Movaya - Official Blog

Mobile Gaming on the Upswing

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:41:00 +0000

If you're in the mobile games business, couple of good news stories out today from measurement firm comScore and mobile game developer Gameloft:

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), reports that the number of mobile game downloaders grew 17% from November 2007 to November 2008, when 8.5 million people, or 3.8% of mobile subscribers, downloaded a game to their mobile device.

"The rapid growth in smartphone adoption in the United States has provided a boost for mobile gaming, as 34% of those downloading a game in November did so using a smartphone," said Mark Donovan, senior analyst, comScore. "Last year, not one smartphone appeared in the top 10 devices used for mobile downloads. This year, six out of 10 are smartphones, excluding devices with smartphone-like functionality, such as the Instinct and Voyager, which also make appearances."

The iPhone and BlackBerry Curve have replaced the RAZR and low-end flip phones as the most popular gaming platforms, according to comScore. In fact, the number of smartphone owners downloading a game nearly tripled, while dipping 14% among owners of feature phones. iPhone owners accounted for 14% of mobile game downloaders in November, with 32.4% of all iPhone users reporting they downloaded a game in the month, compared with a market average of 3.8%.

Gameloft reported it achieved sales of 110.3 million euros (US$143 million) in 2008, an increase of 15% over 2007 (20% on a comparable exchange rate basis). The biggest increase came in the fourth quarter, which saw a 31% year-on-year increase in sales.

Mobile games “sales increased by 18% (20% at constant exchange rates) over Quarter 4, owing in part to the resounding performance of Gameloft games on Apple’s iPhone”.

Europe remained Gameloft’s biggest market with 43% of 2008 sales, followed by North America at 30% and the rest of the world at 27%—sales rose in all regions but the rest of the world grew by 43%.

Announcing our Relationship with Glu!

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:28:00 +0000

Press we released today announcing our new partnership with Glu:

SAN MATEO, CA and SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - January 27, 2009) - Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU), a leading global publisher of mobile games, and Movaya (www.movaya.com), a leading mobile commerce service provider, today announced that they have entered into an agreement to integrate Movaya's PlugNPlay and TryNBuy solutions into Glu's website properties for direct-to-consumer sales.

"It has been a great experience working with Movaya to offer Glu's award-winning games directly to our customers," said Jill Braff, senior vice president of global publishing, Glu. "Through our alliance with Movaya, we have developed a cost-effective solution capable of delivering games directly to mobile devices through the glu.com website."

"Movaya's technologies will enhance how Glu is able to sell its games," said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. "Rather than relying solely on wireless carriers and other third-party distributors, Glu now has the power to market its products directly to customers. The move allows customers to sample games and stay informed on updates and new offers, and more importantly, creates a new distribution channel to generate additional revenue for Glu."

Immediately, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa™, The Dark Knight™ and Family Feud® are available for purchase from Glu.com using the Movaya platform, with additional titles being added over the coming weeks and months.

Expanding our Relationship with Kingston

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:01:00 +0000

Yesterday we announced a new relationship with our longtime partner, Kingston Technology. I've attached the full press release below but the high level is that we now offer a "Free Mobile Game of the Day" from Kingston's Mobile Phone Village microsite found here.

Consumers who visit Mobile Phone Village will have new games daily from our catalog partners and can download games for free using our TryNBuy technology. Give it a shot by going here.

We have been partners with Kingston for a number of years and will be launching some additional services with them in the New Year as well.

Press Release:

Movaya and Kingston Technology Partner to Launch
Free Mobile Game of the Day on Mobile Phone Village

Seattle, Wash. & Fountain Valley, Calif. -- December 17, 2008 -- Movaya, a market leader in mobile content distribution and Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, announced today the launch of a free daily game download for mobile consumers on Kingston.com’s Mobile Phone Village microsite.

Consumers who visit Mobile Phone Village will be treated to a free Mobile Game of the Day from BustedThumbs.com, a provider of mobile content. The offering uses Movaya’s TryNBuy technology; consumers simply enter their phone number to have the games sent over the air to their phone.

“Working with Kingston®, Movaya is providing mobile consumers an easy way to try out hit mobile games with our daily download," said Phil Yerkes, CEO, Movaya. “Our catalog of games includes all possible genres so there is something for everyone. And, as consumers download more rich content to their mobile devices, they will need increased memory on their phones.”

