Nokia has launched a new wireless game.
You wake up in an hospital room with no recollection of how you got there. You are told your name is Sisu but you have forgotten your identity. Who are you and what happened to you?
Welcome to the Nokia Game, Nokia’s first large-scale wireless game, which was launched yesterday evening in 18 European countries. Designed as an adventure game, the Nokia Game differs from the competition in that it uses mainstream media such as TV, print, radio and the Internet to provide clues to its participants. The game will run for one month and will reward the winner with a cash prize and a weekend at MTV’s Snowball event in Italy.
This game is first a marketing exercise for Nokia to demonstrate the potential of wireless games as mobile applications. Nokia has already made significant investments in the development of mobile applications, including a wireless gaming platform. Given the disappointment surrounding WAP, high-profile initiatives like the Nokia Game are needed to demonstrate the value of mobile services.
While wireless games are still in their infancy in terms of concept and are quite basic in their design, the Nokia Game forays into new avenues by making full use of today’s media. Furthermore, by requiring gamers to constantly be on the lookout for clues to progress through the adventure, Nokia aims to create a strong sense of following and more importantly a gaming community. This is increasingly important for the gaming industry, which considers that communities represent increased customer loyalty as well as opportunities for indirect revenues such as advertising and eCommerce. These could be substantial – Datamonitor estimates that wireless gaming revenues will be worth $6 billion by 2005 in the US and Western Europe.
The Nokia Game will also provide valuable information regarding the development of future wireless games, from several perspectives. The technical challenge of running such a large-scale game is notably important and could hamper the potential success of the venture. While the game will not address a mass-market audience, as it targets a user base with access to the Internet, it is the first step towards the emergence of a new breed of game with themes that the public at large will be able to relate to, and which will reach this audience through mainstream media.
