mocoblog

Mobile Games and Apps: Partner and Create don’t Duplicate, or Perpetrate

James at MocoNews.net was spot on in saying the following in his post about Mobile gaming.

If Blizzard made a mobile game that allowed people to train their characters for World of Warcraft do you think it would need to get the game on carriers’ portals? Of course not, it just needs to put up a note on the game site and have an instant hit. People would download it over WAP or figure out how to transfer it from their computer or whatever else it took. If they tried to replicate World of Warcraft for mobiles they would fail, and they would need carrier placement and a strong advertising campaign.

I feel the same way about some of the other “services” that mobile content companies are rolling out in the US. For instance, mobile dating and chat services. How does a mobile content play expect to compete with the likes of LavaLife, Match.com, AFF, or eHarmony. For some applications, mobile should be an enhancement to an offering rather than trying to recreate the wheel. Mobile content companies must realize that they don’t live in a vacuum, especially now with competing technologies, service offerings and near-universal PC access.

Message to mobile content providers: Tie mobile back to the main screens (TV and PC), don’t try to replace them. Ringtones won’t replace music, but moco providers can add value by selling both together. Blizzard, as James indicated, can upsell their WOW addicts on an integrated mobile application, Match… well they already have a mobile version. Something can be learned from the way Nintendo and Sony have linked their portable devices back to their consoles.

Just some food for thought.