Manchester United has signed a deal to produce six mobile phone games based on the megabucks club - and it's got to be a good forward-thinking move for a side with such a wide-ranging reach.
Teaming up with an Indian firm called Jump Games, the £3 titles will be a mixture of puzzles and ball skill-style efforts with the first out in April as a brain-busting word quiz.
It'll use phrases associated with Man U, presumably the likes of trophies, pizza and karate kicks, that players will have to find on grids. It sounds the right kind of thing for a portable game and the association with the Premier League champions is sure to see it sell well.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "I think it's a fantastic venture. For our fans all over the world, it's an opportunity to get involved." And Salil Bhargava, boss of makers Jump Games, added: "Fans from Manchester to Mumbai will be able to feel a part of the club from testing their knowledge to playing the team on the virtual pitch."
That's the key thing, Man U have so many fans across the planet, mobile games seem the perfect niche for them. After all, who hasn't got a handset, even in developing countries. They might not be able to afford a console or a PC, but they're bound to have a phone.
It seems football is fast-becoming a key area for technology companies. Recently I spoke about a deal between a marketing firm and a few different Premier League teams to deliver wireless content to fans' phones when they step inside the stadium.
Now that's a mistake, as I said, because you don't want to be spammed when you turn up to support your team. But more tie-ups of the sort Fergie's club are about to undertake can only be good news.
After all, who wouldn't want to spend time on the train playing alongside your favourites. And with the extra money the clubs will make from such deals, from supporters buying into the gaming proposition, they'll be more cash in the coffers for even better stars on the real pitch.
Jonathan Weinberg is a technology journalist and editor-in-chief of Tech Digest's sister blog manunitedpies.tv - he also supports Spurs and is very, very, very happy today after their 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal last night! Read all about it at spurspies.tv
Via The Sun Gizmo
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Its MAN UTD you ignorant fool. ManYoo is used by City and Pile fans to piss United fans off. I don't see why these games are getting so much coverage. There are countless mobile football games out there, I'm hardly going to count down the days to these being released.