Our bags are packed and today we leave for San Francisco and the Games Developer Conference, the Mecca for computer, video, and mobile games. The GDC is the world’s most important event for game developers, publishers, and those who would like to enter the field. For five days, the entire focus will be on games for the PC, consoles, or mobile phones. Naturally, we will be there too, to track down the latest trends in mobile gaming and to set a few ourselves.

FISHLABS presentation: Mobile phones as game consoles

This time, we will even give a presentation about mobile games. Our topic: “Console Game Experience on Mobile Phones with Immersive Games and Innovative Gadgets”. What is that about? Quite simple: to date, most mobile games have had a rather simple design and either the fun is over after a few minutes or  things repeat endlessly with limited variations. Of course, simple games don’t have to be bad. If the game play is so good that even the 99th still motivates and challenges, there are many hours of fun in the game. Actually, this kind of mobile games is even extremely popular with a very large target group. But they usually fail to excite real gamers who are used to something completely different in terms of graphics, game depth, and interaction on PCs or consoles.

Mobile games have to get by with limited technology

Thus far, mobile games have been at a disadvantage, because mobile phones simply do not have enough processor speed or storage and the displays were too small. In addition, the downloading of mobile games was limited by network operators, so that the potential of high-end mobile phones simply couldn’t be used. No wonder that most implementations of PC or console games are disappointing. The game play and the scope of the games was not originally designed for such end devices and thus suffered from the technical limitations. That is more than enough for classic games such as Pac Man, Tetris, and so on,  which mobile phones have offered since the beginning of the new century. That is another reason why this game genre is so popular on mobile phones.

Enormous graphics and computing power in your pocket

Of course, mobile phones are becoming more and more powerful and in particular devices from Sony Ericsson have been on par with the first Playstation since at least the K800. Some mobile games which were developed especially for the Symbian devices from Nokia and Sony Ericsson with 3D graphics chip need not even shy away from comparison with games for the PSP. Upcoming mobile phones will even be able to compete with the latest generation of consoles, and most network operators have lifted the size limitation on game downloads. Only one thing is still poor: the controls of mobile games. The buttons on the phone were not developed to control mobile games. Therefore, particular attention must be paid to the controls in developing game play, especially for 3D mobile games, so that gaming on a mobile phone does not turn into a frustrating experience due to the controls.

Your mobile phone becomes a true game console with a separate game controller

All FISHLABS mobile games have simulated analogue controls, similar to a game controller. Given the limited options of a mobile phone keypad, they are certainly among the best in the market. Still, they can never achieve the touch & feel of a real game controller which allows, for instance, sensitive aiming in first person shooters. This is probably why some clever US American boys and, most notably, a girl decided to invent an analogue game controller for mobile games. Beth Marcus, founder and CEO of Zeemote, and her team developed the first and so far only analogue game controller for mobile games worldwide. Beth certainly knows her way with joysticks. She’s the one who invented the force feedback joystick and later sold her company to Microsoft. And now she seems to have landed another major hit. Here at FISHLABS, we spontaneously redesigned our shooter Heli Strike in order to test the new game feeling. Mobile phone in one hand, the Zeemote in the other, it is possible to navigate the helicopter elegantly across the phone display via Bluetooth and fire salvoes with the buttons on the front. Not only can the helicopter be steered much better with the Zeemote, you can also relax much more looking at the display and concentrate better on the action. This makes Heli Strike even more fun, and you will eventually put down your phone and the Zeemote with great reluctance.

FISHLABS mobile games support Zeemote

We were so pleased that from now on, we will adapt all our mobile action games to be used with the Zeemote. The device will not be released for a few more months, but we will keep you updated and our fans will be the first who get to order the Zeemote directly from us. If you happen to be visiting the GDC in San Francisco as well, you can try out our mobile games with the Zeemote in the North Hall, room 111, on Tuesday at 4 pm.

Go full throttle in Powerboat Challenge™, the new mobile game from FISHLABS! This mobile game isn’t just about speed on the water, it’s also about cool dudes, hot women, cheeky comments, and the right racing style. Both casual players and hardcore gamers will really get their money’s worth.

