With the second annual 4Talent Mobile Games Pitch due to kick off this morning, here’s a quick run-down of the 9 contenders, who we whittled down from several hundred entries.
For those not familiar, in a nutshell this is a pitching competition in partnership with EA Mobile, Nokia and the Golden Joystick Awards, as part of the London Games Festival.
We asked 4Talent readers to throw us ideas for innovative, experimental games for mobile phones - and based on judges’ scores for originality, innovation, commercial appeal and technical feasibility, and in no particular order, here are the finalists:
Miles Boylan (22, from Preston)
Miles’ idea Snapshot pinpoints a player’s location with GPS, and then sets area-specific photographic tasks that can then be uploaded and rated by other users online.
Tobias Rowe (22, from Colchester)
In Tobias’ idea Finders Keepers, you’re an elusive cat burglar who must steal antiques from local museums and other players’ vaults via Bluetooth, while defending your own using bespoke puzzles and mini-games.
Nicola Depuis (28, from London)
Nicola’s idea I-Queu allows players to compare their IQ against an international playing community by setting each other questions, and working together to jump the virtual queue.
Steven Fraser (from Edinburgh)
Steven’s idea Street Art sees graffiti turf wars springing up across the world, with players manipulating photos into works of art on their phones, rating them online and challenging each other to claim the streets one by one.
Trevor Conway (49, from Belfast)
Trevor’s concept Alter-Ego places the player in a parallel existence affected by genuine real-world events and breaking news stories, making choices from the perspectives of those involved.
Matt Watkins (37, from Nottingham)
Matt’s idea Running Rings is a game of physical exertion using GPS, in which players literally run circles around each other to score points, annex space and reach a new level of networked global domination.
Dominic Brancaleone (25, from Bournemouth)
Dominic’s idea Treasure Hunt allows players to hunt for genuine loot by responding to text, photo and video clues, and can be personalised to create your own trail.
Robin Clarke (28, from London)
Robin’s idea Way of the Dodo is an adventure/puzzle game designed to encourage thinking about the natural world, in which players guide the last known colony of helpless birds to safety whilst sharing real-world info about conservation.
Hamad Hussain (27, from London)
In Hamad’s idea The Contract, players choose to be either a government agent or a sleeper, are given a unique key code and must then locate, identify, recruit or entrap the opposition, obtaining their code by whatever means possible.
Good luck to all the finalists: we’ll announce the winner on the blog soon!
