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NTT DoCoMo shows latest mobile game tech at MWC 09

Projector phones and separable handsets ahoy!

NTT DoCoMo shows latest mobile game tech at MWC 09
It's always worth poking around the NTT DoCoMo stand at Mobile World Congress, and this year is no exception. The Japanese mobile operator has a couple of next-gen handsets with a gaming angle.

First, there's the company's prototype projector phone, which lets you project the handset's display onto a wall or screen at high-resolution.

Here's a murky shot of it projecting a Capcom game (the murk was caused by a flickery light, not our poor camera skills):



No word on when a commercial device may go on sale. Second was the intriguing 'seperable phone' - a handset made of modular keypad and screen which come apart.

In a gaming sense, this means you might have a separate gaming keypad (shown below) that you switch in when playing – while also placing a bigger screen propped up in front of you for a more TV-like experience:



Again, it's a prototype for now.

DoCoMo was also showing off its line of 'Mega Games' – rich 3D mobile games up to 2MB in size, like Bandai's Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. 0079.

Meanwhile, games are also a factor in the operator's i-appli online suite of web apps for its handsets. These also included rich online 3D titles like Sega's Cyber Troopers Virtual-On, Capcom's Lost Planet and Genki's Shutoko Battle Online.

However, DoCoMo is also selling more casual multiplayer games like Tetris League.

Finally, games are included in the firm's i-Widget widget platform, with Digital Chocolate's Tower Bloxx Mini one of the highlighted titles.

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.)