01 Nowember 2008

Weekend Watching:
Mobile Games Innovation Challenge Winner

As we reported earlier this week, Ghostwire, developed by Swedish firm A Different Game, is announced as the winner of Nokia's Mobile Games Innovation Challenge.

Ghostwire is a casual collection and adventure game, where players use the unique features of the mobile device to communicate with the world of ghosts. Ghostwire also features an augmented reality-powered mini-game, where players can use the camera on their mobile device to find ghosts.

At the Nokia Games Summit awards ceremony, A Different Game was awarded the top prize of 40,000 EUR to further develop their concept.

"It has been a difficult decision, but we were all impressed by Ghostwire," said Maarten Noyons, founder and general manager of the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) and head of the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge judging panel.

Noyons added, "This is a refreshing game that is truly 'made-for-mobile', using augmented reality in a different way. Your mobile phone helps you to discover and actually see a hidden world of mysteries and ghosts, to communicate with them, to collect them and to, as the makers state, give them peace. All judges agreed that this is a game they'd like to see progress."

The winner, Tom Söderlund, CEO of A Different Game said, "We believe Ghostwire has the potential to become an exhilarating and innovative game, and we're happy the jury agrees with us. The entire team is overwhelmed and excited to win this important award."

The Mobile Games Innovation Challenge, sponsored by Nokia Games Publishing, called for mobile game developers to submit concepts that will help drive mobile gaming to the next level, relying on the advanced features and functionalities of N-Gage-compatible devices, and Java- or Symbian-based Series 40 or S60 devices from Nokia.