Sony Ericsson Game Developers Challenge 2004 - in rearview mirror
Written by: Sony Ericsson Developer reporter
Publication: Sony Ericsson Developer website
Date published: Circa 2004
Sony Ericsson announced a number of new J2ME MIDP 2.0 phones in 2004. To encourage developers to take full advantage of these mobile phones with their great gaming capabilities, Sony Ericsson arranged a game development competition, offering cash prizes as well as worldwide recognition and distribution to the winners of the Game Developers Challenge 2004.
The competition challenged game developers all over the world to create the best MIDP 2.0 game for the Sony Ericsson K700, Z1010 and Z500 phones. More than 130 Java games were submitted in the competition, and after performing testing of all the games to make sure they run properly on the phones and were good enough to be commercially distributed after the competition, we were down to 45 new games for consumers to play and vote on.
Global consumer promotions
Through various online promotions, consumers around the world were invited to influence the future content available for Sony Ericsson phones by trying out the games on a special consumer campaign site. This activity was aimed at stimulating increased interest among consumers for Sony Ericsson mobile phones and our entertainment offering.
Consumers were asked to play the games through a web emulator and vote on the games by rating the Look & Feel / Graphics, Ease-of-use / Game-Play, Entertainment factor and Innovation of the games on a scale from 1-10.
Each game got equal opportunity to be displayed on the campaign web site with a screenshot, title, short description and the game development company's name. Consumers could view games randomly or by category.
More than 65,000 game sessions were played and close to 7,000 consumers took the time to vote in the Sony Ericsson Game Developers Challenge 2004. Based on total average score on the four game criteria evaluated, 20 finalists were singled out.
Jury picking 3 winners
A jury consisting of four Sony Ericsson representatives and two experienced review experts from the wireless gaming industry evaluated the 20 finalists and picked the following three winners of the Sony Ericsson Game Developers Challenge 2004, announced on September 3, 2004:
ARES II developed by Brownbear Mobile Games, Singapore
Jury's motivation: "This is a fun, intense action game that is challenging to both kids and older gamers thanks to many and different advanced weapons used to destroy enemies. The game is a well executed and very enjoyable shoot 'em up game that quickly gains popularity."
GearBox: Puzzle Party developed by Spoon Interactive Arts, Philippines
Jury motivation: "This is an innovative and challenging Puzzle game for both young and old. The developers add a new dimension to one of the most popular game genres by presenting the gamer an exciting mix of Puzzle Game and Beat'em Up features which will probably have appeal to many."
Nano Kid developed by Pocket Panic!, Sweden
Jury motivation: "This is an eye-candy Platform game with beautiful graphics and great personality. It is fun to play, gives a complete experience and is suitable for all target groups."
Prizes and distribution of games
The winners each received a $7,000 USD cash prize, Java certification paid for by Sony Ericsson through the JavaVerified program, and prominent placement on Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads which is promoted as an integral part of the product offering.
But this contest was not only beneficial to the three winners. All the games submitted to the competition were offered commercial distribution through the Sony Ericsson Application Shop, which has proven to be a valuable go-to-market channel for many third party application developers. And naturally developers kept the rights to their own games.
Some comments after the competition
"One of Sony Ericsson's objectives for this contest was to stimulate applications development for our new phones, and we are happy to see that there has been such a great interest among game developers but also among consumers who have participated in playing and voting on the games. The winning games all utilize full screen mode, support joystick use well and show that good programmers can create really good games that are smaller than 100 Kb, making it easier to distribute the games over-the-air," said Mikael Nerde, Senior Manager and head of Sony Ericsson's Developer Program.
"The global marketing and product placement resulting from winning the Game Developers Challenge makes a huge impact to the company in terms of global relations to other content providers and branding of Spoon," said Romolo C. Alipio, Jr., content engineer at Spoon Interactive Arts and a winner of the Game Developers Challenge 2004.
"It's great to see Sony Ericsson encouraging mobile games innovation through this contest," said Matthew Bellows, VP Mobile Entertainment for Gamespot.com, and one of the external jury members. "Developers are making great strides in the quality of their work, and competitions like this bring well deserved recognition to top developers worldwide."
