There are a number of things that have been proposed as the reason for mobile games doing less well than was predicted a few years ago, ranging from high prices to low quality to poor distribution methods. One of the bigger issues that comes up is discoverability—how consumers know that mobile games exist and get some idea of how good they are, or even what type of game they are. This could help…
Viacom’s website GameTrailers.com has issued details about its new mobile video channel focusing on mobile games, dubbed Go Gaming. It will be part of a larger mobile video channel about games in general, which will feature trailers, editorial reviews, special features, top ten lists and original shows such as Bonus Round. Go Gaming will feature previews and reviews of the latest mobile games. When technology permits viewers will be able to directly link to and purchase all the game titles mentioned in the show from their mobile devices—they could probably do it now by sending a separate message or WAP site with the video, but it would be more effective if users could pause the video stream and do it when they see the review. GameTrailers is announcing that it will launch on Amp’d in the 2nd quarter, and roll-out across all carriers in the coming months—it’s already been mentioned as part of Sprint’s new video services. It won’t solve the problem completely because the channel is more likely to be viewed by people who are already interested in mobile games, but it could raise the amount of games those people buy. If it included a “share this segment” feature so that viewers could send a review/preview of a particular game to a friend they think would like it the channel would go even further in helping the mobile game industry, not to mention raise revenues and viewership. (release)