Month: September 2005

Good and Scary

Christy

An excellent example of ‘in-game’ (diegetic or in-story) interaction is found in the marketing of the film The Ring 2. You register an email and mobile phone number at www.7daysleft.com (we cannot under the Oz flag for some reason) and then the storyworld spills over into real life…

Theres this urban legend about a video…When you watch it your phone rings with a creepy message saying you only have seven days to live…With the Ring 2 DVD release on 29th August, 2005, we’ve created the SCARIEST way to freak out your friends. Simply give us their email address and mobile the trailer, their mobile phone will ring, telling them they have 7 days…

Secret: I have hacked the code and found the Australia page. I think it was removed from the mail page because the DVD is already launched. You can register your email and receive the link to the movie, but I didn’t get the phone call. The trailer shows what happens when a friend shows another friend a scary movie, therefore having resonance with the actual email sent from a friend. In the movie, once the characters view the videotape, they receive a phone call with a voice telling them they have 7 days to live…

From Jaffe Juice.

Channel 4 Commission Mobile Content

Christy
Channel 4 is now commissioning mobile phone content, just like TV shows. They’re looking for:

– Innovative applications and formats that use the mobile platform
– Unique made-for-mobile shows and content that are un-related to broadcast output
– Video content to complement your broadcast commission, for example extra scenes or ‘mobisodes’. 

They have also launched a ‘single-destination’ mobile phone portal to their content: Mobile.channel4.com. The website is designed to be read on mobile phones, but you can access through your computer of course.

Mobile Gamer Stats

Christy
Ziff Davis Media Game Group have finished their annual survey: ‘Digital Gaming in America’. The Group are producers of print and online brands such as Electronic Gaming Monthly, Computer Gaming World, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, 1UP.com, and specials including Pocket Games. They commissioned the Strategy Group to survey US households. 1,558 people were polled from random households between May and July 2005. Here are the stats from the media release (19th Aug): 

  • the number of households engaged in cell phone gaming nearly doubled again, jumping from 16.3 million last year to 27.9 million this year;

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  • Mobile phone gamers in the study reported spending 19 minutes per gaming session;

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  • Mobile phone gamers had spent an average of $13 on mobile phone games in the last 60 days;

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  • Core gamers spent even more on mobile phone games – $19 in the last 60 days (“Core gamers” are defined as those who bought four or more games in the last six months and play ten or more hours per week.)

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  • 49% of respondents who do not play games on their phones cited small screen sizes as the primary deterrent, 46% cited lack of desirable games and 35% high costs;

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  • 86% already own a cell phone this year, and of these individuals, 48% play games on their mobile devices;

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  • More than 50% of gamers plan to purchase a new cell phone within the next 12 months;

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  • Four out of ten gamers are considering purchasing a dedicated portable gaming device such as the Sony PSP or Nintendo DS in the next twelve months;

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  • 63% of core gamers are considering a portable gaming device

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  • Only 3% of all gamers own a Sony PSP now, 14% plan to buy one in the next twelve months. By comparison, 6% of all gamers own a Nintendo DS, but only 6% plan to buy one in the next twelve months;

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