Mobile Phones & Ringtones

Combining Mobile Music and Games

March 21st, 2005

Dwango Wireless and Nextel Communication released a set of J2ME games that quiz users about their music knowledge. An example is the “Rolling Stone Trivia”, available as a $3.99 subscription from Nextel on the i860 phone. Here is the description from Nextel’s site:

Rolling Stone 20 Questions is a music trivia game that quizzes a user’s knowledge of both contemporary and classic music culture. A dynamic format keeps the experience active and interesting. 30 new volumes of 20 question sets are available every month to keep the trivia fresh. Statistics track a user’s progress and development and allow competition on leader boards. Also features a ‘pass the phone’ multiplayer mode. The subscription version of this game allows new volume to be downloaded and an on-line leader-board. This option requires the Total Connect Rate Plan.

So this looks like a win-win for Dwango-Nextel. Nextel can offer some interesting stuff to their customers while getting more revenue. Dwango will in the process get some name recognition and possibly revenue share. If this is a success, I can see it be easily replicated to other wireless carriers.

Entry Filed under: Mobile Games