Telcogames & Codemasters Mobile Come To A Sensible Agreement

Classic Sensible Software Titles To be Recreated For Symbian Smart Phones

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on Aug. 31, 2005

For Immediate Release:

August 31st. Mobile games publisher Telcogames and video games publisher Codemasters today announced a deal to bring a number of classic games titles to the new generation of Symbian Smartphones.

Telcogames will be developing brand new, Symbian-based versions of the hugely popular and widely acclaimed titles: Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, Sensible Soccer International Edition, and Mega Lo Mania.

These titles were originally released in the early 1990s by Sensible Software, a legend in the video games industry, appearing on many of the computers and early consoles available at the time. All of the titles were critically acclaimed and proved hugely popular with the media and consumer alike. Sensible Soccer in particular quickly gained a reputation as the most playable and enjoyable football game ever, with fans worldwide. Codemasters purchased Sensible Software in 1991. Telcogames will also develop a Symbian-based edition of Codemasters' classic Psycho Pinball.

All of the games will be created to incorporate and utilise the full power of the Symbian operating system and the powerful hardware present inside the current generation of Smart phones. Both Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder were recently released for Java-enabled mobile phones and have been a great success with mobile gamers and network operators. The new Symbian games will build on this success to give Smart phone owners a gameplay experience as close to the original titles as possible.

As gaming on mobile handsets has grown, the Symbian operating system has proven to be a powerful and capable new system for creating larger, richer and more involved games. Mobile network operators and consumers alike see Symbian-based titles as much closer to the quality expected from dedicated handheld game devices such as the Nintendo Gameboy or DS. The popularity of Symbian and the number of handsets on the market is continuing to grow rapidly. The installed based of Symbian handsets has now reached approximately 39,000,000 globally** with industry analyst Ovum predicting this figure will reach 100,000,000 by 2007.

Telcogames has a great deal of experience with Symbian games. The company has released a number of titles for the operating system and created distribution channels through wireless networks and portals as well as through retail channels, with major high street partners.

Jamie Conyngham, the Chief Executive Officer of Telcogames, said, "The Co-Publishing deal with Codemasters represents a great leap forward for Telcogames. Rather than simply licensing properties from a Console Publisher we are actually working with Codemasters Mobile to build high quality games for high end handsets and to increase both Telcogames and Codemasters distribution network on a world wide basis. We are setting a higher standard of mobile gaming not possible with a small file size J2ME game. The demographic match is good, people who remember these games from Console make up a good percentage of the owners of high end handsets and 3G users. We support 3G network operators trying to drive data traffic as our file sizes are around 500K to 1.5MB for these classic games. It has always been a desire of Telcogames to work closely with Console Publishers, a lot of our staff are from companies such as Sega, Psygnosis and Jester, we are all excited about this deal. "

Matt Davies, the Director of Codemasters Mobile, said, "The continuing growth of the mobile games sector, the growing number of Symbian handsets on the market and the incredible popularity of classic titles, provides video games publishers with an opportunity to reach an entirely new audience and an entirely new generation of gamers, who may otherwise never get the chance to play some of the games upon which the entire industry is built. Entering the market with such high end positioning in the market, echoes Codemasters ethos of quality products, which we want to reflect in Codemasters Mobile. Creating games for Symbian handsets allows us to provide an entirely new experience for Smart phone owners and deliver a revival for these top titles. We're delighted to have a co-publishing deal with Telcogames as their excellent distribution network will not only maximize sales, but enable us to make direct relationships with key carriers and aggregators. We are looking forward to giving players the chance to enjoy these new titles, which can truly be considered 'classics'."

Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, Sensible Soccer International Edition, Mega Lo Mania and Psycho Pinball will be released through major mobile networks, portals and retail outlets in the run up to Christmas 2005.

ENDS

Notes To Editors:

About Telcogames

Telcogames is a global publisher and distributor of mobile games. With Headquarters in the UK, the company is active in the mobile games market globally, supplying games directly and indirectly to 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier carriers as well as other media partners.

With a diverse catalogue of branded and unbranded content, Telcogames has one of the most comprehensive offerings of mobile games available. Telcogames suppliers of games include 85 of the best publishers and mobile game studios globally culminating in a portfolio of over 1000 mobile games.

Using a combination of partners, direct carrier relationships and local presence, Telcogames offers mobile game developers and publishers the opportunity to increase their distribution on a worldwide basis. Currently Telcogames has offices in London, Norrköping, Moscow, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Taipei and Dusseldorf.

Telcogames provides mobile games to more than 126 channels directly worldwide including Orange Group, Vodafone DE, Telstra Group, Singtel Group, Sony Ericsson, Jamba, O2 and over 500 channels indirectly through its partner network

1 World - 8 Offices - 85 Content Providers - 500 Channels - 1000 Games - 1,000,000,000 Mobile Phone Users

For more information please visit www.telcogames.com

ABOUT CODEMASTERS

Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience on current and future gaming platforms and channels. Established in 1986, the company's dominant brands include Colin McRae Rally, TOCA Race Driver, LMA Manager, Brian Lara Cricket and Operation Flashpoint. The company is headquartered in Southam, Warwickshire UK and maintains European operations in Germany, France, Spain, and Benelux. The company has its US headquarters in New York. More information about the company and its products is available online at http://www.codemasters.com

Contacts:

Telcogames

Jamie Conyngham

Chief Executive Officer

E: jamie@telcogames.com

Codemasters

Matt Davies

Director of Codemasters Mobile

matt.davies@codemasters.com

Richard Eddy

Head of Communication

riche@codemasters.com