Industry panel gets futuristic at Mobile Games Forum.
You have to look back to look forward. Such was the case at Mobile Games Forum's concluding presentation, which focused on 2010 and beyond - but started with the panel talking about what they wished had happened in 2009.
Ideaworks Games' Julian Jones wished that a device had emerged to truly give iPhone a run for its money.
However, TAG Games' Paul Farley said he couldn't think of anything: "It was a transformative year for the industry, and for us. For the first time we had a viable business model, and could get engagement with our customers for the first time in ten years! It's been like Christmas come early!"
Jessica Gwyther from Vodafone said 2009 was understandably big towards the end, with the launch of Vodafone 360. "I would have loved to see games revenues increase a lot more than they have," she said, though. "We all know about iPhone, but Android, Java, BlackBerries..."
Moderator Tim Harrison suggested that 2009 saw a phoney war between handset manufacturers and operators - but was this a case of people trying to set up conflict between the two when there wasn't really any?
Article continues belowAdvertisement
"If anything it's almost brought us closer together," said Gwyther. "You could argue that iPhone has taken those premium customers who've always bought content on operator decks to another channel. But all it's done is made us [operators and other handset makers] work together on new devices and services coming out that can create a similar standard of product and services for customers who don't want an iPhone."
So what will this mean for the handsets being sold by operators? Gwyther pointed to the launch of Vodafone 360, where the devices were made by Samsung, but specced out by Vodafone itself.
"Yes we are customising it, but it doesn't mean we're doing it alone," she said. "It's more of a partnership than anything else."
Yann Plomb from 3 UK talked about setting up a "win-win business", working together with the handset makers.
Sara Ponnert from Sony Ericsson said that iPhone has been important, because "it helped me push content within the company" - higher up the priorities for senior management, in other words.
How about the future for the relationship between OEMs and games developers? Is that becoming more important? "I'd say it is," said Ponnert. "We want to sell their games with us, not to us."
The conversation moved on to fragmentation - is there a difference in attitude from manufacturers about solving these issues?
"We're seeing more OS's," he said. "If they care, it's not evident in the devices they bring to market. It's survival of the fittest - the ones that attract consumers will then attract content publishers. We'll doubtless see some fall by the wayside in the years to come."
Farley suggested that there will be more third-party engines and middleware entering the mobile market to help developers deal with fragmentation between different smartphone platforms.
Meanwhile, he said that TAG isn't seeing much interest from handset makers in working more closely with small developers like his company - but that he IS seeing more interest from the likes of Sony and Nintendo, in connection with PSP Minis and DSiWare.
Will there be a shift where iPhone will have much more in common with DSi, PSP and new tablet devices? And what does that mean for Java?
"I think Java has had its day," said Jones. "I think consumers now have a higher expectation about quality of content. The consumer knows what's available now, and only when devices come out that promote that quality of content, will other devices be successful."
But emerging markets aren't going to get super-cheap iPhones or Android devices anytime soon. Farley agreed. "Certainly for us, this world includes Java and Brew, they have a future. But things can change very quickly..."
Gwyther chipped in: "We will continue to support the Java business, because it continues to make a lot of people a lot of money. Whether it will grow is another question."
Could there be more exclusives in the year ahead - time-limited or operator-exclusive games in the same way that console platforms bag exclusive rights to some games.
"Absolutely," said Gwyther. "If there's an opportunity that you can bring innovative, exciting content to Vodafone on an exclusive basis, we'd love to have that conversation."
And revenue shares? Vodafone is already offering a 70:30 revenue share for its apps. "Whether that rolls over to games is something I can't talk about right now."
So if I buy a Sony Ericsson Android handset on Vodafone next year, how many app stores will be on it, and which will get priority?
Gwyther said that on Vodafone's HTC Magic, the Vodafone Live store sits side-by-side with Android Market - but she admitted that there is a question around whether this is the best user experience.
"It's going to be a disaster from the consumer's point of view, surely?" responded Farley. "If you have an iPhone, you just have the app store."
3's Plomb said that it's not been a problem for the HTC Hero that 3 launched late last year. "Consumers have been very active in buying games," he said. "We have a bit more than 70 games at the moment, and the usage of them on a monthly basis has been climbing."
