The market for mobile entertainment in on the upswing, with mobile phone games and Java games for mobile phones being one of the most important segments therein. The revenue accruing to this segment of the industry is expected to be phenomenally large as compared to other forms of downloadable entertainment options. Among the different types of games, multiplayer mobile phone games are expected to be the most popular. According to a current estimation, the revenues from mobile phone games and Java games for mobile phones would be around 11 billion dollars, by the end of 2010.
The popularity of mobile phone games have reached a massive proportion with an increase in the number of phones that are BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) and Java-enabled. Mobile handset manufacturers have been quick in recognizing the far reaching implications of this increasing popularity of mobile phone games and Java games for mobile phones. Consequently, they have taken extra care to incorporate larger screens, better colors and high quality sound in their handsets, to optimize the gaming experience of a typical mobile phone user.
A common mobile phone user does not have to look far for downloading a mobile phone game of his / her choice. A multitude of websites and online providers of mobile phone games exist which offer the most interesting and challenging games at industry leading prices. The games are as different as the personalities of the players for whom they are intended. From small kids who are fascinated by animated characters to young people who want to enjoy the thrill of motor racing or jet-skiing, there is something to satisfy everybody. Special mobile phone games are also being developed for the women mobile phone gamers, complete with soft colors, visually powerful gaming environments and upbeat themes. Thus, we can safely say that mobile phone games are popular among both sexes, within all age groups and across different geographical boundaries. It is a well-known fact that mobile phone games and mobile Java games in particular are encouraging a number of women to play these games.
Mobile phone games are also popular among older people; people who are over 50 years old. They are playing a host of these games for a varied number of reasons; may be to pass their time or maybe to blow away their boredom. Whatever may be the reason, it is a fact that in the year 2003, there were around 17% of mobile phone gamers, who were more than 50 years old.
The popularity of mobile phone games depend to a large extent on the ease of download of these games. Anyone can access any of the several gaming sites available in the Internet and follow simple instructions, to download a multitude of handset compatible games to their mobile phone handsets.
However, some limitations need to be overcome before the market for mobile phone games reaches its full potential. For one, the designs of mobile phone handsets need to be improved to obtain better