Namco strikes strategic games partnership with O2
Namco's legendary arcade games now available on O2 Active.
A new generation of gamers will be playing PAC-MAN and Galaxian Mini on their mobile phones following an agreement between Namco Mobile, a European division of the Japanese video games giant, and the O2 network. This represents Namco's second major games partnership with a network provider and follows the agreement with Vodafone live! which has been running since October 2002.
The games will be available through O2 Active, the new mobile portal launched by O2 in June. O2 Active, a colour icon menu service for accessing and navigating O2's mobile data and multimedia services, will be available initially on 15 handsets, increasing to more than 20 by August. The icons guide both pre- and post-paid customers to services such as Java games, ring tones, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and colour content, including sports, news, horoscopes and weather.
In addition to Galaxian Mini and PAC-MAN - the latter of which caused a yen coin shortage in Tokyo following its 1980 launch - Namco will also be providing three third-party developed games in the form of Laserblade Combat, Gun Rush and Bones - The First Adventure.
John McKenzie, finance and commercial director at Namco Mobile welcomed the opportunities of working with O2 in order to target new generations of gamers. He explained: "O2 not only have in excess of 12 million subscribers, but their alignment with leading brands, in particular Arsenal Football Club and the involvement with Channel 4's Big Brother, will, I believe help deliver a new and younger audience to Namco games."
With arcade classics dating from 1979 through to contemporary titles such as Tekken and the Time Crisis series, Namco has the most extensive library in the video industry, thereby enabling mobile network providers to select games to suit market trends, tastes and available technology. The company plans to release further games for mobile platforms over the next 12 months.
The games will be available through O2 Active, the new mobile portal launched by O2 in June. O2 Active, a colour icon menu service for accessing and navigating O2's mobile data and multimedia services, will be available initially on 15 handsets, increasing to more than 20 by August. The icons guide both pre- and post-paid customers to services such as Java games, ring tones, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and colour content, including sports, news, horoscopes and weather.
In addition to Galaxian Mini and PAC-MAN - the latter of which caused a yen coin shortage in Tokyo following its 1980 launch - Namco will also be providing three third-party developed games in the form of Laserblade Combat, Gun Rush and Bones - The First Adventure.
John McKenzie, finance and commercial director at Namco Mobile welcomed the opportunities of working with O2 in order to target new generations of gamers. He explained: "O2 not only have in excess of 12 million subscribers, but their alignment with leading brands, in particular Arsenal Football Club and the involvement with Channel 4's Big Brother, will, I believe help deliver a new and younger audience to Namco games."
With arcade classics dating from 1979 through to contemporary titles such as Tekken and the Time Crisis series, Namco has the most extensive library in the video industry, thereby enabling mobile network providers to select games to suit market trends, tastes and available technology. The company plans to release further games for mobile platforms over the next 12 months.
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