academy: Jakarta

Guitar Hero has turned millions of people into rock stars with plastic guitars. But can they shred on a Nokia? As of May, Guitar Hero's mobile version ranked ninth among top-selling games. Cue the pinky-and-index-finger salute. The answer is a resounding "yes." Cellphone carriers are introducing a mobile version of the rock music game, by Activision, and customers are subscribing at a pace that could make it the most successful console-to-cellphone crossover game in history. As the cellphone rapidly emerges as the next computing platform, games would seem to be a natural application. For consumers, the trend could lead to big improvements in mobile gaming — a market that has fallen far short of projections. But for now the Guitar Hero phenomenon is a lot like Jimi Hendrix, circa 1968: a groundbreaking talent with a backup cast destined for obscurity. Drag a finger down the list of top-selling games for phones from the mobile industry statistics firm M:Metrics, for instance, and an array of yawners passes by — sorry, Tetris fans — before hitting a really engaging game. As of May, the latest period for which M:Metrics provided data, Guitar Hero's mobile version ranked ninth, but it was a nine with a bullet, having climbed from the 85 spot in three months. It will go farther. Hands-On Mobile, which adapted the game on behalf of Activision, said it would unveil Guitar Hero III Backstage Pass, a new version for Sprint and AT&T customers, on Thursday, with other carriers to follow. The networks finally have a breakout success on their hands, and more is to come. Electronic Arts, the giant game maker, is releasing its long-awaited Spore for cellphones, including the iPhone, not just on the well-known game platforms. Hands-On Mobile is also selling a classic Mac game, Crystal Quest, which with Kung Fu Panda, Electronic Arts's mobile adaptation of the Activision console game, and The Dark Knight, Glu Mobile's game adaptation of the Warner Brothers film, add to the list of new cellphone games. All of this raises the question: Why has the industry gone this long feeding customers a steady diet of lame games? Blame the Razr. When Motorola hit the market several years ago with a device that played Twiggy to the industry's plus-size models, consumers demanded more of the same. And the industry offered phones with displays that could fit only slightly more data than fits in a Web banner ad. Game consoles, like Sony's PSP or Nintendo's DS, went the opposite direction, with adventure and athleticism rendered in high-resolution brilliance. But if Guitar Hero can get console gamers to see their phones as legitimate gaming devices, the thinking goes, manufacturers will build more devices to cater to them, as game developers will do the same with their software. The iPhone's innovative design and features and the growing list of games available for it certainly are pushing the trend. Evan Wilson, a gaming analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, summed up the feelings of the industry when he said, "hopefully this will jump-start mobile games." While it is significantly harder to look cool while playing the game on a cellphone, the Guitar Hero experience is otherwise fairly close to that of the frantic, note-chasing console game. Competitors choose a song and one of three difficulty levels. When the notes on the screen start flying, players hit numbers on the keypad that correspond to one of three colors of notes. The price, meanwhile, is a far cry from the console game that sells for about $90, ersatz guitar included. Subscribers of the four major wireless carriers pay $3 to $4.50 a month to play. In addition to the subscription, users without unlimited data plans will pay to download game songs. When players buy a subscription, they are given four songs from an initial list of 15, with more songs available the farther they advance in the game. Depending on the phone, the tunes may not be original recordings, but are rather synthesized versions similar to ring tones. Clearly, Guitar Hero fans consider it a small price to pay to hone their skills outside the home. Whether they can attract groupies in the meantime is, unfortunately, far less certain. Quick Calls: Mobile gamers need not develop a case of carpal tunnel syndrome as they reach for the new personal bests on their phone. Device manufacturers are starting to make more game-friendly hardware, like the Sony Ericsson W760 Walkman, a phone that goes on sale in September. The device includes dedicated A/B gaming buttons, 3-D game visuals and tilt-control, so players can steer with the phone when they're playing the Need for Speed racing game, which comes loaded on the device. True to the Walkman brand, the phone will also be rich in music features. It will be priced at about $400, or $100 with a two-year contract. Those who would rather play the stock market on their mobile phones will have an easier time now with a new service from E*Trade. The Mobile Pro service from E*Trade, which is available only to BlackBerry users, offers real-time stock quotes, trading shortcuts and an array of services not previously available in a single service to mobile moguls. It is free to E*Trade users. Nokia recently announced Nokia Chat, an instant messaging service that lets owners of a G.P.S.-enabled Nokia phone see the location of specific friends, read their status reports and exchange text messages. The service will also save a list of favorite spots, like a cafe or apartment, and will broadcast alerts to a list of friends whenever the user lands there. The service, which is still being tested, requires a free software download (see Nokia.com/betalabs), a data plan and at least a few friends with similarly equipped Nokia phones.