Let the games begin: Vendors introduce wireless gaming concept to U.S. market

Wireless operators are finding a way to tap into the youth market and the lucrative interactive gaming market. Nokia and Lucent Technologies recently have introduced platforms to make it easier for game developers to write applications for wireless users.

Nokia's Mobile Entertainment Toolkit lets developers create games for Wireless Application Protocol-enabled devices. The platform allows operators to host games, create game rooms and offer information such as top scoreboards to users. "For carriers, this is a nice opportunity to enter a new segment," said Timo Teimonen, general manager of business development for Nokia.

Lucent also has introduced a server environment and has paired with Bandai, a Japanese company that supplies games and content to NTT DoCoMo i-mode users. Bandai is developing a hand-held, wireless-enabled gaming device for the U.S. market.

The initial games that both providers envision won't be like the graphics-intensive games currently available on the Internet. "In the short term, there are games that can take hold such as casino games or card games," said Stacey Gelman, vice president of mobile Internet for Lucent.

Because Nokia's solution is WAP-based, the company will introduce mostly text-based games and may include traditional board games such as chess or backgammon.

Some improvements are necessary before more innovative and interactive games can be offered. "The most important thing is to improve the user interface to make games more playable and user-friendly," Teimonen said. A device such as Bandai's or other palm-sized devices may become popular.

In addition, data speeds must improve. "One thing that has to happen is the network has to move up the food chain," Gelman said.

Interactive gaming may be the piece that makes gaming via wireless devices take off. "What we've found from experience is that when you're playing over the air against someone, there's an emotional or social contact," Teimonen said. Today's diehard Internet gamers are testament to how enticing that interaction can be.

Operators in the U.S. are interested in gaming applications because they may appeal to the youth market and because they have proved popular in Japan. Bandai was one of NTT DoCoMo's 70 original content providers for the i-mode offering and the only original partner in the entertainment space, Gelman said. "They were all caught by surprise that entertainment was one of the dominant applications," she said.

U.S. operators are eager to see the dramatic take-up of data services that NTT DoCoMo has experienced. "People are trying to replicate that experience," said Larry Swasey, senior wireless analyst for Allied Business Intelligence. However, U.S. operators aren't sure that the same applications will be popular here. "Wireless companies are attempting to cover all the bases when it comes to what's going to be desired with data," Swasey said.

Gelman sees the same thing. "They know [gaming] worked there, but it's not clear the same plays will work here. They want to try different things to validate what will be a big play," she said.

Beyond discovering what games might be possible, operators also must grapple with pricing them. Operators have asked Lucent to help research different pricing options, Gelman said. Surprisingly, some are considering NTT DoCoMo's method of sellingbuckets of bits. U.S. operators traditionally have felt that customers don't like to buy bits because they have difficulty determining how many bits they might use.

Teimonen envisions some unique pricing schemes such as daily passes that allow users unlimited play or sponsored promotions from third parties.