Gaming Cultures in Europe -- Mobile Entertainment --

1. Gaming Cultures in Europe-- Mobile Entertainment -- Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) <Sonja.Kangas@vtt.fi> Beijing 2 December 2003

2. Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) - technical and techno-economic R&D ~3000 employees- Several international R&D projects with leading ICT companies(telecommunication- and consumer electronics companies, operators, sw-companies etc.) Six (6) Research Units- Biotechnology, ICT, Electronics, etc. ICT (microsensing, microelectronics, telecommunications,networks, information systems, media technologies andhuman interaction technologies)

3. Gaming Cultures in Europe - Console gaming driven (32 B € 2002 [Informa]) * Consoles & devices 22 B € (~73 M devices) * Pocket & pc games 8,7 B € * Online, mobile & interactive television 893 M € - Typical player “21 year old male” -> boys´ culture- Community “games” trend- Mobile Entertainment market rising heavily (2004-2005)- Growing markets * e.g. “utility games” (edutainment, advertainment) * new interface innovations (multimodality)- EU governments funding game development (Finland, UK, France)- Hybrid market segments- Child welfare and age limits

4. Mobile Entertainment Cultures in Europe - Scandinavia: early adopters of mobile phones (1995- )- Mobile phones as a central "life organizing" tool for youth (1997- )- Young children (5-10 year old) use mobile phones more for fun and games than communication (2000- )- new mobile lifestyle- "parent-free zones" (mobile and internet)- virtual and real life communities- SMS/web, SMS/television chat and games (multiple channels, -devices)Sources: Coogan&Kangas: Finnish Youth as Communication Acrobats report (2001)Kangas&Kuure: Technologizing Youth book (2003)

5. Telecommunication Business European Mobile Entertainment Industry- ~401 720 M mobile subscribers in Europe (ITU 2003)- Penetration average 50 % (EU-15 80 %) GSM users- Still only 2-3 % uses mobile entertainment (ring tones (music), logos, wallpapers, games...)- Most active game developers (Great Britain, Finland, Germany, Sweden)- Organisation MEF (Mobile Entertainment Forum)OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) MGIF (Mobile Games Interoperability Forum) Mobile Entertainment Technologicaldevelopment Entertainment Business User Centred Design

6. Network and device related Network provision Device manufacturing TechnicalService provision Retail Enablinghw technology Enablingsw technology Commercialservice provision Enabling technology Consumer Portal Aggregator Figure:The European MobileEntertainment valueweb (MGAIN 2003) Serviceapplicationprovision Contentprovision Serviceinfrastructure provision Service provider Service Related

7. Main mobile entertainment markets(development & consumption) in Europe France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. Technological pioneer Finland (multiple media, 3D gameengines, multiplayer, naturalinteraction with the technology...) Future potentialEast Europe

8. European mobile entertainment (ME) industry (1) - European ME market highly fragmented: number of mobile operators large - Immature market (no mass market adoption) - Most promising ME consumer segments: 1) male teenagers, 2) female teenagers and 3) males aged 20-39 years old - Future content: mobile music, video, games, gambling, ring tones, logos, characters, and adult entertainment - Several novel and innovative mobile entertainment services are to be launched during fall/winter 2003/2004.

9. European mobile entertainment (ME) industry (2) - Mobile phones as mobile multipurpose devices (entertainment & communications) - Trend: 3D images, game engines - Position/context/group awareness - Close range (PAN) and online multiplayer games (internet) - Technologically driven, but lately also style and trends under attention - Italy and UK are noticeably more developed than the European average - In Scandinavia more experimental ideas (SMS-television). When the technology of mobile phone is not there yet, other devices like internet or television have been used instead as output channels

11. Who is who? Key actors: Atatio, Game Federation, Sumea, Digital Bridges, In-Fusio, iFone... (cross media: RedLynx, Sulake Labs) Portals: Jamba!, Vodafone Live!, Club Nokia, Halebob * in Scandinavia content also sold in newspapers Network operators: Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, TIM, 02. Device manufacturers: Nokia (37,2 %), Motorola (17,3 %), Samsung (9,8 %), Siemens (8,5 %), SonyEricsson (5,2 %)

12. Technology Trends - Pervasive Computing (ubiquitous computing) - "Anywhere, anytime, anything" - Hybrid media, multiple media solutions - Local user innovations (communities) - Peer-to-peer - Nanotechnology - Bio-interfaces (biometrics, Augmented Reality, Wearables)

13. Lessons to learn- Immature market (no mass market adoption) - Fragmented markets - Current trend: (Nokia N-Gage) portable consoles instead of "mobile phone games" - Technological innovations: Scandinavia (Finland) as leader - Teenagers and young adults are heavy users - Still some technological limitations

14. How Finland could co-operate with China 1. High level user culture, usability & technology research in Finland2. Global technology trends: technological innovations3. Advanced (mobile) game development in Finland (SMS>WAP>Java>>) * tourism and (youth) culture >> (cross media) promotion * utility gaming (edutainment, advertainment, infotainment) 4. Knowledge sharing: Information about the business, markets, concepts and technologies (comparative information from global markets)

15. More information about European mobile entertainmentcultures, game developers and user segments: >> Research Scientist: Sonja Kangas Technical Research Centre of Finland P.o. Box 12041 , 02044 VTT, Finland tel. +358 9 456 6052 mobile: +358 40 565 8582 fax. +358 9 456 7052 e-mail: sonja.kangas@vtt.fi http://www.vtt.fi/tte/ http://mgain.org