TV presenter behind company shaking up computer games industry: A once familiar TV news reporter is now the driving force behind a British company, which is shaking up the entire computer games industry.
Millions will know Lindsay Charlton as the former presenter of London TV news — but millions more young people now know him as the man behind world wide hit mobile phone game Hungry Shark.
Now his company, Future Games of London, has made another major break through in computer game technology. It has developed technology, which turns mobile phones and iPads into game controllers, enabling phone gamers to play on big screen TVs for the very first time.
The development could change the way computer games are played all over the world. With mobile phones becoming ever more powerful pocket computers, phone based games are the fastest growing sector in the market.
A familiar face on leading 1980s investigative programme This Week as well as a former Managing Director of Meridian Television, Charlton is now chairman of Future Games of London.
Said Charlton: “ I’m the only person to have left the small screen — for an even smaller screen”
“ Our technology is changing the way computer games are played all over the world.
‘ It’s putting the power of a high-end arcade game into the mobile phone in your pocket.
“ Instead of having lots of boxes and controllers, all you have to do now is take out your mobile phone, switch on your TV — and off you go.”
Future Games of London is already famous for developing Hungry Shark — one of the most commonly downloaded games for the phone market. Eight million free copies of the game have been downloaded worldwide in just six weeks alone, with a further 700,000 gamers paying a fee for the more challenging edition.
The game has been No1 in 13 different countries and reached No2 in the US iTunes charts. It has also enjoyed a strong performance in the android phone market where sales are controlled by the Google apps store.
The latest version of the game — Hungry Shark 3 — is now on sale as an exclusive ipad release. See more details about this game below.
Gamers merely connect their IPad to their big screen TV at home and the game can be played wirelessly using the iphone.
Until recently, the enormously lucrative games market was controlled by consoles such as Xbox, PS3 and Wii and players needed to purchase expensive handsets as well. But smart phone technology has released their stranglehold and small teams of developers are capturing new audiences who expect low priced but easy to play games on their phones.
Many of the young people buying Hungry Shark today weren’t even born when Charlton was a well-known TV presenter.
Said Lindsay Charlton: “ We’re seeing global trading in action. Britain may no longer have a strong manufacturing base, but we still have a lot of technical know how.
“If Government wants everyone to export their way out of the recession this is the way to do it. This is exporting on a massive scale — and all at the touch of a computer mouse”
“ Every game downloaded is a vote of confidence in Britain’s ability to take on the world — and win”
Future Games has also launched a new title called Pool Bar on both iphone and iPad and plans to take advantage of the growing appetite amongst advertising companies for in game advertising. The company will be announcing a suite of new titles before Christmas for the 2011 market.
Charlton said:” We are really excited by developments such as the Apple ad platform which launched this summer. They see ads as apps which don’t intrude on the game experience but add real value if the player wants to view them. Most ads geo locate giving details of where purchases can be made. The sales of successful smart phone games can equal television ad volumes so developers often issue ad enabled games free.”
The popularity of casual gaming on mobile phones has caught the traditional video games market by surprise. There are already 270 million smart phones in use worldwide and the Apple app stores alone will take an estimated $1.7billion this year. By 2014 mobile game revenues are expected to reach at least $10billion and it’s estimated that 875 million smartphones will be in use. Apple and Google take 30% of the retail price of each unit leaving the developers with 70%.
The bigger players are waking up to the threat to their business and recently, Electronic Arts the giant US firm, bought British distributor Chillingo for a reputed $20million. However that didn’t give EA control of the IP in the traditional games.
Charlton said: “We only do distribution deals if it adds value to our business model. In markets such as Korea and China you need a partner but in most regions we can go direct to the customer through the apps stores. Distributors can also frustrate the creative and commercial process. Three years ago two of them turned down Hungry Shark as ‘not commercial’. Today the team at Future Games has made it a worldwide hit.”
About Hungry Shark Trilogy: Hook it up to your HD TV for the full console experience! (Needs Apple VGA Adapter)
Game features:
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+ Full use of Tilt controls + alternate touch controls
+ An ocean full of food and enemies
+ Combo eating bonuses
+ Lost objects from the world above, find them all for big points
+ Hiscore tables: Private and Global, Last 24hrs, Your Country
+ Unlock achievements by completing challenges!
+ Game Center support – show off your achievements and leaderboard scores to other Game
For more information about this game please visit iTunes, only £2.99. Please check out the Hungry Shark demo via YouTube here and here