Digital Chocolate Hooks Up With ‘Community’ Games

Trip Hawkins, Chairman and CEO, Digital ChocolateTrip Hawkins (pictured) — founder of Digital Chocolate and previously of EA — is standing by his assertion that people do not want to play console games on their mobile phone. “So instead of churning out sophisticated 3-D titles with eye-popping graphics and a high “twitch factor,” Digital Chocolate this week will unveil a series of titles aimed at building communities and connecting users. The game-maker’s first new offering, Mobile League Sports Network Sports Picks, encourages community members to answer questions about upcoming athletic events to earn points and gain recognition. Users can compete and interact in public leagues sponsored by the publisher, or can create private leagues with friends.”
It’s an interesting idea, not so much a game as a “water-cooler app”. People often discuss who will win upcoming sports matches and office sweepstakes on particular codes are also popular (I tried always choosing against the favorites — it didn’t work).
Electronic Arts obviously disagrees with Trip’s assessment of the mobile game market, releasing Need for Speed: Most Wanted for the mobile platform. The title (distributed on the mobile by Digital Bridges) will also be released for a bunch of other platforms. “Featuring over 40 races and numerous race modes, the mobile phone version of the game will also offer users a special ‘quick-play’ mode which has been specifically designed for short games on mobile phone platform. A lengthier single player career mode is also promised.”
In a similar vein, Living Mobile has released the popular PC-game <a href="http://livingmobile.net/lang/en/cdid/e7acffe3b81ca166676e2e0cd4b72d99/index.php?defn=game&category=_ALL_&corporate=&corporate_corporate=&corporate_corporate_corporate=&country=2&game=108&go=&go_start=&mobile_manufacturer=&mobile_manufacturer_model=&is_app=&sidebar_game=1&sidebar_app=&sidebar_game_toggle=&sidebar_guide=1&sidebar_newsletter=1&sidebar_search=&go_home=1

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