E3: EA announces new batch of mobile phone titles
Electronic Arts has lifted the lid on eight of the 20 mobile phone titles it is planning to launch between now and 2006, revealing that both well-known franchises and classic games are on the way.
For sports fans there's Fifa 2006, Madden NFL 2006 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006, plus Need for Speed Undergroud 2. Popular PC title The Sims 2 is also going mobile.
There will also be three 2D games on offer - Poppit!, Turbo 21 and Tri Peaks Solitare - following a deal with online gaming sites Pogo.com and Club Pogo. Pogo.com attracts 13 million visitors per month, according to figures from ComScore, and Club Pogo has more than 800,000 paying subscribers.
"Better games, richer graphics and deeper communities will take cell phone gaming to entirely new depths with experiences that are as adrenaline charged as console gaming," said John Batter, VP of EA Mobile.
"With racing, sports and puzzle games, our line-up features something fun for everyone. If you're looking for a deep experience or if you want to just game-on-the-go, these games have it all."
The new batch of titles represent EA's first foray into in-house mobile games development. The publisher entered the mobile market last year in partnership with I-Play, releasing Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Fifa football.
EA will also distribute the new games worldwide, and they will be available for hands-on play at E3 next month.