I am a J2ME game developer (not indie yet though; working for a company). A few moments ago I was wondering about whether Indie game developers (like yourselves) have thought about entering the mobile game business, either by getting someone to port their PC games, or by doing it themselves. If anyone has given a thought to this, please share your opinion.

For those who may not be familiar with the mobile game scene, here are a few points I could think of:

Similarities
1. Typically (I believe), Indie games are made for short bursts of play, i.e., 10-20 minutes in which you could complete one or two levels. Mobile games are also made for short bursts of play, e.g., while waiting in a queue or riding in a bus.

2. Indie games are usually made by small teams, on small budgets, and in much shorter durations than retail PC games. Ditto for mobile games.

3. Indie games generally tend to focus on the puzzle genre. Mobile games, due to restrictions like processor speed, one-handed play etc., are also more suited to the puzzle genre.

4. Indie games generally target the casual gamer. So do mobile games.

5. Indie games are downloaded, and so are moblie games :D

Differences
1. Typical prices of Indie games: $10 - $25. Typical prices of mobile games: $3 - $5, although some games (e.g., Rayman) also sell for higher, say $15.

2. In the PC world, windows has 90%+ marketshare. In the mobile world, the share is fragmented among platoforms which are neither binary- nor source-compatible. e.g., Palm OS, Pocket PC, Symbian, J2ME, Brew ...

3. An indie game written for a particular PC configuration will run on almost any PC of that configuration. OTOH, mobile devices differ a lot among themselves. Even devices from the same series (e.g., Nokia's "Series 60") may have minor differences among them For example, the Nokia 7650 has a standard keypad, and the Nokia 3650 has a circular one. Things like these makes it neccessary to test your game on every phone you intend to target.

4. Indie games are generally shareware. In the mobile games area, there is currently no concept of shareware (that I know of). A user always purchases and downloads the full version.

Mobile industry forecast
* It is expected (or maybe it has already happened) that the number of mobile phones would exceed the number of PCs in the world.

* The incoming generation of phones is capable of downloading and playing games.

* Mobile gaming is supposed to be worth several billion USD within the next 3-4 years.

* Mobile gaming is yet to have its first "killer idea".

Given these points (and others you may have noticed), what do you think/ feel about this opportunity? Are you planning to enter this field, would you rather wait and watch for now, or are you sure you will want to keep focussed on the PC market only? :)

I think mobile gaming is too overrated.

There is no money in it for developers, only for bloodsucking
middlemen aggregators and ballsqueezing mobile phone
operators. You won't make enough to audit their accounts
to check your royalties anyway.

Don't be suckered into this hype.

The PC market still has a better potential to succeed compared
to mobile market.

My gut feeling tells me mobile gaming will not take off once
everyone is off their curiosity mode and stop paying for
crappy games. (except the pdas, they have genuine potential)

jcvw75,

I admit you are not wrong. However, I feel this is because most mobile game developers are not clear about what kind of games would be popular with people.

Suppose someone turned out a game that was "just right", and it was a big hit. I feel that would give the mobile developers a starting point to understand what works and what doesn't. And a popular game will also entice more and more users to try mobile gaming.

With features like multiplayer over the network, face-to-face multiplayer over bluetooth, location-based gaming etc., I feel something has to click sooner or later.

Yea I agree with jcvw75 in the sense that the mobile gaming industry is a bit overrated, I don't find myself playing those type of games at all, and with Sony's PSPs coming in the near future and also PDAs getting better in the games department, it's tough to justify the $5 for a simple skiing game.

I really think the PDA market is something to look at because a lot of the games made are pretty average quality, and there's definately a market there.

About the mobile phones market, I couldn't find decent info about the distribution of games... I mean, are developer forced to use the services of a big distributor ?

At least in the PC and PDAs market, developers can sell their games themselves, with only a reduced percentage given to payment/distribution services (around 10-20%).

Try the article called 'Introduction to the Mobile Games Business' at the top of this page:

http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/1,6566,050_70,00.html

It is common to have more than one big distributor involved, because cell phone users don't/can't normally download their games form anywhere except the operator (cell phone network), and the operators don't usually deal directly with developers, but with aggregators. An aggregator is another middleman that somehow weaseled their way into the picture. (:

J

So if the operator is like the retail store, then the aggregator is kinda like the distributer? Going between publisher and sales?

the aggregator is like a leech, a game agent.

They take most of the developers profits doing nothing other
than connecting your product to the network operator.

They and the network operators are fat cats that will be
the one that makes all the initial big money before curiosity
runs out.

Developers will be wise to boycott these fields and stop
making these fatcats rich while you get nothing.

This mobile gaming (cellular) has absolutely NO benefits
to a game developer imo.

It's way too overrated and developers are the ones who
gets f*cked the most. We simply will not be able to audit
the royalties that easily (BECAUSE WE PROBABLY DON'T MAKE
ENOUGH FROM THE GAMES TO PAY FOR AN AUDITOR)

If you get f*cked you can't sell directly to consumers.
It's a death trap for indies, I would strongly advise against
going this route.

You NEED to know and be in touch with your customers
DIRECTLY if you want to succeed as an indie.

There is a recent article on the J2ME applications marketplace:

http://www.sys-con.com/java/article.cfm?id=2204

This is a five-page article which, among other things, outlines how business is done with a network operator or aggregator.

They and the network operators are fat cats that will be
the one that makes all the initial big money before curiosity
runs out.

I have also heard that sometimes there are contracts wherein the game or application is a free download for the first month or so. I don't know how common this practice is.

However, when the application is a paid one, it is typical for the developer to receive 50% - 70% of each sale. This also varies widely among different operators: I have also heard rates of 40% and 90% (the latter one is in Japan).

And finally, it seems it is possible to bypass the aggregator and operator. For example, check out http://www.elkware.com , who are a European J2ME game development studio. One can buy games directly from their website.