“This is a terrific opportunity for consumers to expand the functionality of their mobile phones using free games,” said Wendy Lecot, Flash business development manager, Kingston. “Our mobile memory product line provides extra capacity for lots of entertaining content including mobile games, music and applications. Our continued partnership with Movaya is a key component in our plans to expand Kingston’s Mobile Phone Village microsite. We envision the Mobile Phone Village as a destination for compelling content and storage to enhance a person’s mobile lifestyle.”

The BustedThumbs daily download can be accessed on the Kingston Mobile Phone Village microsite at www.kingston.com/flash/village.

Merchant Spotlight: BigtimeWireless.com

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:19:00 +0000

We recently added a new partner to our growing merchant list - BigtimeWireless.com.

Bigtimewireless.com is a leading online store selling unlocked gsm cell phones and mobile devices, including accessories, bluetooth products, world phones, and soon digital cameras and camcorders.

They pride themselves on excellent customer service, speedy delivery, a large variety of products, and the best prices on the market.

And now they are offering their shoppers a large catalog of premium mobile games from our catalog partners, using our PlugNPlay offering. Click on Mobile Phone Games under Wireless Products to check it out.

Support for Blackberry Added

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:08:00 +0000

The Movaya team is pleased to announce that we have recently added application and game support for Blackberry devices. We had supported the delivery of ringtones and wallpapers to Blackberry phones but it had taken a little more work to get the application and game support working.

We don't have a huge catalog of Blackberry games yet but we are working with our content partners to fill out the catalog. We will also be alerting our merchant partners on how to add those games to their sales offerings.

If you have a Blackberry and want to check out the system, please visit BustedThumbs. Personally I have been playing Bliss on my Curve and it's a fun game.

Movaya Announces Growing Mobile Merchant Client Base

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:52:00 +0000

We issued the following press release today:

Movaya (www.movaya.com), a leading mobile commerce service provider, today announced that over 500 publisher and merchant partners have signed up for the company's PlugNPlay and TryNBuy products, enabling these partners to sell mobile content directly to consumers.

"Movaya's technologies are revolutionizing the way consumers discover, browse and download mobile content," said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. "Rather than relying only on traditional wireless carriers as the prime merchants of mobile content including games and applications, consumers are beginning to discover and download games from all types of online merchants," Yerkes said.

Movaya offers its partners both turnkey and enterprise solutions, allowing merchants to quickly open 'App Stores in a box' for the 99% of mobile phone users that do not have an iPhone. Like both Google and RIM, who are supporting their own unique application stores, Movaya provides its partners with all the tools to build their own mobile application store: catalog of games, billing, distribution and storefront tools.

By partnering with Movaya, online merchants can select from a variety of methods to add mobile games and applications to their current stores. Mobile game publishers, casual game merchants and general video game merchants are currently the early adopters of Movaya's platform.

Thumbthug.com, Logler.com and Shabugames.com are recent examples of online merchants who have integrated the Movaya PlugNPlay and TryNBuy services into their websites.

Publisher Spotlight - Concrete Software

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Concrete Software is a content provider of award-winning, innovative mobile software for hundreds of mobile devices around the world.

Concrete is best known for building the award winning line of Aces poker games as well as other innovative games that incorporate GPS, Bluetooth, server-side multiplayer, camera-motion, and 3D environments. Concrete applications and games can be found in retail stores, major websites, and mobile carriers around the world. Based in Minneapolis, Concrete Software was founded in 2003 and is privately owned.

Concrete has been a partner of Movaya's for awhile now. We distribute their J2ME games through third party merchants like Shabu Games and we also enable Concrete to sell their games directly from their own website.

Concrete is one of a few smaller independent mobile game publishers that have done very well in the mobile space and we're glad to have them as a partner. Personally, my favorite game of theirs is Tramp Champ which you can try for free at BustedThumbs.

Thumbthug Announces Site

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Thumbthug.com (www.thumbthug.com), a leading provider of mobile games, announced their partnership with us today.

From the PR:

Thumbthug and Movaya (www.movaya.com), the web-based, e-commerce software platform for mobile-content transactions, partner to integrate Movaya's Try Before You Buy (TryNBuy) mobile games solution into thumbthug.com's mobile gaming website.

