Verizon, Sprint tackle EA games

U.S. carriers Verizon Wireless and Sprint on Monday said they will soon begin selling some of Electronic Arts' games to their mobile customers.

Verizon will initially offer its customers graphics-rich versions of games including "Madden NFL 06," "NBA Live 06," "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06," "FIFA 06," "Need for Speed Most Wanted" and "Sims 2." Titles such as "Tri Peaks Solitaire," "Turbo 21" and "Poppit" from Pogo.com also will be available, Verizon said. The service is likely to begin in coming weeks.

The EA games can be downloaded on V Cast-enabled phones and played anywhere. "Need for Speed Underground 2" will launch in 3D exclusively on V Cast, Verizon said.

Sprint will soon feature "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06" and at least three other EA titles.

Games have emerged as a key application for mobile service providers that are looking to draw customers to high-speed wireless Internet networks. Phone companies are teaming up with content providers and game publishers to enrich their offerings with text messaging, videos, music and so on.

Content providers like EA are eager to make their titles available on cell phones as a way to expand their markets.

CNET News.com's Ben Charny contributed to this report.

Does this require High-Speed Wireless?

The article says that VZW/Sprint customers can play these games anywhere.

Should we assume that means anywhere they have EVDO available?

[jacomo]

Screen Size is Key

Gamers will spend the money, and service providers will make money, only when they have a device that provides sufficient screen size, memory and battery life. In short the Cell carriers are going to be limited by their emphasis on the Smartphones with small screens , short battery life and memory capacity.
When the vendors start making the PDA/Cell and Wireless devices in volume the Gaming market will boom and usage minutes will explode.
P2P and Multiplayer gaming will dominate the Wireless usage market from a revenue/profit standpoint.

Jacomo