Gaming goes mobile: issues and implications

A recent report by the telecommunications research firm Analysys predicts that mobile games will replace ringtones, logos and other personalisation services as one of the key drivers of the mobile market. Despite the rapid growth of the mobile gaming market, there appears to have been little critical analysis of this phenomenon. The paper aims to investigate the industrial and social implications of mobile gaming, by bringing together some of the current research on both mobile communications and computer games. Beginning with a broad overview of the major stakeholders in the market, the paper examines how mobile gaming functions as a vehicle for convergence, bringing together previously disparate industries around a common form of content. It also examines the regulatory complexities that arise when gaming becomes mobile, and in particular how the rise of technologies like location-based services might impact on issues such as privacy.