Mobile Games Go Social

There’s a couple of games announced recently that are more role-playing than FPS, and which are likely to lend themselves to becoming multiplayer social games pretty easily…the games are not about fantastical situations but about situations people could find themselves in in real life — if they are rich and famous. I guess you’d call them aspirational games.
Sulake Entertainment has teamed up with Nokia to put role-playing game Habbo Hotel on the N-Gage…It’s the same concept in a different location and connected to the online game, and is promoted as Habbo Islands — a holiday destination for Habbo players. It’s not multiplayer, but people on Habbo Islands (ie, the N-Gage) can “connect with friends in Habbo Hotel via Habbo Console”.
“Habbo Islands, situated in a peculiar small world of its own on the southern hemisphere in the Habbo World, combines adventure, simulation, management and socializing in a unique way. Habbo Islands, a new part of the Habbo experience, is a single player adventure world where players can visit in dynamic environments and exciting adventures.”
MinifizzTextually has posted about Minifizz, a mobile adventure game for females. This game — called Minifizz Avenue — which sees the players following a storyline… “It’s a short story on your mobile phone. You download a MiniFizz that invites you to live a real time adventure during four days.” It’s been around for a while, but there seems to be a sea-change occuring in the industry that makes the game seem prescient. Apart from being female-focussed and designed specifically for the mobile platform it’s one step away from letting players create their own avatars and interacting in a social way over the network.
Even Gameloft’s new ‘OC’ game follows this theme. “Gameloft president Michel Guillemot has stated that the first game, scheduled for release next year, promises to allow players to take the role of one of the show’s four main characters or to create a new one of their own to make it in the OC community…Gameplay will be akin to The Sims, with players aiming to make their characters fit in the OC world, date the right people and move in the rights social circles.”
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