Mobiles become miniature game consoles

Munich, January 16:

Use of mobile phones is no longer restricted to making phone calls or sending text messages. It is steadily turning into a miniature games console.

There are simple games that help to pass the time while waiting for the bus and more complicated ones, right up to the strategic kind that can take days or longer to finish.

Technology experts have acknowledged the increasing market significance of the mobile phone games, but also see limits to the trend.

Mobile phone operators, personal computer makers and games console developers are constantly bringing new games to the market.

“The games are being brought out in a variety of versions to ensure compatibility with many of the mobile phones on the market,” says Uwe Baltner, who works for the telecommunications portal xonio.com in Munich, “The classic is Snake from Nokia. In this game you have to collect blocks in a labyrinth in order to make the snake grow longer.”