(keitai-l) Mobile gaming (java) in Japan vs Rest of world ?

From: Chas Sweeting <charlie_at_skinnyhippo.com>
Date: 12/11/03
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.20031211224725.00e70b98@mail.skinnyhippo.com>
Sorry if I missed an earlier post or thread on this subject,
but are there any figures on usage and revenue from mobile 
gaming (i-appli/j2me) in Japan and how profitable it is for 
operators and third-party developers ? 

Am asking because I'm based in SE Asia and really don't see
much demand for J2ME games, or even particularly for Nokia's
Ngage.  Am not sure if this is the same for Europe too.

Anyway, if things are indeed rosy in Japan, how does one
explain that ? (the same factors as the success of i-mode
in Japan versus WAP elsewhere, or is there more to it than
that ?).  

In Korea, the game Starcraft is often credited with helping 
to drive the broadband/PC-room phenomenon, whilst the PS2, 
Sega, Nintendo have 'must-have' games (eg. Gran Turismo for
the PS2)... has any game in Japan had the same status/effect
of driving platform adoption ?

Thanks for any insights, 

Chas
Received on Thu Dec 11 16:41:10 2003