"The partnership with Movaya and their TryNBuy mobile games solution enables thumbthug.com gamers to test drive mobile games before they buy them. Our partnership opens up the Movaya game portfolio to our gamers and allows them to download a trial version of the games, test it out and then make a purchase only if they like what they see." said David Player, Co-CEO of Thumbthug.com.

We had previously showcased their site on the blog and it's great to see them getting some awareness in the market.

T-Mobile G1 Announced

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:21:00 +0000

Exciting day in the mobile phone world today - Google, T-Mobile and HTC have "officially" announced the release of the T-Mobile G1 - the first Google Android device.

If you want to get complete coverage of the press event, etc., I'd suggest you check out moconews. If you want to learn more about the phone and how to get one, check out the new site at www.t-mobileg1.com/

You can pre-order the phone today and general availability will begin Oct. 22 at select T-Mobile retail stores and online in the U.S. The G1 will cost $179 with a two-year voice and data agreement.

I have been holding off on getting a new phone and if the reviews of the G1 are good, I'll be picking one up. I think this day is a game changer for the mobile world - Apple did a great job educating all of us on the power of a good mobile device but Android will help bring this power to the masses.

Fred Wilson, a well respected NY area Venture Capitalist and a great blogger, had this to say earlier this month:

"They are building a mobile operating system, Android, that is also designed for running web apps in a mobile environment. I think in time, Google's Android will be to the iPhone what Windows was to the Mac. The iPhone laid out many of the killer mobile device innovations, but its a closed device, a closed carrier relationship, and even a closed application store. Android will take all of those good ideas and put them on every device, with every carrier, and in partnership with every app developer. You'd have thought that Apple would have learned the lesson that you can't control the entire ecosystem with the Mac, but they did not."

I couldn't agree more.

New Partner - Hooters Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:51:00 +0000

The Movaya team is excited to announce that we have added Hooters to our growing list of mobile content partners. If you like Hooters girls, check out HootersCalendar.com and you can choose from nearly 150 images to download to your mobile phone. All images are $1.99.

Hooters uses Movaya's PlugNPlay system for content management, billing, content delivery and reporting. Initially we are supporting wallpapers but in the coming weeks we will be adding support for screensavers and short format videos as well.

The implementation is well done and we look forward to helping Hooters sell more digital content to mobile devices.

New Content Partner - Agitatio

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:17:00 +0000

The Movaya team is excited to add a new partner to our growing list of Content Developers - Norway based Agitatio.

Agitatio is a developer and publisher of mobile edutainment. They create game-based learning that is hard fun, with an emphasis on fun.

Their motto:

"If it is entertaining, users will play our games frequently, learning in the process."

The first game that they've added to the network is Problemathic 12+. It is a math breakout game that provides several hours of great entertainment and learning.

You can play in five different locations with seven levels apiece. Locations are based on important historical places for maths. Suitable for users aged 12+ years.

I gave it a spin on my SonyEricsson w580i this afternoon and it is both fun and hard. We look forward to helping Agitatio sell thousands of copies of this game and others.

You will be able to download directly from Agitatio's website soon as well as from BustedThumbs.

Apple App Store First Month Sales of $30M

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Was on vacation last week in sunny San Diego so didn't have much time to blog but wanted to highlight one bit of news that I'm sure just about everyone in the mobile content space saw - in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Steve Jobs reported that users of Apple's new App Store have downloaded more than 60 million programs, generating a total of about $30 million in sales since the service launched one month ago.

Video game developer Sega Corp. was among the biggest earners, having sold 300,000 copies of its $9.99 Super Monkeyball game in just 20 days, fueling revenues of nearly $3 million.

This is an unbelievable accomplishment in a short period of time and truly demonstrates the potential of the next generation mobile content marketplace.

According to my calculations, Apple accomplished these 60 million downloads to a base of just over 8 million iPhone users. Here's how I come up with those numbers:

April 1-June 30, 2007: 270K iPhones sold
July 1-September 30, 2007: 1.2M iPhones sold
October 1-December 31, 2007: 2.4M iPhones sold
January 1-March 30, 2008: 1.7M iPhones sold
April 1-June 30, 2008: 700K iPhones sold
July 1-today: 2M iPhones sold

Outside of the last period, all the other numbers are "official" from Apple earnings releases.

