New Nokia game to use SMS, calendar entries

The latest N-Gage title from leading handset manufacturer Nokia, Shadow-Born, is promising to drive back boundaries for how a mobile game works by integrating with the calendar, messaging and alarm systems on the game deck.

Developed by US firm Backbone Entertainment, Shadow-Born will feature innovative functionality where characters in the game can leave text messages, calendar appointments or alarms for you on the device.

The game is designed to take advantage of the growing trend to use mobile phones as personal organisers as well as communication and gaming devices.

"We are really pushing the envelope with this game," according to Nokia's director of games publishing, Gregg Sauter. "Whether it's the smartphone functions such as text messages or your to-do list, or the very fact that your mobile phone is with you wherever you go."

"No other platform could offer this type of gaming experience," he concluded.

In terms of the game itself, Shadow-Born places the player in the role of a character who experiences the supernatural world that lies below modern society - with vampires running corporations and werewolves roaming the streets at night.

The game was announced by Nokia at a special N-Gage event in Barcelona this week.