Chances are that you or someone you know is affected by
mobile gaming virus. There is a lot of it about and developments in technology are helping it to spread like wildfire. Even if you do not consider yourself a gamer you could one day be exposed to its effects. All it takes is a Java-enabled mobile phone and there are already over 150 million of them in US alone. What we are really talking about of course is growth in popularity of mobile gaming; in other words, playing games on your mobile phone. Mobile gaming is set to become big business in 2004 as number of BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) and Java-enabled mobile phones in circulation continues to grow. In addition, manufacturers are continually adding colored screens and advanced features to their latest models, making mobile gaming a rich and vibrant experience for users.
The games themselves are readily available from a wide range of sources and can be easily downloaded from numerous web sites, with prices starting at $2.99 or less. There is something for everyone with games ranging from favorites such as PacMan, chess and checkers to motor racing, jet-skiing and even erotic games.
Many people consider online gaming to be a predominantly male activity and a young male activity at that. Last fall, at a conference on mobile gaming, Mark Stanger from game developers Eidos suggested that 92% of PlayStation 2 players are men. Whilst it is probably true that online and console gamers are mainly male (how many women do you know that own a Sony PlayStation 2) analysis suggests that mobile phone gaming could be encouraging a growing percentage of women to play games.