In June, Investment banker Piper Jaffray estimated that the App Store could be worth a billion dollars to Apple by the end of 2009 (based on 60M iPhones sold in the market).

And to think that even with 60M phones sold, Apple will still have less than 2% market share of all cellphones worldwide. A lot of opportunity to sell content to the other 3.74 billion mobile subscribers.

Get in the Olympic Spirit with Two New Mobile Games

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:45:00 +0000

The Olympics kick off tomorrow and we have recently added two new great games to our catalog from our partner Sega - Sonic at the Olympics and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

“Featuring rich graphics, quality audio and one-thumb controls, Beijing 2008 and Sonic at the Olympic Games both complement and extend the video game line-up for the Olympic Games,” said Linda Chaplin, Vice President of SEGA Mobile. “These two games are great examples of the fun that can be had on the mobile platform – quality, snack-sized games that are easy to pick up and play, are challenging and fun, yet difficult to put down.”

I personally love Sonic and I will be spending some time this weekend seeing how well I can do with him in the hurdles.

Merchant Spotlight: ThumbThug.com

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:53:00 +0000

Check out a great Movaya partner site recently launched - Thumbthug.com. Very slick user interface, and lots of information on new games, what's hot in mobile gaming, and a large selection of both free and try-before-you-buy games.

Thumthug uses Movaya's PlugNPlay system for game catalog, content management, billing and content delivery and Movaya's TryNBuy for the try-before-you-buy functionality. This is exactly the kind of implementation that will help drive the off-deck sales of mobile games.

Check it out now.

Outsource ECommerce Stats

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:33:00 +0000

I was talking to a well known Bay Area VC this week and he asked me why a company like Capcom Mobile would have Movaya run their e-commerce site for them rather than do this themselves.

I was somewhat surprised by the question because I assumed that he (as well as every other VC) naturally knew that a large percentage of companies use hosted services rather than run the back-end infrastructure in-house. I mentioned that huge software companies like Microsoft and Symantec outsource some or all of their digital delivery to folks like Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV).

And today, this study came through from Gartner:

"Within five years, 90% of e-commerce sites will operate at least partly with on-demand software-as-a-service technology—which is available under a monthly subscription rather than licensed and installed on a company’s dedicated infrastructure. The study also notes that by 2013 40% of e-commerce sites will run completely on SaaS technology."

Furthermore, if you look at the earnings reports from Digital River, GSI Commerce and others in this space, they are all doing very well.

As more software gets downloaded to mobile phones, companies like Movaya (who provide these hosted services) will be well positioned to grow revenues and profits at an accelerated rate.

Rob Glaser on Mobile Games

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:06:00 +0000

John Cook of the Seattle PI recaps a special session with Rob Glaser (RealNetworks CEO) at the Casual Connect conference this week.

Rob's take on mobile games:

"...Meanwhile, mobile games have been relatively slow to take hold, primarily due to the merchandising challenges. But Glaser thinks that may change with the introduction of the iPhone, for which his company recently created a new "South Park" game. Even though the iPhone accounts for just one percent of all handsets, he hopes that it will help spark "indirect energy" for mobile games on other devices..."

The Movaya team couldn't agree more.

iPhone as Game Changer

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:15:00 +0000

Joe Pisani at CNBC has a good article about the changing landscape for mobile gaming with the introduction of the Apple App store. "The store allows users to purchase games -- as well as other applications -- directly from the iPhone itself with just a few taps on the screen. The process is much simpler than with other phones."

Nothing earth shattering in the article that those of us in the space don't already know, but it is great to see mainstream news sources begin to catch on. The discovery and purchase of games from the carrier stores is clumsy at best and as the article highlights, "phone carriers haven't advertised the fact that their customers can play games on their phones."

The fact that consumers in the US spent over $700M on mobile games last year with such an archaic experience tells me that this market has the potential to explode as new (and better) distribution channels open up.

And this growth will not be dedicated to the iPhone. As Joe mentions, "Analysts and game publishers also say that the release of the new iPhone itself will raise the profile of the entire mobile gaming industry and make non-iPhone users more aware that they can play games on their phones." And this is specifically where Movaya's platform comes in - helping game publishers reach mobile phone consumers through stores outside of the carrier channel.

