OpenGL ES technology in its handsets.

The news, which was announced at the company's developer conference in San Francisco, means that games developers will be able to bring the latest 3D mobile games they've been making for the iPhone to the BlackBerry platform.

"With OpenGL ES support, Java developers will have the ability to build 3D games and graphics for BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS 5.0 and higher", RIM said in a statement.

EA?Mobile, has already started developing games for the platform, which is expected to be enabled on the new?BlackBerry Storm 2?first.

However more interesting to non-gamers, the average BlackBerry user, is that it should open up other applications like Google's newly announced Google Maps Navigation. At the recent Droid launch event in NYC, Google told Pocket-lint that it could be possible to port the GPS app to the iPhone because of the OpenGL support.

This announcement would mean that Google could add BlackBerry to that same list.

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Tags: Phones Gaming RIM BlackBerry iPhone EA Mobile phone games BlackBerry Storm 2 Google Google Maps Navigation

3D gaming coming to a BlackBerry near you originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:48:01 +0000

Nokia has revealed that it is to close the doors on its N-Gage platform next year, in favour of offering all its gaming through its Ovi Store content portal.

Nokia's N-Gage launched as hardware back in 2003 with a "taco-shaped" gaming phone, which although now arguably a cult device, had design flaws which made it ripe for ridicule.

A few years later and Nokia rolled out N-Gage gaming abilities to its higher-end mobiles, with the more recent N81 angled as a gaming phone, making N-Gage into a mobile gaming platform available across a range of handsets.

"We are not releasing any more games on N-Gage, although the store - the ability to buy N-Gage games - will remain open until at least September 2010, and the N-Gage service will run through to the end of 2010", Mark Ollila, director of X-Media solutions, media and games at Nokia, explained to ME.

"The message is that Ovi Store is the place to find and purchase mobile games. It's our one-stop shop for games".

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone games Nokia N-Gage Ovi Store

Nokia to axe N-Gage originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:36:02 +0000

Samsung and Handmark, a mobile apps and service company, have announced the launch of a new Global Venture Fund to invest in companies or individuals with "innovative, market-changing game ideas for next generation Samsung mobile phones".

Unlike rival manufacturer's similar schemes, this time round it's just about gaming. The companies say they are "searching for games that best showcase Samsung mobile phones and the advanced features they offer".

The fund is considerable - companies or individuals selected will receive up to $250,000 each to fund the development of winning ideas.

"We know there’s a wealth of great ideas out there waiting to be discovered", said Chris Barnett, senior vice president of global sales and strategic partnerships for Handmark.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone, including big brands, mobile developers or any individual with a unique, creative idea to make it a reality".

To submit a proposal or for more information, visit www.handmark.com/company/samsungfund. The deadline for entries is 20 November, 2009.

Tags: Phones Mobile phone games Samsung Handmark Gaming Software Biz

Samsung and Handmark offer $250k for games for next-gen phones originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:53:08 +0000

Remember Command and Conquer Red Alert back from your gaming heydays of the mid 90s? Thought you did and that is clearly what? EA are hoping for, with the launch of an iPhone edition in the next couple of weeks.

Of course Pocket-lint was there to grab a quick play and snap a few shots of the game in action. The end result? Lots and lots of finger scrolling as you manage your soldiers, vehicles and aircraft around the tiny screen.

We didn't get a good enough play to do a full on first look review, that wouldn't be fair, but aside from the control mechanism, which you are either going to grasp or not, fans of the series will relish the graphics, looks and feel of the game - it really is like going back 13 years.

With 12 levels in the campaign mode and a skirmish mode too, as long as your finger seems up for it then this should allow you to relive those C&C days.

Tags: Gaming Mobile phone games iPhone EA Command and Conquer Red Alert for iPhone RTS Photos

PHOTOS: Command and Conquer Red Alert for iPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:11:05 +0100

EA has said that where relevant it will include graphical optimisation for the iPhone 3GS in its games for the phone platform.

The news comes as the company is gearing up to release a number of games in the next couple of weeks including NBA Live, which will have graphics that use the extra processing power in the 3GS.

"We won't just release a game that only works on the 3GS", an EA spokesman told Pocket-lint, "however we will add extra shadows and use the processor to the full if the game warrants it."

The result of the optimisation is extra shadows, smoother cutscene playback and overall better graphics.

Although not shown to Pocket-lint as yet, EA said that?Need for Speed: Shift?for the iPhone and iPod touch currently in development, would also be optimised for the 3GS.

Tags: Gaming iPhone Phones Mobile phone games Mobile phone apps EA iPhone 3GS

EA iPhone 3GS optimised games inbound originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:25:39 +0100