Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Entertaining mobility

I recently read that the US computer game industry is now bigger than Hollywood. Multi-player gaming as well as file sharing, online communities, and user-generated content are redefining entertainment as we know it.

A key driver of this change is that one-man band of digital devices, the mobile phone. Consumption of games, music and TV on mobile phones is growing along with the uptake of 3G services.


A recent survey in Europe suggests that 70% of teens use their phones to listen to music, with games and video penetration just behind. The mobile facilitates seamless retailing with ‘purchase and play’ whenever and wherever we feel like it. Handset manufacturers are pushing the next phase of mobile music consumption hard. The Nokia Music Store http://www.nokiamusic.co.uk/#/manifesto4/ and iTunes http://www.apple.com/au/itunes/mobile/ allows you to download music to a mobile. It seems the hardware, the connectivity and marketing dollars are all in place to deliver a new form of music on the move, assuming the price is right.


From a gaming and video perspective, made for mobile shows and games have created a new usage occasion and a commensurate need to cater for the additional opportunity, increasing the size of the industry. Mobile games will incorporate additional features, such as a GPS, enabling a truly unique gaming experience.


User-generated content has added a new dimension to entertainment. Cameras on mobiles are enabling opportunistic content creation that can at times have a profound effect on the viewer - think of the recent images, beamed around the globe, of the disgraceful treatment of protesters by authorities in Iran.


Additionally, social networking has become compulsive viewing. The mobile products of both MySpace and Facebook have been hugely successful, allowing you to communicate for less than an SMS, share anything you want instantly through mobile upload and see exactly what everyone in your life is doing all the time. Global CEO Chris De Wolfe said he expects up to 50% of MySpace traffic to be from mobile devices within the next 2 years. Interestingly, he went on to say that users return multiple times per day, indicating snack consumption for the moments in between times.

It seems unlikely mobile TV will replace home entertainment centres, but it can augment your entertainment experience. For example, in addition to made-for-mobile content, Foxtel iQ has launched a mobile product that allows you to plan your evening’s entertainment from the comfort of anywhere but your lounge http://www.foxtel.com.au/discover/mobile/default.htm. It’s a great example of how the mobile platform can act as enabler and add value to other platforms.

With processing power ever-increasing, you’ll soon be able to continue playing World of Warcraft even when you leave the house. Because of the constraints determined by the size of the handset, it’s debatable though whether the mobile phone will ever replace the mainstream gaming console. However, it looks certain to complement the online variant, with the trading and training of characters being activities that will be managed on a mobile.

An increased consumer repertoire will continue to grow the entertainment market, specifically the share attributed to mobile. Some of this will be pure entertainment on the handset, but increasingly we shall see cross-over with other entertainment platforms.