Joe says the industry is "bullish" and we couldn't agree more.

LoglerMobile.com Launches, uses Movaya PlugNPlay XML Feed

noreply@blogger.com (John Calian) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Logler.com, a popular casual game merchant website (Alexa rank: 36,128), officially launched it mobile game store this last week, LoglerMobile.com. The site is powered by Movaya's PlugNPlay system, and specifically utilizes the unique XML Feed that allows the site to showcase games in any type of application or website.

Logler.com started life in April 2006 as a small company with big ideas, armed with the adrenaline, enthusiasm and dynamism to make a name for itself in the casual games market. That was when our very first Casual Games Global Top 10 (more info about Top 10 you can read here) was published to widespread acclaim, garnering positive responses from both industry leaders and enthusiasts alike. [from Logler.com About page]

LoglerMobile.com is showcasing over 500 mobile games for sale and trial. The site is using the TryNBuy system to allow anyone to try a mobile game for free before purchasing.

iPhone App Store Impact

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:34:00 +0000

John has a good post about the impact of the Apple App Store on our other blog that is worth a read, but I'd also encourage you to read this Moconews interview with Sega Mobile VP, Linda Chaplin.

Play close attention to her comments about discoverability and distribution. We love the iPhone and although our platform can't sell to iPhone users today, it just shows the future opportunities in front of us as other handset manufacturers launch their next generation devices which we will be able to reach.

On a side note, I've been playing Super Monkey Ball on John's iPhone today and if you have any doubt about the future of mobile gaming, take 5 minutes to play this game and you will be a believer. It is awesome!

MobileDeluxe Launches - Powered by Movaya

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Movaya partner, GOSUB 60, launched a beta version of their new mobile entertainment portal - MobileDeluxe.com - with Movaya powering the delivery, billing, reporting and try-before-you-buy back-end for the site.

We've been working with GOSUB 60 for a little over a year now and they are one of the Top 10 Mobile Game Publishers in the US. Thier top games are Solitaire Deluxe, Sudoku Deluxe and Blackjack Cheater.

They've done some innovative things with the site and we're excited to help them grow their business.

You can check out their press release here.

Movaya Announces Agreement With IG Fun

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:22:00 +0000

The Movaya team is excited to add another mobile game partner to our marketplace - as of today, we are announcing the availability of mobile games from IG Fun.

Under the newly formed partnership, Movaya will distribute IG Fun’s array of mobile games directly to the mobile marketplace. IG Fun content will be readily available to the mobile community via Movaya's PlugNPlay system, a free to use e-commerce solution for mobile content.

Games available immediately through Movaya’s system include selections from IG Fun’s broad catalog of casual and action titles including Battle Chess, Bruce Lee Iron Fist and Tradewinds 2.

“We’re pleased to work with Movaya to bring our games to Movaya's distribution network,” said Sean Malatesta, CEO, IG Fun — Indiagames’ international publishing division. “We continue to look for ways to reach the global audience of mobile gamers and Movaya’s system enables us to reach hundreds — and soon to be thousands — of points of distribution with a single relationship.”

“Movaya is excited to add IG Fun to our growing list of catalog partners,” said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. “Indiagames, the parent company for IG Fun, is one of the longest established and most innovative mobile games companies and it is fantastic to be working with them."

IG Fun joins an impressive list of major publishers such as Capcom, RealNetworks, GOSUB60 and In-Fusio that have recently partnered with Movaya. Over the coming weeks, Movaya is expected to announce additional partnerships with other leading mobile game publishers.

Update: PBA Game to be Promoted on Television

noreply@blogger.com (John Calian) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:39:00 +0000

As an update to the previous post on the new Concrete PBA Bowling mobile game, it is important to point out this:

The game is being released worldwide with a big marketing push that starts with the GEICO PBA Team Shootout hosted by Six Flags. The shootout airs on ESPN, and will feature 7-8 telecasts that have a spot promoting the new game, a first for a mobile game on a major network.

That is correct, a mobile game is going to be advertised for the first time on a major television network broadcast.

Movaya is powering the direct to consumer sales of the PBA game for mobile phones.

