Hit game "EverQuest" gets portable

Sony Online Entertainment announced Wednesday that it is creating a version of its hit online game "EverQuest" for Pocket PC handheld computers.

"EverQuest" is one of the biggest financial successes in the nascent online gaming industry, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers paying $13 a month to access the game's vast fantasy world.

The portable version of the game, for handhelds running Microsoft's Pocket PC software, will feature many of the same characters and environments as the PC version, but it won't have online components or multiplayer capabilities, said Sean Kauppinen, a Sony spokesman.

He said the handheld version isn't necessarily targeted at current "EverQuest" players. "Definitely there will be crossover," Kauppinen said. "But this also gives us a little bit of exposure to a new audience...You don't have to have 'EverQuest' on your PC to enjoy this."

Sony also is working on a version of "EverQuest" for its PlayStation 2 game console. The Pocket PC game is set to go on sale later this month priced at $20.