Rome, Italy and Espoo, Finland – Nokia revealed that Ghostwire, by A Different Game from Sweden, is the winner of the 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.

Sweden’s Jadestone and France’s C4M, came in second place with Melokey to win 20,000 EUR. Eclipse Interactive from the United Kingdom claimed third place and 10,000 EUR with Watchers. As well as the prize money, each of the winners will be given pre-production contracts with Nokia Games Publishing. The winning three titles were chosen by a panel of independent industry experts, selected from a final shortlist of ten concepts from around the globe.

“We are happy to see such exciting mobile game concepts come from each of the three winners of the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge and are looking forward to seeing these innovative ideas come to life,” said Dr Mark Ollila, director of games publishing, Nokia.

“The standard of the concepts submitted to the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge was very high, and it has been fascinating to see the different types of ideas created for mobile. 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.”

Second Prize was awarded to Melokey which was chosen for its potential to bring music and games to mobile with advanced social networking features. Melokey is a music game for mobile devices where players learn to master songs and play them against other in-game characters and competitors to win the hearts of fans. Once they have the hang of how to master the play interface via the immersive single player campaign, players can start playing their own favourite music, not just on their own, but together with friends.

Third Prize, Watchers, is a conspiracy adventure-themed game and is part of the new generation of games which are using location and context as an essential element. The game will use Nokia Maps and other real world tools to find locations. Players must explore these locations to uncover clues and use all their wits and any means necessary, to find out who they are, why they are trapped, and who is behind it all. Watchers is supported with episodic game play and offers players the chance to provide content to challenge other fellow conspiracy theorists.

The Mobile Games Innovation Challenge, launched in April 2008, is designed to encourage the development of innovative game concepts with the power to positively disrupt the global mobile gaming industry and to help propel mobile gaming with handheld devices into a new and exciting future.

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.

www.gamingchallenge.org

Notes to editor
For further materials on the Nokia Games Summit, please visit http://www.nokia.com/press/gamessummit.

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced the top 10 developers of its Mobile Games Innovation Challenge. The winners, to be announced at an exclusive awards ceremony later this month, will take home a total prize value of EUR 70,000. The three most innovative game concepts will be offered Nokia Publishing pre-production contracts. In addition, the first winner will be awarded EUR 40,000, the second EUR 20,000, and the third EUR 10,000 to enable further development of the chosen concept.

An independent panel of industry experts from across the globe has spent the past few weeks deliberating through over a hundred entries to come up with a shortlist of the most innovative mobile games concepts. Entries were judged on game innovation, fun, feasibility of execution, and market potential. The top three developers who best meet these requirements will be invited to present their concepts at the upcoming Nokia Games Summit in Rome, Italy on October 29, 2008.

Top 10 developers and their concepts are:
- Active Tecnologia e Consultoria Ltda. (Brazil) – Cinemarena – set in a movie theatre, controlling avatars on the big screen
- CreatePlayShare (India) – Ball – play any ball game on your mobile device or even create your own new game
- A Different Game (Sweden) – Ghost Wire – use your mobile device to communicate with ghosts
- Eclipse Interactive (UK) – Watchers – conspiracy adventure game that uses Nokia Maps and other real world tools to find locations
- Int13 (France) – Kweekies – augmented reality virtual pet game that allows players to interact with their pet by utilizing the embedded camera of their mobile device
- Jadestone (Sweden) and C4M (France) – Melokey – a music game for mobile devices where you learn to master songs and play them against other in-game characters to win the hearts of your fans
- LemonQuest (Spain) – Wave Pirates – a fun action game where players turn into a pirate navigating the seven seas, looking for gold and glory
- Onur Yazilim (Turkey) – Comet Hunter – a 2-D shooting game which combines the excitement of shooting with natural sound effects made by players themselves
- Simlife (China) – XDancery – a music game where players can touch the screen, draw patterns on the screen, shake the device or sing into it to hit the music tempo notes
- TechnoBubble (Spain) – Fun Cam – a mixed reality game that connects your camera on your mobile device to the TV

“The Mobile Games Innovation Challenge has demonstrated the huge potential of this industry on a global level, and the innovation that can be applied to mobile games,” said Dr Mark Ollila, director of games publishing, Nokia. “We’ve seen some groundbreaking ideas and some really unique concepts. It just goes to show how many creative minds there are out there and it really looks like we’re going to set out what we wanted to achieve with this Challenge – to rock the industry. Everyone’s now talking about the awards ceremony and we’re looking forward to an exciting outcome.”

The Mobile Games Innovation Challenge, launched in April 2008, is designed to encourage the development of innovative game concepts with the power to positively disrupt the global mobile gaming industry and to help propel mobile gaming with handheld devices into a new and exciting future.

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.

Sony Ericsson and GlobalFun have been dealing with each other for about 5 years now, and now with this content acquision agreement, things can only get better. Bertil Krumnack, EVP of Sales&Business Development in GlobalFun, only sees this as a proof that their company’s strategy on content acquisition and account management has been and still is the correct one.

The trust that Sony Ericsson is showing us by appointing us as one of two content acquisition partners is very flattering. We will do our very best to exceed the expectations in this area and to continue to grow our mutual business, says Marcus.