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The 10 strangest mobile game licensing deals ever

Brands that make you go... huh?!

The 10 strangest mobile game licensing deals ever

Branded games have been part of mobile from the early days, taking in films, TV shows, boardgames, console games, sports stars, celebrities, comic strip characters, and toys. Among others.Like it or not, licensed titles dominate the mobile games industry, causing much gnashing of teeth among anyone who thinks the industry needs more original IP to develop itself as a unique gaming platform.However, nobody ever said licensing had to be logical. Fairly regularly, publishers sign branding deals that make you raise an eyebrow or drop a jaw. To celebrate that fact, we've gathered ten of the strangest licensing deals from the short history of the mobile games industry.A quick note though: strange doesn't necessarily mean 'bad'. Many of the following list are bad deals, but some - Gameloft's Paris Hilton deal for example - come under the 'strange but inspired' category. Read on...1. The Munsters Pinball (In-Fusio)The Munsters Pinball. Savour those words.

Not only is it an example of the now-traditional 'slap a pinball engine onto an inappropriate brand' strategy, but that brand was The Munsters! A rubbish Addams Family-lite that even daytime TV viewers had forgotten about.The fact that the game was actually quite good didn't stop observers scratching their heads in bafflement.

Weren't the Osbournes available?2. Cristiano Ronaldo Underworld Football (YDreams)So, you've got the official licence to make a game based on Cristiano Ronaldo, who's about to become the hottest footballer in the world. What do you do with it?Full 11-a-side match action? Soccer skills mini-games? Or a bonkers simulation that pits Cristiano against hordes of undead all shrieking for his blood? That's right, the last one.This falls into the 'strange but inspired' category for sure, certainly when compared to the bog-standard football game it could've been. Sadly, the game's quality didn't live up to its genius concept, but full marks to YDreams for thinking outside the (penalty) box.3. Flying Toaster (Vivendi Games Mobile)Of all the ways to announce your entry into the mobile games industry, making a game based on the flying toasters that used to drift across PC monitors in the days when people actually needed screensavers is a quirky decision, to say the least.That's what Vivendi Games Mobile did, although whether this truly counts as a branded game depends on whether some lucky screensaver-designer somewhere got a big cheque for the rights.

Sadly, toastmaking-equipment-based shoot-'em-ups failed to catch on with the mobile gaming public.4. Halo (In-Fusio)In 2008, you could probably sign a deal to make mobile Halo and (just about) not get laughed at. Too much. That wasn't the case in 2005, when In-Fusio signed such a deal with Microsoft, promising to pay $2 million in guaranteed minimum royalty payments in instalments.By late 2006, the deal had turned sour, with In-Fusio actually suing Microsoft for breach of contract, claiming it had refused to approve Halo mobile game designs while still demanding the royalty payments.Incidentally, the companies' three-year deal was due to expire next month, if any other publishers fancy taking on the challenge...5. Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest (Gameloft)Another example of commendably lateral thinking on the licensing front, when Gameloft signed up Paris Hilton for a mobile game, with the aim of appealing to female gamers.The game itself was really good (not least because it was basically Bejeweled with some extra modes and Paris Hilton popping up between levels). Reportedly sales weren't as stellar as expected though.However, the deal's most surreal point came at E3 2006, when Hilton herself appeared on Gameloft's stand to launch the game, and managed to get its name wrong. Not that Gameloft would have been too upset - the 'gaffe' ensured even more publicity.Incidentally, this was the same E3 that Paris's mate Nicole Ritchie appeared on-stage with a giant Pac-Man at a mobile games event run by US operator Sprint. Happy days.6. Jeremiah Manford's Athletics (Morpheme)In the early days of the UK mobile games industry, it was already becoming clear that you needed brands to prosper (i.e. get onto the operator decks). For that reason, Morpheme had high hopes for its game based on top athlete Jeremiah Manford.The fact that he didn't actually exist was a mere detail. Yes, that's right: Morpheme made up a fictional athlete to make its game look like a branded title.It was frankly genius, although we'd love to know if they actually pretended Manford was real when pitching it to operators. Somewhere a former games portal manager is probably still wondering why Jeremiah isn't running for the US in Beijing...7. Lord Of The Rings (Riot-E)Before Jamdat released its Lord Of The Rings mobile games, there was Finnish firm Riot-E, the first ever mobile publisher to crash and burn in spectacularly public style, despite funding from the likes of Nokia.Bear in mind that the company snapped up the LOTR rights in 2001, when Java games weren't an option. The result? A text message based game using a Choose Your Own Adventure mechanic - "The fastest route is through Moria. Do you dare proceed? Yes / No."Maybe this didn't seem strange at the time - SMS and WAP gaming was the next big thing after all - but it deserves its entry here nonetheless. And if the name Riot-E is new to you, get to eBay quick and buy a copy of the 'Riot On!' documentary that catalogued the company's rise and fall...8. Jodie Marsh Photo Shoot (Kiloo)This narrowly edges out Elkware's games based on Jordan and Pamela Anderson, on the grounds of sheer implausibility.We should explain for the benefit of non-British readers that Marsh isn't exactly on the A-List of British glamour models, and furthermore that when this game was released, anyone wanting to ogle her breasts could pay less than a quid for Nuts magazine, rather than buying a �5 mobile game.Not that this stopped Kiloo, which went on to make a Xmas edition, as well as another game, Jodie Marsh Matchmakers.9. Thierry Henry Pro European Football (Mforma)Remember this? It's not surprising if you don't. Mforma made a big splash with the press release for its Thierry Henry mobile football game, but then things went quiet.Whether this is because the contract hadn't been signed off before the announcement, or because Henry's people demanded too much money / reneged on the terms depends on who you talk to.However, as one of the more high-profile examples of mobile game vapourware (discounting numerous Gizmondo games), Thierry deserves his place in this list. Maybe Mforma should've made Va-Va-Voom Pinball instead.10. In Her Shoes: High Heels MahjongHow to get women buying mobile games? Put shoes in them! That was seemingly the strategy behind High Heels Mahjong.Blending footwear and, yes, mahjong, it made slightly more sense when a licence for Cameron Diaz film In Her Shoes was slapped on. But only slightly."High Heels MahJong is the creative result of combining a very popular puzzle game with a passion that many women share, shoe shopping," said Glu's Jill Braff at the time. Hopefully straight-faced.

Bubbling under...

THQ Wireless's deal to pay millions of dollars for the right to make (seemingly) millions of Star Wars games... LemonQuest's worrying attempt to bring Furbies back... Gameloft's valiant attempt to make a game based on a certain Tom Cruise film without being allowed to feature Tom Cruise... Kiloo signing the rights to C64 games, but only the ones actually made by Commodore...


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.)