PlayPhone cell phone games general thread

[Chaos Control | 71]

This is a spinoff from the other thread where these were mentioned. I remember seeing a lot of these in the mid-2000's on the N-Gage shelf at EB Games. I thought I still had a bunch but could only find this one. I know that I saw at least a dozen different physical copies of these titles, including the three different SNK releases: King of Fighters, Metal Slug, and SamSho. They seem to be the same Java ports from across many platforms, as are the various arcade compilations. 

I do remember that thinking it odd that my local store, the EB Games inside the Lakeforest Mall (R.I.P.) had both new and used PlayPhone cases. I wasn't sure how a used copy would work. They certainly were cheap, at just a few Dollars each and used ones for 0.99. 

There were also cards for these same titles. It wouldn't surprise me if the disc versions were just the first year or so and that they switched to cards to cut costs. The cards are surely no longer active, but are readily available on ebay and also turn up on legacy websites like Best Buy and Amazon pages:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/145578553413?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=gxPPkdi5TxC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=cssq4zlBQMK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

 

 

[Chaos Control | 71]

https://web.archive.org/web/20030525164439/http://www.play-phone.com/

 

... the website on the Archive gives a lot of interesting information on these PlayPhone Game Packs. I can confirm that the SNK, Scooby Doo, and at least a few arcade disc and DVD case retail versions were indeed released. I had a stack of them when my phone was an N-Gage and there were several that I never purchased. Unsold copies were still on the shelves for many years afterwards. 

Not to knock the OP too hard, but I'm surprised that he didn't immediately go to the Archived webpage for the King of Fighters title:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030621121148/http://www.play-phone.com/company/press.php?news=5865282

 

And for easier reference a link about the Game Packs:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030621120857/http://www.play-phone.com/company/press.php?news=3258490

[Chaos Control | 71]

For collection checklist purposes, the following were released in physical disc Game Packs:

Scooby Doo

Tetris

Breakout/Asteroids

King of Fighters

Metal Slug

Samurai Shodown: Warrior's Rage

Rubik's Cube

Centipede and? 

... and quite a few more titles. I'll keep updating and refining the list as I can find clearer information and ideally the big stack of these Game Packs. That list is incomplete for the time being and probably forever as it's unlikely that anyone will ever be able to complete the PlayPhone Game Packs collection. 

Not a lot of people seem to realize that the Nokia N-Gage wasn't the only product line of cell phone game physical copies. 

Edited February 14, 2024 by Chaos Control
Additional information.

[Chaos Control | 71]

Two interesting articles on the later activities of PlayPhone, and how many years after the 2003 cell phone games there were online social media games:

https://venturebeat.com/games/playphone-enables-instant-multiplayer-across-android-and-ios-devices/

https://venturebeat.com/games/playphone-quadruples-its-users-for-its-mobile-social-gaming-network-in-six-months/

... those Metal Slug mobile titles look EXACTLY like the ones from 2003/2004 or so, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were using them for many years afterwards with some online features grafted on.

The cards and even the physical Game Packs were extremely common, at least in my area. I also saw quite a few TV commercials for PlayPhone ringtones and games. These commercials are still on YouTube in various commercial compilations from the time.

 

[Chaos Control | 71]

For reference, below are pictures of the Game Packs in the later card format. All of them existed in the original white DVD case and disc format, but good luck finding any of these nowadays.

[spacepup | 2,564]

Thank you for sharing about these!  I was not previously familiar.  But I work with some preservation groups for obscure content, and we've been working on preserving mobile game content as well as items like discs for PalmOS and PocketPC, etc.  

If you come across any of these or find any for sale, I would very much be interested in them.  I'll keep an eye out but they definitely seem obscure and niche.

[Chaos Control | 71]

18 minutes ago, spacepup said:

Thank you for sharing about these!  I was not previously familiar.  But I work with some preservation groups for obscure content, and we've been working on preserving mobile game content as well as items like discs for PalmOS and PocketPC, etc.  

