Infocomm rolls out games in local languages

In an attempt to cash in on the Rs 350-crore mobile multimedia and gaming value-added services in the country, Reliance Infocomm has launched three mobile games in Hindi and is in the advanced stages of launching them in other Indian languages.

The mobile games venture follows the company's rollout of regional movie-based content in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and others that are accessible over data-enabled mobile phones.

"Gaming is a new concept in India and is catching up, owing to the increased penetration of personal computers, the internet and mobile phones. Regional flavour and language play a key role in promoting mobile content, which will drive revenues for operators," said Reliance Infocomm President (application solution group) Mahesh Prasad.

The three games in Hindi "" Carom, Chhoomantar and Dhanurdhari "" can be accessed over the R World suite of data applications on RIM (Reliance IndiaMobile), through which the company offers its CDMA-based services.

These games, developed by Astute Systems Technology, are offered in Hindi keeping in mind users from the B- and C-class towns.

Reliance Infocomm is also in the advanced stages of rolling out games in Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi among others. The company, which has mobile services in over 4,500 towns in the country, expects demand for local language content on mobile to grow at a "staggering rate".

At present, there are over 16,000 individual and 1,000 corporate developers working with Reliance Infocomm, who would be entrusted with the task of providing content for its multimedia VAS initiatives. It would also look at roping in companies in the content space for further advancement of its gaming needs, Prasad said.

Yesterday, Union minister for telecommunications and IT, Dayanidhi Maran, called for development of internet content in local languages and announced plans of launching a browser in Hindi, expected to be launched in the next two-three years.

Earlier, wireless solutions provider Mauj Telecom launched mobile games in Hindi and seven other Indian languages "" Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Urdu. The company developed three games "" ***Mastibhari Udaan, ***Saahas Ka Yudh and ***Jaanbaaz - aimed at gamers in B and C towns.

"Only 3-5 per cent of the Indian population is conversant in English, but currently all mobile gaming is in this language only. By offering our games in eight different languages, we have now taken a giant leap to connect to the real India," Arun Gupta, COO, Mauj, said.