SnackableContent

AT&T, BK and Others are Having Some Cellfun

Cellufun has had more than three million people download its ad-supported, multi-player cell phone games.  Cellufun’s most popular mobile games include MobilePets followed by Sudoku. Advertisers include AT&T, Burger and Verizon (through Third Screen Media), FlyCell and Cellfire (through AdMob) and PetMeds, Jamster and the movie Disturbia (through Millenial). Cellufun finds that the majority of its gaming community downloads to the handsets of three top manufacturers: Nokia (34.84%), Motorola (21.62%) and Samsung (13.44%). Its recorded an average monthly increase of 250,000 downloads since December 2006, and is witnessing 50% growth per quarter, the company announced earlier this month.

Centipede Snacks on Cellphones

From the company that brought Asteroids, Combat and Missile Command to your cellphones, Glu Mobile has now introduced cellular Centipede. Not sure of the news value of this, but it sounds like fun. I’m still waiting for Spyhunter.

A Massive Model

It wasn’t that long ago that Massive blazed the trail for advertising within video games. The company, which has since been acquired by Microsoft, places coding in games that allows it to change billboards, bus ads and other signs within the gaming environment. So someone on a killing spree might be ducking behind a Sprite sign one day and then a Ford ad the next time they play their favorite first-person shooting game on their PC or console system like PS3. Last week Exit Games, leading service provider for multiplayer mobile and online games, and Amobee Media Systems announced that they are trying to replicate Massive’s model only within mobile games. “In-game advertising has a tremendous positive impact on the video game industry as it lowers the cost of games while dramatically increasing the number of downloads. Using Amobee’s ad-serving technology, operators and game publishers can provide greater value to their customers, delivering a high-quality, low-cost, and entertaining game experience on mobile,” said Tom Sperry, CEO at Exit Games USA. Exit Games Neutron service platform is used by virtually all of the major players: THQ Wireless, Glu, World Golf Tour, SkyZone, Square Enix’s UIEvolution, Fremantle Media, Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, Softbank, Vodafone, Qualcomm, Intel, Sony Ericsson and Siemens to name a few. Hear that Bill Gates? Might be time to open the wallet again.

Game On!

“Electronic Arts Inc. announced the availability of ‘EA Sports Link,’ an innovative mobile site where sports fans can learn about their favorite EA Sports games and read the latest gaming and sports news,” said a boring press release I just received. Sounds pretty lame, right? Keep reading though. “EA Sports Link introduces exciting new games and extends the huge online sports-fan community to mobile phones.” Well that sounds good, but then it gets even better. “EA Sports Link users will soon be able to trade information and challenge one another to live games, fully realizing the potential of this social, mobile-networked, sports-attuned community.” That’s pretty sweet. I wish I were able to do that today during my commute home because as anyone in the Northeast knows: It just takes a little snow to make a big mess of trains.

EA Revs Up In-Game Product Placement

It’s not all that surprising that an Electronic Arts NASCAR title would be its first downloadable video game for mobile phones to feature product placement. Beginning March 1, Sprint Nextel subscribers will be able to play EA Sports NASCAR 07. For the sake of product integrity the sponsors of the various drivers will be featured within the game. Jeff Gordon’s DuPont, Tony Stewart’s Home Depot and Kyle Busch’s Kellogg’s cars are all there. Twenty brands in total are represented. EA has created 30 titles for mobile phones to date, however none have had product placement. This is changing though as an EA rep said more in-game advertising is on the way. Considering EA revolutionized the way brands are woven into games for consoles like the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, it’s even less surprising that they are applying these tactics to world of mobile—like it or not.