If you come across any of these or find any for sale, I would very much be interested in them.  I'll keep an eye out but they definitely seem obscure and niche.

It's my pleasure, and I give all credit to the original guy for posting about the King of Fighters copy and jogging my memory. 

As it happens, I am involved with the ReDump preservationists, though mostly for the ongoing CDi efforts. I can send the PlayPhone Game Pack disc in for preservation. 

And yes, these are indeed obscure nowadays but 20 years ago, and that really makes me feel unreasonably old, these were everywhere. They were in stores and advertised on network TV. There's probably piles of unsold stock in some storage unit or warehouse.

[spacepup | 2,564]

That's great!  Sent ya a PM with some info on how we can maybe coordinate here.  Thanks!

[Enternal | 15]

Wow thanks for creating this and linking it to me. Glad I jogged your memory. I don't remember seeing these back in the day. But found them a while ago in a box from a reseller that would buy storage units. There was a stack of 3+4 of these. Which I would have normally skipped over them (looking like budget of games) had I not seen King of Fighters which I purchased. Unfortunately I did not see Samurai Showdown or Metal Slug or I would have purchased those as well.

Edited February 14, 2024 by Enternal
Phone auto correct jacked up my words

[Chaos Control | 71]

On 2/4/2024 at 6:26 PM, Enternal said:

Wow thanks for creating this and linking it to me. Glad I jogged your memory. I don't remember seeing these back in the day. But while I'm a box from someone that would buy storage units I came across a stack of 3+4 of these. I would have normally skipped over them had I not seen King of Fighters which I purchased. Unfortunately I did not see Samurai Showdown or Metal Slug or I would have purchased those as well.

It's my pleasure, and out of curiosity do remember what the other titles were that you saw? It's possible that you saw one that I don't have on the list above this post. 

[Enternal | 15]

On 2/6/2024 at 11:25 PM, Chaos Control said:

It's my pleasure, and out of curiosity do remember what the other titles were that you saw? It's possible that you saw one that I don't have on the list above this post. 

This is to be taken with a grain of salt, but I thought there was another 2/pack with Centipede. But I could be mixing it up with the Asteroids one.

There is a chance that I took a picture because a few years ago I sent a message to John Hancock on Atari Age asking him if he had seen them before and he hadn't.

 

[Enternal | 15]

Video of King of Fighters?

 

https://youtu.be/wzcmJDOkH6Y?si=UlJpf1x5XUtZLoD7

[Chaos Control | 71]

16 hours ago, Enternal said:

This is to be taken with a grain of salt, but I thought there was another 2/pack with Centipede. But I could be mixing it up with the Asteroids one.

There is a chance that I took a picture because a few years ago I sent a message to John Hancock on Atari Age asking him if he had seen them before and he hadn't.

 

I remember seeing several Atari/arcade/ random classic game two in one discs, and yes, Centipede was one of them. I can't remember if I ever purchased a copy, but yes, there was a PlayPhone Game Pack that included Centipede. 

[Chaos Control | 71]

16 hours ago, Enternal said:

Video of King of Fighters?

 

https://youtu.be/wzcmJDOkH6Y?si=UlJpf1x5XUtZLoD7

Excellent video find, and yes, it certainly looks like the PlayPhone version.

On the SamSho image, do you have that copy, or is it just a picture that you found? Very good information, and I'll update the above checklist. 

[Enternal | 15]

I unfortunately don't have a copy. A few years ago when I was trying to find more information on the games, I stumbled across a gamespot/IGN article again, memory is hazy here about wheere. It was one of the only articles that I could find that has information for the games. I saved the Samurai Shodown one. Off and on during work I've been trying to find that page on any archive site, hoping it would have pictures of other games but nothing.

I did see that there is a Spanish Sink wiki website that mentions The Last Blade as having a Playphone game but the link for it is dead.

 

Here is a 2004 gamespot article talking about the partnership but not the one I found the picture from.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-history-of-snk/1100-6089278/