Crave

When you've got a game as compelling and competitive as Guitar Hero World Tour, you get it on as many platforms as you can as fast as you can, including the mobile phone. On Thursday, the mobile version of Guitar Hero World Tour became available on AT&T phones. We got to try it out.

On the PlayStation, Wii, and Xbox, this fourth Guitar Hero installment counters Rock Band's drum and vocal tracks, which themselves had one-upped Guitar Hero's original stringed instrument. Vocals aren't practical for the mobile version--which still rocks, by the way--but a drum track is. Activision and game-maker Hands-On Mobile have introduced a drum choice for every song.

There's a lot more news here--the updated game, which has a new look and two fresh game-playing features (can you say "battle mode"?). There are also technical details that could make a difference to how the game looks and sounds on your individual phone. Finally, there's all the practical stuff about when your carrier will stock the game and how much it'll cost you. Let's take one at a time.

Note the new purple drum line you have to think about while you play.

(Credit: Hands-On Mobile)

Gameplay

Anyone who has played Guitar Hero III Mobile (video review) will feel right at home with Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile, which begins with fifteen new songs for guitar and drums, and which uses the phone's keypad buttons instead of guitar frets. When it comes to customization, you drummers out there are an afterthought--guitarists can choose their instrument, but not you. Also, when you're playing drums, the bottom row of keys (7, 8, 9) stand in for the kick-drum, which is represented in the game by a horizontal purple line that floats at you along with the notes. I played several songs in the drummer's mode, where the kick-drum line helped keep the game interesting.

Also new to the mobile game is the multiplayer battle mode, where Hands-On Mobile has created a good way to pair you up with similar players all over the world. You'll be matched by skill level and by phone type (more on this below.) You'll divvy up picking a song and the instrument, and will have to use your star power strategically (called battle power in this mode) to keep your opponent from scoring. After playing, it'll be easy to track your score from the accompanying Web site (launching Friday). This is neat, but what if you want to play your friend? You should be able to duke it out with personal pals as well as with perfect strangers.

Sonic jumps onto cell phones for free.

(Credit: Sega Mobile)

Sonic the Hedgehog has seen a platform or four.

The spikey-furred rodent first brought to life by Sega in 1991 for proprietary consoles rolled with technology's punches onto TV, Xbox, PS3, and recently, onto mobile phones. April saw the spawning of Sega Mobile, when several flagship games, including Sonic the Hedgehog, were ported to mobile phone format and offered to cell phone gamers for subscription or sale through their carrier's Web portals. Now Sega Mobile is offering Sonic Jump, Afterburner II, and Golden Axe free of charge for U.S. residents.

The catch, as you may have guessed, is that the games are ad-supported, offered through a partnership with content distributor Greystripe. Sega's games are available for select cell phone models via GameJump.com or from the mobile Web at http://gjmp.tw. In addition to showing advertisements, the GameJump policy warns that users may be charged between 5 cents and 15 cents for the data transfer of each freshly-served ad; something to keep in mind if you're not on a data plan.

Call me giddy, but my favorite new gadget in the mobile world doesn't remotely resemble a cell phone. Zeemote is a joystick, or more accurately, an analog JS1 controller, that gets you shooting, swerving, diving, and jumping while playing Zeemote-compatible games on your cell phone. The compact, wireless joystick is helicopter-shaped and fits neatly into your palm for smooth operating. We've been ogling this thing for a while now, but this was the first time I met the famous little controller face-to-face. See how it works with a first-person shooter in this video from CTIA Wireless 2008.

The long-awaited iPhone software development kit, which will be released in June, was finally unveiled Thursday.

And with it came a few applications, developed in a couple weeks by some very high-profile names in tech. Apple demonstrated seven new applications in a variety of categories: business, communications, and games.

• Touch FX: Adds Photo Booth-style effects to a photo using your finger on the iPhone touch screen. Pinch or tap to introduce fun-house mirror style effects.

• Touch Fighter: The first official game for the iPhone, developed by Apple engineers over two weeks. You fly through space and steer by using the iPhone like a pretend control wheel, with both hands on the side.

• Spore: Electronic Arts created a mobile version of the game.

• Salesforce.com management application: Salesforce.com created an application that does more than you can do with its Web-based application. For instance, it can talk to Maps to plot directions to your next appointment, figure out how many more widgets you need to sell to make your quota, and more.

• AIM: AOL made an iPhone version of the instant-messaging service. You can switch between conversations with a swipe of the finger, like if you're scrolling through photos on the iPhone. You can also upload photos from your iPhone to serve as your buddy icon.

• Medical records app: Epocrates, a maker of software for medical professionals built a native iPhone application that can access an SQL database for accessing medical information, pictures of pills, and checking for potentially harmful drug interactions.

• Super Monkey Ball: A game from Sega. A skiing game, where you hurtle down a ramp trying to get bananas, and other things. It uses the accelerometer for control, just like Tough Fighter.

See my colleague Tom Krazit's blow-by-blow chronicling of the event as it unfolded in Cupertino on Thursday morning.

CNET News.com's Tom Krazit contributed to this report.

(Credit: Hands-On Mobile)

Article updated 2/29/08 to correct headquarters location.

