Perhaps the biggest news to come out of this year’s Tokyo Game Show was the first apperance in the event’s 15-year history by a Nintendo company president; Satoru Iwata made a keynote speech to introduce their Revolution wireless game controller [.jpg image] and if you have not seen the .mov trailer for that yet, surf over to 3yen.com and check it out. See Gail Nakada’s video report from TGS.. 🙂
Vodafone follows DoCoMo and KDDI into the brave new revenue world of Osaifu Keitai [wallet phone] introducing its first Felica-equipped handset at a press conference for the Japanese carrier’s Fall/Winter 3G lineup [.PDF]. Four handsets: the 702NK II from Nokia, 703SHf and 604SH both from Sharp plus the 703N by NEC are scheduled for release in October and November. The company is counting on this lineup’s smooth design esthetics, sophisticated hardware and contents to re-ignite consumer interest in the Vodafone brand.
At just 47mm wide the 703SHf is Vodafone’s slimmest 3G handset yet. Besides Felica it has a 1.3 megapixel camera, 2-inch ASV LCD screen and the music player supports AAC and SD-Audio MP3 music files. But who cares. It’s really all about the chip. The Felica IC chip system developed by Sony allows users to swipe Felica-equipped mobile handsets over designated readers and pay for everything from a bottle of ice tea to an airline ticket. DoCoMo started loading it onto their 3G phones in July 2004 and has sold around 5 million Felica-equipped phones so far. The other carriers have seen little choice but to follow. These Sony IC chips have become ubiquitous not by Felica but through the Suica JR train commuter cards which can also be used at shops inside designated train stations and at platform kiosks. Thanks to DoCoMo, Suica is going mobile next year and there are plans to incorporate private train lines and subways into the Suica system as well. KDDI began selling their first Felica handset, the W32S from Sony Ericcson, this month.
Through a licensing agreement with SEGA of America, Namco America today announced the availability of SEGA’s classic game sounds as ringtones. SEGA’s game tones will be available initially through Namco’s PAC-MAN’s Arcade Corner, an interactive ringtone application with a colorful, retro feel and a source for exclusive video game ringtones. The game tones are available now on BREW carriers, including Verizon Wireless, Alltel and Western Wireless, and will be available on other carriers in the future.
Packed with international game and console makers out to show the press and public just what they can do, the Tokyo Game Show opened yesterday for a three-day run at Chiba’s Makuhari Messe Convention Center. Eager to showcase their mobile gaming platforms, DoCoMo set up a giant booth splashed in black paint over yellow for a "street style" look. Multiple mobile play stations circling the entire area had event goers lined up ten deep to try out mobile games like Monster Hunter, Sonic, Gundam, and many more. Everyone who plays a game receives different free collectible badges that fit into a DoCoMo badge folder — also free — guaranteeing big crowds here. Last year DoCoMo enjoyed great success with a similar system that handed out collectible cards for each game.
Many handsets come with games already pre-loaded. The new DoCoMo N901iS, for example, has Dragonquest II (from Enix) pre-installed and ready to play. One of the most popular games was a mobile version of Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog in playable demo form. Sonic will come bundled with one FOMA 901i-series phone starting this winter. An engaging game even on mobile, the movements and execution on the FOMA were reminiscent of the old Sega Genesis edition of Sonic. Capcom’s Monster Hunter, another popular game, will be exclusively on DoCoMo phones for a short time this winter but will soon migrate to other carriers’ game platforms according to a DoCoMo spokesman.
The Seventh International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, UbiComp 2005, was held September 11-14 in Tokyo, Japan. This annual conference provides the premier forum in which to present research results in all areas relating to the design, implementation, application and evaluation of ubiquitous computing technologies, bringing together leading researchers from a variety of disciplines and geographical areas who are exploring the frontiers of computing as it moves beyond the desktop and becomes increasingly interwoven into our mobile lives.
Organized to provide a productive forum in which international researchers and members of the industry can discuss key issues and future uses of ubiquitous computing that create compelling, and socially beneficial experiences, and to facilitate an exchange of ideas that will allow ubiquitous applications to break out of their current “niche” and into the mainstream.
Japanese ticket and entertainment publishing powerhouse Pia has made its first tentative foray into mobile gaming in a tie-up with DoCoMo. Pet simulation game AquaZone swam onto i-mode screens a few days ago through Pia’s partnership with Frontier Group and its subsidiary Pia Digital Communications [press release in Japanese]. The PC version of AquaZone’s virtual Aquarium is already a hit with fish fanciers here and even on the small screen DoCoMo’s Foma 3G graphics keep the colors bright and clear. Subscriptions cost 315 yen per month (US$2.87).
ARM has announced that their Jazelle technology will be deployed in a new line of FOMA handsets by NTT DoCoMo. Emerging applications such as mobile games and business tools place increased performance and power demands on Java technology-enabled handsets. Through ARM’s partnership with Aplix Corporation, a global leader in deploying Java technology in mobile phones, ARM Jazelle technology is being adopted in the DoJa/Java platform for FOMA handsets, which is being jointly developed by Aplix and NTT DoCoMo.
A recent report from the Nikkei reveals that Nintendo has licensed its properties for use as mobile phone content. According to this official Nintendo site [ in Japanese ], the service will be named Nintendo Mobile, and will begin on Japanese service provider NTT DoCoMo on October 17th, KDDI(au) on October 20th, and Vodafone on November 1st.
The Associated Carrier Group (ACG) and Kyocera Wireless announced the debut of the Kyocera Slider Remix KX5 wireless phone. The feature-rich, music-enabled handset is exclusively offered for a limited time by the recently united ACG, and is also the first phone offered by the alliance. “By forming the ACG alliance, our members collaborate with manufacturers – like Kyocera – to provide cutting-edge products, quicken market entry and to leverage costs,” said Greg Latour, president of ACG. “It’s proving to be a smart and successful alliance for our member companies, which ultimately benefits our customers. We are pleased to be the first in the U.S. to offer the Slider Remix.”
Thanks to the folks over at AP Newswire and BusinessWeek, the recent announcement on Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.’s plans to move into Japan’s mobile manga market is spreading like wildfire [Google] across the Web today. The Sony Corp. unit confirmed they have signed exclusive contracts with 10 popular manga artists, including Shigeru Mizuki, creator of Gegege no Kitaro. The company also stated plans to increase the number of titles now offered to over 300 by next year. That’s more than double the number offered by NTT Solmare and Toppan Publishing combined.
Wireless Watch Japan has been following the ‘Comic Surfing’ story since September 2004 with a video preview of CelSys’s mobile manga technology at Mobidec and again more recently with another video program from KDDI’s EZ Book launch event held in April this year. Sometimes dubbed the crowning jewel of the mobile entertainment content triple-play (games, music, manga), we have been bullish on this sleeping giant since first sight. Wonder how long it will take before Superman launches in the US?
