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MMObility: The year in mobile
What a year, huh? We gamers have seen a lot of changes, but especially in the mobile market. New devices came and went, technologies spread out even further in the world, and MMO gaming established itself on the smallest screens possible. Of course, the mobile market is not as large as the standard MMO market, but it is definitely growing. As more devices appear, more players come to fill up the games. Our phones are not what they used to be, even five years ago. They are now truly tiny and powerful computing devices that are always connected. A player can literally live all of his digital life on one small device. If we look at the laptop and netbook market, we see even more growth and power. All of these devices need games to play on them, and MMOs fit perfectly into the mobile lifestyle. Click past the cut and I'll recap many of the best stories from Massively's mobile coverage!
NCsoft buys smartphone app studio
In the past, NCsoft has been rather cautious about mobile gaming, and aside from dipping a toe in the pool with an Aion smartphone app, the South Korean game developer has remained on the sidelines. Yesterday the company announced that it's diving in headfirst via the acquisition of Hotdog Studio, a Seoul-based mobile developer known for Dark Shrine. We've known for some time now that NCsoft also has plans to include mobile functionality with Guild Wars 2, and its iOS/Android program will enable chatting, real-time map viewing, and other as-yet unrevealed functionality. NCsoft acquired 58.3 percent of Hotdog's shares, and is looking to "enhance our ability in the smart phone environment," according to a publisher representative.
