Makers target smartphones

       Tetsuya Ide doesn't own an iPhone,but the teenage computer boffin is betting that Apple's hit gadget is the key to having a new generation of video game players in the palm of his hand.
       He's not the only one. Video game console titans Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are facing growing competition from the increasing popularity of games played on mobile telephones or Internetenabled gizmos.
       "A game's creativity used to depend on the hardware," said Ide, a 19-yearold computer programming student who is developing an iPhone game as part of his studies.
       "A successful game now is one that's simple and reaches a wide network of people," he told AFP at last weekend's Tokyo Game Show.
       Major industry players have also begun to recognise the potential of smartphones as a springboard to reach casual gamers,due to the runaway popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch, both of which debuted two years ago.
       "Cellphones are a very promising platform," said Kazumi Kitaue, chief executive of Konami Digital Entertainment,publisher of video games including the Metal Gear and Silent Hill series.
       "The appeal is that everyone owns one. A family with three children may have one PlayStation 3, but three cellphones with which they can download and play games," he said.
       Making games for mobile phones also enables developers to reduce costs in the face of the worst global economic downturn in decades.
       "They won't have to spend a great deal of money and effort developing new software," said Hirokazu Hamamura, president of Enterbrain Inc., a video game magazine publisher.
       "They'll be able to capture a client base through the iTunes store," he added,referring to Apple's portal for downloading music and games.
       With their high-resolution images,role-playing games for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 consoles often demand budgets comparable to those of Hollywood blockbusters, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
       In contrast, a cellphone game can cost just a few thousand dollars to develop.
       Media Magic, a company that develops games for Japanese cellphones, is among those firms that seek a bright future for games for the iPhone.
       "We saw the iPhone as a threat in the beginning. But since the same device is used all over the world there is greater opportunity for a bigger market," said Mitsuru Oshibo, a content developer with the firm.

Video games to be classified

       The Culture Ministry plans to send draft legislation on video game ratings to the cabinet for approval before adding it to the 2008 Film and Video Act.
       Minister Teera Slukpetch yesterday said the draft had been modified by the Council of State to divide games into seven categories based on users' age groups.
       "The new draft is aimed at controlling improper and violent video games from being distributed in the country and,importantly, to limit players' ages," Mr Teera said.
       Film and Video Classification Office director Pradit Prosil said distribution of game content that damaged the country's image and reputation or opposed good moral conduct was banned.