Choose from four not exactly everyday drivers and their speedboats. The boats differ in looks and, of course, in their handling characteristics, such as top speed, acceleration, and manoeuvrability. But the drivers themselves also have their own personalities and make cheeky comments. Over the course of the game, you will complete different types of races held all around the world. These include lap races against three other boats, elimination races where the last boat in each lap drops out, and solo races against a time target for each course.

But this mobile game isn’t just about speed. The courses are marked by buoys that you have to pass on the correct side and as closely as possible. The closer the better, because then you can ignite the turbo for a short time. But be careful: if you pass a buoy on the wrong side, you will receive a penalty point. If you miss three buoys in a race, you will be disqualified. In addition, you will also get style points for every skilfully rounded buoy. Earn enough style points and tuning sets will be unlocked, that you can then buy with your prize money from the races.

Pimp my boat – the shop has cool gadgets for your racing boat

If you have demonstrated enough style on the course, head for the shop. Choose from among bigger engines, chip tuning, fatter turbos, or extra spoilers for better  manoeuvrability. Of course, looks aren’t neglected either. All the changes to your powerboat are immediately visible and really stand out during the races. Fully equipped, you then start the next race. If you have successfully completed enough races, the next location will be unlocked, where you will have to prove yourself anew against tougher opponents, who naturally have also pimped up their boats.

Mobile game with unbelievable visual effects

This game will blow away everything that’s ever been seen in the field of water racing games on mobile phones. The detailed 3D graphics run smoothly, despite numerous light and particle effects, the environment is even reflected realistically on the surface of the water. And all of that with up to three opponents to make life difficult for you. It’s time to game on your mobile phone like it was a console! Of course, if your phone isn’t one of the fastest, you can reduce the graphics.Overall, around ten hours of fun are waiting for you, before you have played through all the drivers and courses. Don’t let anyone tell you that mobile games are just for casual players and every now and then!

In 2007, the mobile games from Fishlabs really hit the jackpot. Our sci-fi mobile game DEEP, with over 20 hours of thrilling underwater adventure, received the best test result (94 percent) to date from the on-line mobile game magazine Airgamer for all mobile games. Our action game still dominates the top spot in the list of the best mobile games. In second place is Galaxy on Fire (test result 93 percent and also from us).

But we have also cleaned up in the role-playing game (RPG) genre. Our action-RPG Blades & Magic is not just on the list of best games at Airgamer, Pocketgamer, MobilegameFAQS, and Midlet-Review. The jury at the German Developer Prize was so taken with it that they named it the best mobile game of 2007. Encouraged by our successes and your praise, we will once again make sure that you mobile gamers don’t get bored this year. We want to really rock your mobile phone again. So we are working on eight great mobile games.

Three new mobile racing games at the starting line

A lot of you sent us e-mail, saying we should develop more racing games, after we were one of the first to bring 3D racing games to mobile phones with V-Rally, Speed Spirit, and Motoraver. We have listened to your pleas and will bring out three mobile racing games this year. However, only in one of them will a car stand at the starting line, because we will be underway on your mobile phone not just on land, but also on the water and in the air. Look forward to thrilling duels with your friends, because all of our upcoming racing games offer multi-player via Bluetooth and also on-line ghost racing with high score uploads. You can play directly against each other or upload your best-driven races with your best time and the course to our server and challenge other players around the world. Unfortunately, only a very few network operators are offering mobile games with multi-player functionality, so that initially this version will be exclusively at www.fishlabs.net.

3D mobile sports games now also from FISHLABS

Before we get to our new action games, we want to turn to the fans of sports games, whom we so far may have neglected somewhat. We are daring to enter a new genre, but we are sure that we can make a hit in this area, too. No, we aren’t making a 3D football game for mobile phones; there are enough good titles from other developers on the market, even if our mobile games engine ABYSS would be really well-suited for it. Instead, we are focussing on a sport that is equal parts speed, dexterity, and body control for this new mobile game.