"Leadership in the mobile markets isn't just about the devices. Leaders need to foster tight working relationships with developers, and push the limits in a fast-moving market. Then they need to provide the support so their developers can create efficiently. An excellent example of this is the Sony Ericsson Game Developers Challenge 2004, which offered cash prizes, global marketing opportunities and commercial distribution. It was a well-managed program for integrating developer initiatives with consumer marketing. A very smart and efficient campaign for all involved," said Bill Rus, President, Venture Analytics.
The competition challenged game developers all over the world to create the best MIDP 2.0 game for the Sony Ericsson K700, Z1010 and Z500 phones. More than 130 Java games were submitted in the competition, and after performing testing of all the games to make sure they run properly on the phones and were good enough to be commercially distributed after the competition, we were down to 45 new games for consumers to play and vote on.
Global consumer promotions
Through various online promotions, consumers around the world were invited to influence the future content available for Sony Ericsson phones by trying out the games on a special consumer campaign site. This activity was aimed at stimulating increased interest among consumers for Sony Ericsson mobile phones and our entertainment offering.
Consumers were asked to play the games through a web emulator and vote on the games by rating the Look & Feel / Graphics, Ease-of-use / Game-Play, Entertainment factor and Innovation of the games on a scale from 1-10.
Each game got equal opportunity to be displayed on the campaign web site with a screenshot, title, short description and the game development company's name. Consumers could view games randomly or by category.
More than 65,000 game sessions were played and close to 7,000 consumers took the time to vote in the Sony Ericsson Game Developers Challenge 2004. Based on total average score on the four game criteria evaluated, 20 finalists were singled out.
Jury picking 3 winners
A jury consisting of four Sony Ericsson representatives and two experienced review experts from the wireless gaming industry evaluated the 20 finalists and picked the following three winners of the Sony Ericsson Game Developers Challenge 2004, announced on September 3, 2004:
ARES II developed by Brownbear Mobile Games, Singapore
Jury's motivation: "This is a fun, intense action game that is challenging to both kids and older gamers thanks to many and different advanced weapons used to destroy enemies. The game is a well executed and very enjoyable shoot 'em up game that quickly gains popularity."
GearBox: Puzzle Party developed by Spoon Interactive Arts, Philippines
Jury motivation: "This is an innovative and challenging Puzzle game for both young and old. The developers add a new dimension to one of the most popular game genres by presenting the gamer an exciting mix of Puzzle Game and Beat'em Up features which will probably have appeal to many."
Nano Kid developed by Pocket Panic!, Sweden
Jury motivation: "This is an eye-candy Platform game with beautiful graphics and great personality. It is fun to play, gives a complete experience and is suitable for all target groups."
Prizes and distribution of games
The winners each received a $7,000 USD cash prize, Java certification paid for by Sony Ericsson through the JavaVerified program, and prominent placement on Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads which is promoted as an integral part of the product offering.
But this contest was not only beneficial to the three winners. All the games submitted to the competition were offered commercial distribution through the Sony Ericsson Application Shop, which has proven to be a valuable go-to-market channel for many third party application developers. And naturally developers kept the rights to their own games.
Some comments after the competition
"One of Sony Ericsson's objectives for this contest was to stimulate applications development for our new phones, and we are happy to see that there has been such a great interest among game developers but also among consumers who have participated in playing and voting on the games. The winning games all utilize full screen mode, support joystick use well and show that good programmers can create really good games that are smaller than 100 Kb, making it easier to distribute the games over-the-air," said Mikael Nerde, Senior Manager and head of Sony Ericsson's Developer Program.
"The global marketing and product placement resulting from winning the Game Developers Challenge makes a huge impact to the company in terms of global relations to other content providers and branding of Spoon," said Romolo C. Alipio, Jr., content engineer at Spoon Interactive Arts and a winner of the Game Developers Challenge 2004.
"It's great to see Sony Ericsson encouraging mobile games innovation through this contest," said Matthew Bellows, VP Mobile Entertainment for Gamespot.com, and one of the external jury members. "Developers are making great strides in the quality of their work, and competitions like this bring well deserved recognition to top developers worldwide."
"Leadership in the mobile markets isn't just about the devices. Leaders need to foster tight working relationships with developers, and push the limits in a fast-moving market. Then they need to provide the support so their developers can create efficiently. An excellent example of this is the Sony Ericsson Game Developers Challenge 2004, which offered cash prizes, global marketing opportunities and commercial distribution. It was a well-managed program for integrating developer initiatives with consumer marketing. A very smart and efficient campaign for all involved," said Bill Rus, President, Venture Analytics.