IDC Report

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:55:00 +0000

Market Intelligence and research firm IDC released some data from their Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast which should put a smile on everyone's face who is in the mobile content space.

From the release:

Nearly a quarter of the world's population - roughly 1.4 billion people - will use the Internet on a regular basis in 2008. This number is expected to surpass 1.9 billion unique users, or 30% of the world's population, in 2012, according to IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast.

"The Internet will have added its second billion users over a span of about eight years, a testament to both its universal appeal and its availability," said John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC. "In this time, the Internet has also become more deeply integrated into the fabric of many users' personal and professional lives, enabling them to work, play, and socialize anytime from anywhere. These trends will accelerate as the number of mobile users continues to soar and the Internet becomes truly ubiquitous."

While the PC is currently the dominant means of gaining access to the Internet, IDC expects the number of mobile devices accessing the Internet will surpass the number of online PCs by 2012.

Additional highlights from IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast include the following:

* Users will access the Internet through more than 1.5 billion devices worldwide in 2008, including PCs, mobile phones, and online videogame consoles. By 2012, the number of devices accessing the Internet will double to more than 3 billion, half of which will be mobile devices.

* Roughly 40% of all Internet users worldwide currently have mobile Internet access. The number of mobile Internet users will reach 546 million in 2008, nearly twice as many as in 2006, and is forecast to surpass 1.5 billion worldwide in 2012.

* The most popular online activities today are searching the Web, finding information for personal use, using Internet email, accessing news and sports information, and accessing financial or credit information. In addition to these activities, more than 50% of online users worldwide are using instant messaging and playing online games.

In case you need any help with the math,

1.5B people connecting to the Internet from their mobile phones.
50% play games online.

That sounds like at least 750M mobile gamers worldwide. My research shows the current number of mobile gamers worldwide at 165M.

Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! Now Available

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:36:00 +0000

Two of Movaya's partners (Vivendi and Sandlot) have hooked up to launch a new mobile game this week.

Vivendi Games Mobile, a division of Vivendi Games, announced the release of Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! for mobile, an exciting spin-off of the wildly successful PC Franchise, Cake Mania, which has claimed more than 70 million downloads to date. Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! allows players to show off their baking skills in the zany and exciting new baking experience for mobile phones.

Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! for mobile is based on the best-selling casual PC game, Cake Mania 2, where the game's iconic baker, Jill, is back to baking and decorating cakes in a new mobile adventure. In the hit sequel, players will explore six far-flung bakery locations and serve up delicious original creations to quirky customers, ranging from federal agents to mysterious aliens. Players will choose which path Jill pursues, with each decision leading to new baking challenges and dilemmas. The game includes 72 levels of baking and frosting madness, multiple endings and a branching, non-linear thrilling storyline.

"Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! provides a fantastically fun mobile experience that is sure to satisfy fans of all ages," said Paul Maglione, president of Vivendi Games Mobile. "Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! is the perfect addition to our growing portfolio of top-rated, unique entertainment properties. We are excited to partner with Sandlot Games to offer the millions of Cake Mania fans another outlet to play this unrivaled game."

"We are extremely excited to partner with Vivendi Games Mobile to extend the Cake Mania franchise beyond the PC," said Daniel Bernstein, founder and CEO of Sandlot Games. "With broad consumer appeal and strong brand recognition, Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! will not only thrill Cake maniacs everywhere but will also appeal to anyone looking for a different kind of casual mobile game."

The game is available on carrier decks and will be downloadable from Sandlot's site (using our system) soon as well.

Mobile Edutainment

noreply@blogger.com (YDogg) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:29:00 +0000

Interesting article worth a read from the Mail & Guardian about the educational potential of mobile content. This is a trend worth watching and we've had a number of conversations recently with content developers looking to bring "edutainment" to mobile devices.

Often, when I tell people what we do - help distribute games and applications to mobile devices - a standard response is something like - "Oh, you help people find ways to screw around and waste time on their phones." And although we love playing games and using our phones for other diversions, there is a lot of potential benefit playing learning and memory games. Game-based learning is getting a fair amount of focus right now, and many parents are becoming aware of the potential of games as learning tools.

We'll be announcing some partnerships in this space in the coming weeks and are updating our system to have new categories that cater to this area as well. Stay tuned.