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RealArcade tops PG.biz Quality Index for Q2 2008

But the big guns aren't far behind

RealArcade tops PG.biz Quality Index for Q2 2008
RealArcade has topped the PocketGamer.biz Quality Index for the second quarter of 2008, based on review scores from five of the most popular consumer-facing mobile games sites.

The publisher scored an average of 8.07 in its seven reviews during the period, with stellar ratings for Playman Summer Games 3 (pictured) helping it to the top.

However, the Big Three Publishers were close behind, with Gameloft, Glu Mobile and EA Mobile taking second, third and fourth spot respectively.

And these are impressive performances too because of the number of games they released during the three month period: Q1 leader Gameloft averaged a score of 7.99 across 32 reviews; Glu averaged 7.68 from 31 reviews; while EA Mobile averaged 7.62, also from 31 reviews.

The sites surveyed are Pocket Gamer, IGN Wireless, AirGamer, Mobile Game FAQs and Handy Player. The latter replaces Midlet-Review, following consultation with publishers.

Here's the full list, which includes every publisher that had five or more reviews across those sites during Q2. The QoQ Change column tracks how much their average score rose or fell compared to Q1 this year.









































































































Publisher Reviews Avg Score QoQ Change
RealArcade 7 8.07 +1.02
Gameloft 32 7.99 +0.05
Glu Mobile 31 7.68 +0.24
EA Mobile 31 7.62 +0.32
Digital Chocolate 12 7.55 -0.05
Player X 8 7.48 +0.45
THQ Wireless 20 7.46 +0.53
Disney Mobile 16 7.43 +0.48
HandyGames 9 7.43 -0.11
I-play 18 7.33 -0.28
Vivendi Games Mobile 11 7.21 +0.34
HeroCraft 8 7.10 -
Capcom 9 6.52 -0.36
Namco Bandai Europe 5 6.22 -0.87
Hands-On Mobile 14 6.01 -1.39
AMA 9 5.44 -2.04

NB: AMA's position at the bottom of the list is perhaps unfair, since some of its products are more like applications than games, so don't tend to be reviewed as positively on games sites.

Wondering why Hands-On has plummeted so far? Blame Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, which were both reviewed by three sites, averaging 4.13 and 5.43 respectively. We'll have a full games list later.

BUBBLING UNDER...

We've chosen to set the entry bar at five reviews, but some firms bubbling just under that limit deserve credit for their Q2 performance.

German developer Exozet Games scored a super average of 8.67 in three reviews of its Catan game during the quarter, for example.

Meanwhile, UK publisher Player One scored an impressive average of 8.07 - equalling RealArcade - for three reviews of its games during the second quarter.

German firm Dawnatic Games scored 7.48 from four reviews, while Polish company Gameleons tallied 7.15 from four reviews. We hope to see some of these companies in the full list next time round.
Contributing Editor

Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)