• Dr. Wen-jean Hsueh, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan
  Introduction to the Session "GPS Gaming & Sports"



• Liao Jung-Huang



• Jonas Soukup, creative workline
  Tourality - Outdoor GPS Multiplayer Game for Mobile Phones



• Georg Broxtermann, Orbster GmbH
  Location-Based Games - how User Generated Content Drives the Market



• Andy Lürling, iOpener Media GmbH
  The Next Trend in Games; Integration of Real Objects in the Virtual World

Mobile gaming could soon be a hot trend in location-based supplementary services on mobile phones. According to a current study by Juniper Research, the market volume of the mobile gaming industry will grow to U.S.$16 billion by the year 2012. Augmented with the accurate positioning and precise time signals provided by satellite navigation, mobile games will enter unprecedented dimensions that blur the line between virtual and reality. Whether it?s football, golf, racing, or Scotland Yard ? any game can be enriched by the possibilities of satellite navigation. The modern mobile phone is set to become an outdoor gaming console, giving new meaning to the phrase "go out and play"! Midmarket ICT companies will also have the opportunity to shape this innovative growth market with their own games.
The GPS Gaming Session will introduce innovative gaming concepts on various platforms - including mobile phones, (mobile) gaming consoles, and the Internet ? while providing insight into a future growth market driven by networking and interactivity.

Tourality is a new type of location-based game that combines sporty outdoor activity with virtual gaming experience. The player will face the challenge of reaching geographically defined spots in reality as fast as possible and before his or her opponents. Thus the player’s movement directly influences the gaming progress and is distributed to co-players in real-time. This multiplayer GPS game creates a novel combination of a mobile game, sports and nature by taking advantage of the increasing mobility, new technological possibilities and social aspects around Web 2.0. It picks up the concept of scavenger hunts and peps it up with the use of latest technology.

After the introduction of the multi-player feature into games, the gamers are now waiting for the next ‘killer app’ to change the world of gaming. On the other hand the game publishers and developers’ quest is for immersive and exclusive content, as well as the quest for additional revenue streams (e.g. subscriptions and micro-transactions). They realize that after playing against the game computer, and against other cyber friends, now the next step is to let gamers play, compete and compare themselves against the ‘best of the best’; the real professionals. iOpener has developed the technology that makes this possible, and will introduce this new way of gaming early 2009. The presentation will explain what will be the changes in the gaming industry after the commercial introduction of real data in console and pc games.