Four new action mobile games for serious gamers

Of course, we have thought of our action friends and are developing a couple of tough mobile action games. Look forward to a shoot’em-up based on Heli Strike in a completely new setting. The 3D graphics in Heli Strike are some of the best ever seen on a mobile phone, but we are going to go one better. Overall, nine missions may have been a bit few and the game play too easy. We’re going to change that. Getting started will be as simple as ever, but over 24 missions things will get continually harder, until the final boss really makes you sweat. But, of course, he can be beat…

The mobile fighting game from FISHLABS gets down to business

After the tremendous success of Blades & Magic, we have decided to launch a real fighting game. Many of you asked for more freedom in combat, which could not be implemented in such a comprehensive role-playing game with 48 skills (!). Our upcoming mobile game has less to do with magic and experience points, instead focussing heavily on the art of swordplay. Instead of all this being round-based, you will have to dodge attacks in real time and attack when your opponent is unprepared. Only with the right timing will you be able to execute powerful combos and land hard hits. In addition, several characters with different characteristics will be available on your mobile phone for the first time for you to choose to go into battle with. All of this is embedded in a coherent historic scenario that will really get under your skin.

Terrific first person shooter coming to mobile phones

First person shooters (FPS) are not exactly a new genre on the mobile phone for us, but they are certainly very underrepresented. At the beginning of 2005, we launched the first real 3D FPS as a mobile game for Sony Ericsson with our FPS Robot Alliance, and since then almost nothing has been done. Many representatives in the industry are firmly convinced that there are almost no hardcore gamers among mobile phone players and that mobile phones are also not suitable as a gaming platform. No wonder, the top-selling mobile games are simple puzzle or card games or are widely known retro games that aren’t going to lure serious gamers. Our games have shown that mobile phones are capable of much more, and, with the right games, PC and console gamers can indeed be enthused by mobile games. Robot Alliance may have been a bit ahead of its time and only ran on Sony Ericsson. But in the meantime, there are many more high-performance mobile phones on the market, and we believe the time is right for a real 3D first person shooter, with all that entails. You will cross broad terrains on foot, but also explore with a variety of vehicles. We will give you a full arsenal of weapons, and you will encounter opponents that will make your palms sweat. Look forward to especially tough fare for serious tough guys.

Sequel for the best mobile game of 2006

So, now there is just one title left on our list, and what else could it be but the often demanded by the press and long-awaited by fans sequel to Galaxy on Fire? Yes, we are working on a sequel to the mobile game that was selected in 2006 by Mobilegamefaqs, an international on-line magazine for mobile games, as the best action game, the game with the best graphics, and the mobile game of the year 2006. Never before had there been a game for mobile phones that offered so much lush 3D action combined with a stirring story and countless hours of playing motivation. That sounds hard to beat. And yet, at the time we had to leave a lot out that we would have liked to implement but just couldn’t fit into 512 KB. Today, we have approximately 1 MB of RAM on mobile phones and network operators no longer have a limit on downloads for mobile games. So, you will not only be underway in your own galaxy, you will also be able to explore more mysterious regions of the universe. Of course, there will also be new spaceships with significantly more upgrades for weapons, shields, and the like. We will also take over the expanded trading system from DEEP. Naturally, we will seamlessly continue the thrilling story from part one of Galaxy on Fire, and you will meet one or two old acquaintances again. Now isn’t that going to be a fantastic autumn for all serious mobile gamers…

Dear fans, friends and partners,

What a year! For several titles we received top awards from all the fancy mobile games online magazines and have been nominated for some of the most prestigous mobile industry awards in the world and last but not least we won the German Developer Award for the best Mobile Game 2007. Furthermore, we partnered with even more leading companies in the US, Europe and Asia to distribute our games to mobile gamers all over the world. We hired half a dozen talented new people (who will be all introduced here to you later) who will create even more sophisticated 3D mobile games and technology in the future. We managed to convince some ventur capitalist to come on bord and invest into FISHLABS to help us implement online features into our mobile games and sell them directly through our website. And the biggest coup we landed with hiring Andreas Stecher, a top sales guy from EA Mobile, who will kick-off in January to market our 3D mobile games across the world.

