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Abstract:TheMobileGames2010reportlooksathowmobilegamingcouldbelikeinyear2010fromthreepointsofview:gamesandplayers,technology,andbusiness.Thestudywasdonebyinterviewingabout20mobilegamepublishers,developers,operators,andinvitingexpertstowritearticlesonthetopic.Theinvitedarticlesareattachedintheend.Thereportreflectstheopinionsoftheintervieweesandauthorsofthearticles-notNokia’sgamestrategyorfutureproductreleases.IndexTerms:MobileGame2010ResearchCenterNRC-TR-2007-011MobileGames2010ElinaKoivistoNokiaResearchCenterFinland©2007NokiaMobileGames2010ElinaKoivisto2Layoutandcoverart:JoukaMattilaNokiaResearchCenter,FinlandSpecialAcknowledgements:TheIPerG(IntegratedProjectonPervasiveGaming)projectforfundingpartofthisworkTeemuJalavaNokiaResearchCenter,FinlandJyriSalomaaNokiaResearchCenter,ChinaForinitiatingandstructuringtheproject,co-authoringtheinitialsetsofquestionsandinvitations,rewiewingandselectingthearticles.TheMobileGames2010study(MG2010)wasiniti-atedbyNokiaResearchCenter(NRC)attheendofyear2005togetinsightonhowthemobilegamesandgamingwillbelikewithinafewyearstime.Westartedthestudybyorganizinganexpertworkshopwith13gameexpertsinNokia.Withthedatathatwasgatheredintheworkshop,wecreatedaninter-viewstructureandinterviewed20mobilegamede-velopers,publishers,operatorsandotherresearchers(seethelistofcontributorsintheend).Theinter-viewsweredoneeitherinface-to-facesituations(majority)orviaphone,andemail.Theinterviewsweresemi-structured(1).Additionally,weinvitedexpertstocontributetothestudybywritingshortarticlesrelatedtothetopic.Thesearticlesarecompiledinanappendixthatac-companiesthisreport.Thejournalincludesarticlesonmobilegamesecurity(StevenDavis)[12],tech-nologyroadmappingforfuturemobilegames(Son-jaKangas)[32],proximitygaming(TomSöderlund)[51],virtualassettrade(StevenDavis)[13],cross-medialaccess(VickyWu)[54],architectureforcon-nectedmobilegaming(FrankFitzek)[18],andfu-tureofmobilegames(JohnPaulBichard)[6].PleasenotethatthisreportdoesnotreflectNokiaroadmapsorfutureproductreleases.Thisreportisacollectionofopinionsofthepeoplewhocontributedinthisstudy.Thestudylooksatmobilegamingfromthreepointsofview:Usersandgames,Technologies,andBusi-ness.WefocusonEurope,however,ourcontribu-torscomealsofromotherregions.Differencesindifferentmarketscanberatherlarge[19].Thestudyconcentratesmoreonthefuturethantoday.Excel-lentsourcesexistaboutthetoday’ssituation,andsomeofthemarefreelyavailable,suchastheIGDAMobileGamesWhitePaper[27].OneofthearticlesinthearticlecollectionalsogivesabriefsummaryoftheHistoryoftheMobileGames(startingwiththefirstcommercialMobileGame,Nokia’sSnakes,inyear1997)[40].Thereportisdividedinthreeparts:Section2.UsersandGames,Section3.Technologies,andSection4.Business.Conclusionsaredrawnintheendofthedocumentandthereferredmaterialsarelisted.Thecontributorsforthereportarelistedinthebegin-ningofthedocument.Mostofthecontributorswereinterviewedforthereport,someofthemreviewedthereportandcameupwithusefulcomments,andsomedidboth.(1)Theinterviewsinvolvedalistofinterviewtopicsthatwerefollowedintheeachinterview.However,theintervieweeswerefreelyallowedtotalkaboutthetopicsthattheyconsid-eredimportantthemselves.3Chapter1:Introduction4Chapter2:UsersandGamesInthissection,welookatwhowillbethemobilegameplayersandwhatkindofgamesarepredictedtobepopularinyear2010.Partlythiscanbeduetowhatkindsofgamesex-istfortheplatforms,butalsoitmustbenoted,thatinthecaseofPC,youalreadyhavethedeviceandyoujustneedtobuythegame.Thesameappliestothemobileplatformandthismaybeoneoftherea-sonswhymobilegamescanbecomepopularamongwomen(3).Itiscommonlysaidthatmobilegameplayersaremostlycasualgamerswhoplaythegamesforafewminuteswhenwaitingforsomethingorbeingbored.However,astudydonebySorrentandU30[27]foundthatmanycoreorhardcoregamers(foradefinitionseee.g.[28])playmobilegames.Thestudywasratherlarge-scale,morethan700mo-bilegameplayersparticipatedthestudy.Theyalsofoundthat80%ofthemhadagamingconsoleathome,morethan60%ofthemplayedmobilegamesathome,manyofthemplayedfrequently(morethan60%playedmobilegamesmorethanonceperday),andtheyplayedforlongperiodsoftimeonaverage(15-20minutes).Inanotherstudy(4)[19],whichwascommissionedbyNokia,theaverageplaysessionlengthwasfoundtobe28minutes.InourstudiesinNokiaResearchCenter,wehavefieldtestedcom-mercialmobilegames,andfoundthatparticularlytheplayersofonlinegamesspendalotoftimeplay-ingoneplaysession.Themostenthusiasticmobilegameplayerscanevenspendseveralhoursplayingamobilegame.Thetypicalplacesthatarereportedinourstudiesforplaceswherethegamesareplayedincludehomeandwork.Itseemstobecommontoplaymobilegamesinplaceslikebedbeforegoingtosleep,orplayingonthecouchwhilewatchingTV.TheusersandhowtheyplayThereisquitealotofresearchconductedonthemobilegameplayerdemographics,buttheresultsvaryalotdependingonthegroupwhoparticipatedthestudies.Typically,thestudiesshowthatacon-siderablepartitionofthemobilegameplayersarefemale.Oneexampleisthefreemobilegamepor-talGameJump’sstudy[9]amongitsusers(50000playerswereinvolvedinthestudy)wher