NTT DoCoMo enters mobile gaming market

Nikkeibp.com Reports – “The concept of developing a next version of our 3G mobile phone ‘FOMA’ is to allow customers to enjoy a powerful game,” said Takeshi Natsuno, managing director of the i-mode planning department at NTT DoCoMo Inc.

NTT DoCoMo is now developing a new FOMA phone that can play popular games such as “Dragon Quest” and “Final Fantasy” to transform it into a “game machine.”

Square Enix Co, Ltd, a leading game software vendor, announced that the company is developing versions of its Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy for FOMA, and showed a prototype of the new FOMA that runs these games.

NTT DoCoMo plans to release its new FOMA with such extended functions at the beginning of 2004. By taking advantage of the games’ popularity, NTT DoCoMo is seeking to push FOMA.

According to DoCoMo, the data storage area (scratchpad) will be more than doubled for an “i-appli” that runs on the new FOMA, compared with the current size of 230KB. Though the company did not explain detailed specifications, Natsuno said, “I believe it is exceeding (Nintendo Co, Ltd’s) ‘Game Boy Advance’ in performance.”

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