All this wouldn’t have been possible without your great co-operation, your support and, more important than anything else, we wouldn’t be here without our loyal fans who purchase our mobile games! Thanks to everyone and we hope this year was as bright for you as it was for us and let the next year be even more stellar

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Your FISHLABS Team!

How cool is that - Andreas Stecher, former Sales Director GSA from EA Mobile joins FISHLABS! This is a great coup since Andreas is a seasoned professional with excellent contacts in the mobile games industry. He was responsible for top sellers like Tetris, FIFA and Need for Speed.

While the majority of the mobile games industry focuses on casual games, Andreas believes FISHLABS is doing just the right thing digging even deeper into longlasting and intense mobile game experience: “I’m looking forward to my new job at FISHLABS. Selling a strong, high-quality product is fun, and success is guaranteed. Just as in the PC and console gaming market, mobile games will become more sophisticated and of higher quality in the future. FISHLABS already produces games of that calibre today and I’m glad to help increase awareness of the high-quality FISHLABS brand in the market. 3D mobile games that offer many hours of gaming fun will open up new markets and reach new target groups. Ultimately, the entire value chain will benefit from that.”

Andreas will kick-off in January and the first event to shake hands will be Osney Media’s Mobile Games Forum in London.

What a day for us - The German Developer Award 2007 goes to FISHLABS: Blades & Magic is the best mobile phone game of the year! Again, we have been proven to be the leading developer of premium 3D mobile games. This is another terrific accolade for our entire team and is the crowning conclusion to a very successful 2007.

As the only 3D mobile game, the action role-playing game Blades & Magic won over the jury, consisting of 30 industry-experts, and beat out the competition. This is also an important signal to the entire mobile games industry that complex 3D games are also able to thrill so-called core gamers on mobile phones.

Achim Quinke, Project Manager of Gamecity Hamburg, is also excited about the Award: “The award impressively underscores Hamburg’s leading role in the field of mobile games. With the Hamburg prototype sponsorship and our numerous services, we will be able to support innovative game developers even more strongly in the future.”

Blades & Magic is a graphically opulent, 3D action-RPG with up to 10 hours of playing time,which sets new standards for mobile phone games. In the role of Bryn, a young warrior of the Grimblade clan, the player must survive numerous quests and learn powerful spells and abilities in order to be able to use them wisely in battle in the lifelike world of Blades & Magic. The fantastic story of Good and Evil gives players the choice of making their way as a fearless fighter or a powerful mage in order to free the land of Auronia from the demon lord Balrazhul.

Get to the dedicated mobile game site of Blades & Magic

Submerge into plenty hours of 3D gaming fun. You might expect to to do that in front of your PC or your gaming console. However, FISHLABS gives you the game to do that on your mobile phone! The 3D action game DEEP: Submarine Odyssey is so innovative it was nominated for the Sony Ericsson Content Award. The submarine adventure created by FISHLABS made it to the top 5 mobile games!

DEEP – Thrilling 3D Action on Your Mobile Phone

With Deep we took the basic premise of our highly acclaimed Galaxy on Fire several steps further to create a never before seen amount of freedom in mobile gaming. The goal was to create a mobile game that gives players the feeling that they can do whatever they want to at any time they please. Be it fishing, hunting down pirates, producing and trading goods, upgrading one’s ship or continuing the main story line. The world of Deep was designed to keep players captivated and motivated for hours and hours.

Get to the dedicated mobile game site of DEEP

Welcome to our blog about FISHLABS. We will post news about our upcoming titles, news about the mobile games industry and other things we think are worth sharing with you.

Of course this is also about some back stage stories from our talented mobile game developers. You will read about their work in general, the games they are working on but also about themselves. So stay tuned and read more about this later.

Of course, you can read this blog on your mobile when you are on the go as well. Just start the browser on you mobile phone and enter http://blog.fishlabs.net/en/.

Alright, enjoy our blog now.

Game on!
Your FISHLABS Team
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3D Mobile Games For Real Gamers - www.fishlabs.net