We were stoked when Hands-On Mobile, a San Francisco mobile games company, announced Guitar Hero III Mobile for Verizon. On Friday, AT&T brings the portable version of the wildly popular console game to J2ME phones.

The game is expected to launch on 30 handsets today, including Motorola V3 RAZR and Sony Ericcson 810, with more handsets joining the fray. The staggered launch means there's no guaranteeing that your handset will be supported when the game goes live today, but Hands-On Mobile suggests that eager phone gamers check back with AT&T throughout the day and Saturday.

(Credit: Hands-On Mobile)

There's good reason to make haste. Guitar Hero III Mobile dethroned Tetris in mobile gaming on Verizon, a miraculous feat, by offering three popular songs per month taken straight from Activision's console game. Users who subscribe by March 1 will receive the standard start-up song package and also the month's playlist, including Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Freebird', Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs', and Iggy Pop's 'Search and Destroy'. Dilly-dalliers who subscribe after March 1 will have to wait for April to get any bonus song releases.

Membership on AT&T-supported phones has other benefits, too. The Java platform has allowed for certain upgrades to the BREW version of the game currently out on Verizon phones. The graphics are slightly larger and clearer, and Hands-On Mobile has added a haptic dimension to a missed note: the phone vibrates in response to butter fingers.

In another welcome change, songs will now live on AT&T phones, saving users from having to download them anew. Sorry, Verizon users, you shouldn't expect any alterations to your version yet.

What the J2ME platform gains in graphical quality, it loses, slightly, in audio power. Songs on Guitar Hero III Mobile for Verizon play MP3s; while AT&T's version streams out MIDI.

Be sure to catch Guitar Hero III Mobile in action in this video, taken on a Verizon phone.

Note: Article updated on 4/17/08 with new carrier information.

Guitar Hero Mobile (review) is now widely available on many U.S. carriers and cell phone platforms, though at the time of this taping, it was only offered on Verizon. Cozy up with the cell phone interface and keypad frets in the First Look video below, and don't miss experiencing the thrill of star power and the burning shame of getting booed off the stage.

UPDATED! See below for additional comments after hours and hours of more playing time.

Addicts of Activision's Guitar Hero console game will no longer be confined to fretting their faux guitar in the living room, game room, or basement. Soon they'll be able to play from their mobile phone.

Thanks to Hands-On Mobile, a mobile games company from San Diego, I got to test my rhythm-matching mettle with Guitar Hero Mobile on a slick LG VX9400.

The first thing you'll notice about Guitar Hero Mobile is how familiar it feels; just like the console game's little cousin ought. Being able to seamlessly hop into the popular rock-star universe is no coincidence. Hands-On Mobile worked closely with Activision to import songs, graphics, characters, and gameplay from Guitar Hero editions II and III. Players of the mobile version choose from two characters, Axel Steel or Judy Nails, and at first have a nonchoice of a Les Paul guitar. Stellar guitar skills unlock three Gibsons, vetted by Gibson itself.... Read more

Conference-goers flocked around the Guitar Hero station at Motorola's mammoth tent on the CTIA Wireless conference floor, but it was Hands-On Mobile's modest booth where Guitar Hero Mobile is best experienced. There the game's product manager, JJ Leichleiter, walked me through the mobile version of the popular console game.

Let me dispel all doubt by assuring you that this is the real thing, deputized by Activision, Guitar Hero's console publisher. Loosely based on Guitar Hero 3, the 3D mobile version offers two characters (Axel Steel and Judy Nails), four guitars, and 15 songs. Subscription holders will receive three more songs every month.

Playing virtual guitar has gotten easier with a reduction from five keys on the console game's peripheral guitar to three on the phone. Users can choose whichever keypad row feels best.

This game has a lot going for it--easy fretting, satisfying animation, and killer sound quality. Guitar Hero Mobile uses PMD audio for the BREW platform, which preserves the melody, harmony, vocals, and cacophonous ding every time you miss. Stay tuned for a video demonstration on this space and on CNET TV.

Guitar Hero Mobile will be available for purchase for Verizon Wireless users in December 2007. After that, more networks on the BREW platform will join the fray, followed by J2ME phones.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

Namco attached phones to arcade games to show off mobile gaming.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

NEW YORK--It seems people like any excuse to play any video game.

While Halo III and Guitar Hero may be drawing a crowd at DigitalLife 2007, so were classics like Ms. Pac-man.

Namco had a large space at DigitalLife to remind gamers that video games of the '80s are now available for their phone.

Namco offers games like Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Mr. Do, Popeye, Snoopy and the Flying Ace, Galaga and even board games like Scene It?.

The games are available, regardless of your carrier, for the Palm OS, Windows Mobile phones, the iPod and the Sidekick, as well as others.

To show this off, the company had working cell phones attached to arcade machines for the corresponding game.

Do you think people would really flock to play games they've played hundreds of times before on a large screen, just to try it on a cell phone?

Apparently, lots of people love just that.

People did not seem to mind at all that they were standing at an arcade machine, yet playing on a 2-inch screen.

The Namco area has been drawing a crowd for two days, which I can only imagine will grow as the show is opened to the public.