Tetsuya Ide doesn't own an iPhone, but the teenage computer boffin is betting that Apple's hit gadget is the key to having a new generation of video game players in the palm of his hand.

He's not the only one. Video game console titans Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are facing growing competition from the increasing popularity of games played on mobile telephones or internet-enabled gizmos.

"A game's creativity used to depend on the hardware," said Ide, a 19-year-old computer programming student who is developing an iPhone game as part of his studies.

"A successful game now is one that's simple and reaches a wide network of people," he told AFP at last weekend's Tokyo Game Show.

Major industry players have also begun to recognise the potential of smartphones as a springboard to reach casual gamers, due to the runaway popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch, both of which debuted two years ago.

Of the 758 software titles on display at this year's Tokyo Game Show, 168 were designed for mobile telephones — twice as many as last year.

"Cellphones are a very promising platform," said Kazumi Kitaue, chief executive of Konami Digital Entertainment, publisher of video games including the Metal Gear and Silent Hill series.

"The appeal is that everyone owns one. A family with three children may have one PlayStation 3, but three cellphones with which they can download and play games," he said.

Making games for mobile phones also enables developers to reduce costs in the face of the worst global economic downturn in decades.

AFP

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