Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! Now Available

Two of Movaya's partners (Vivendi and Sandlot) have hooked up to launch a new mobile game this week.

Vivendi Games Mobile, a division of Vivendi Games, announced the release of Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! for mobile, an exciting spin-off of the wildly successful PC Franchise, Cake Mania, which has claimed more than 70 million downloads to date. Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! allows players to show off their baking skills in the zany and exciting new baking experience for mobile phones.

Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! for mobile is based on the best-selling casual PC game, Cake Mania 2, where the game's iconic baker, Jill, is back to baking and decorating cakes in a new mobile adventure. In the hit sequel, players will explore six far-flung bakery locations and serve up delicious original creations to quirky customers, ranging from federal agents to mysterious aliens. Players will choose which path Jill pursues, with each decision leading to new baking challenges and dilemmas. The game includes 72 levels of baking and frosting madness, multiple endings and a branching, non-linear thrilling storyline.

"Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! provides a fantastically fun mobile experience that is sure to satisfy fans of all ages," said Paul Maglione, president of Vivendi Games Mobile. "Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! is the perfect addition to our growing portfolio of top-rated, unique entertainment properties. We are excited to partner with Sandlot Games to offer the millions of Cake Mania fans another outlet to play this unrivaled game."

"We are extremely excited to partner with Vivendi Games Mobile to extend the Cake Mania franchise beyond the PC," said Daniel Bernstein, founder and CEO of Sandlot Games. "With broad consumer appeal and strong brand recognition, Cake Mania 2: Bake Off! will not only thrill Cake maniacs everywhere but will also appeal to anyone looking for a different kind of casual mobile game."

The game is available on carrier decks and will be downloadable from Sandlot's site soon as well.

Playing Games-Serious Business

My partner and I went to an event last night sponsored by MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest titled: "Playing Games-Serious Business"

It was a panelist discussion that included:

Daniel Bernstein, CEO, Sandlot Games
Mike Fischer, GM, US Marketing, Xbox, Microsoft
Jeff Strain, Co-Founder/President, ArenaNet, Inc.

These three guys represent different video game platforms (PC Casual, Console, & MMO) and it was interesting hearing their thoughts on the overall industry, building video game communities and working in a business that has users from all over the world.

A couple of the highlights for me that relate back to the video game industry we (Movaya) care about - mobile gaming.

- Mike Fischer commented that of the 112 million US households, now more than 50% have a video game system. Furthermore, he highlighted that lots of things in life have become a game- think eBay, Priceline, etc. - companies are marketing their products and services to tailor to the video game generation. Just reinforced how big the mobile game business will become - if everyone plays games and everyone has a cellphone, you do the math.

- Daniel Bernstein commented on how "friction-less" his marketplace is. A game publisher makes a game, gets distribution on any number of portals and the game can succeed purely on its merits. If it's good, it will get downloaded, and people will buy. If it sucks, word will get out, no-one will download it and the game will go away.

Compare this to the mobile game industry: In the US, 95% of the games are sold by the carriers, so essentially, you have 4 points of distribution that matter (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile). Only the big game publishers can get deals with those channels and only a few games can be easily merchandised on the phone screen. Because of the shelf-space limitations on the phone, the games that sell well are not necessarily good games but rather recognized brands. Talk about the complete opposite of friction-less.

All in all the panel did a great job and it was a fun event. If you're in Seattle, you should pay attention to MIT's event schedule as they have some other events coming up soon including an event next Thursday night; Startup Demo - Fall 2007, where 6 early stage startups from the Seattle area will demonstrate their new products and services.

Hottest Casual Games for Mobile Now Available Off-Deck from Sandlot Games

Online Store Powered by Movaya Offers Cake Mania, Slyder for Mobile

BOTHELL, Wash — November 27, 2007 — Sandlot Games® (www.sandlotgames.com), the world's premier developer and publisher of casual and family-friendly games, and Movaya (www.movaya.com), a leading provider of mobile content distribution software solutions, today announced the availability of mobile games direct from Sandlot Games web site.

Through Sandlot Games' branded online store, powered by Movaya's mobile game e-commerce solution, consumers can now purchase popular mobile game titles including Cake Mania® and Slyder®.

"Now consumers have a very easy, instantaneous way to get the most popular Sandlot Games' on their phones," said Daniel Bernstein, founder and CEO of Sandlot Games. "Movaya's e-commerce mobile game solution is a great fit for our online store and we expect it will dramatically improve sales of our mobile titles."

In addition to powering the online store's mobile game distribution, Movaya processes mobile game order transactions, provides real-time reporting services, and offers customer support services.

"Movaya is focused on the off-deck distribution of mobile games in the U.S. via websites and WAP sites," said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. "By taking advantage of our mobile game distribution platform, Sandlot Games can expand its mobile game sales opportunities by offering customers a user-friendly experience directly from their own website."

Popular casual game titles for mobile, including Cake Mania and Slyder, are now available for purchase at www.sandlotgames.com.

About Sandlot Games
Sandlot Games Corporation, headquartered in Bothell, Washington, is the world's premier developer and publisher of casual and family-friendly games. Sandlot Games boasts a captivating portfolio of popular game titles and franchises including Cake Mania®, Glyph®, Super Granny®, Tradewinds® and Westward®. Sandlot Games reaches millions of game players worldwide through a variety of distribution channels including online, PC, PDA's, handhelds, videogame consoles and mobile phones. Since 2002, over 100 million games have been downloaded by its loyal fan base. For more information or to play one of our award winning games, please visit us at www.sandlotgames.com.

About Movaya
Movaya (www.movaya.com) is a Seattle-based technology company, whose mobile-content management and distribution software system allows mobile game publishers and online retailers to effortlessly extend their businesses to the growing off-deck mobile gaming marketplace. Movaya PlugNPlay is the company's flagship product, which brings together Mobile Game Publishers, Online Retailers and consumers in one marketplace for Mobile goods. Movaya is powering the off-deck, mobile gaming industry.

Contacts:
Jared Nieuwenhuis
Sandlot Games
425-486-5822 x291
jared@sandlotgames.com

Justin Hall
Voxus Inc.
253-853-5151 x234
jhall@voxuspr.com

Cake Mania Mobile - Huge Success!

Top developer and publisher of casual and family-friendly games Sandlot Games, and leading digital entertainment services company RealNetworks, Inc. last month announced the continued success of the smash hit casual game Cake Mania – this time on the mobile platform.

“Over the last few months, Cake Mania has been one of the most downloaded mobile games in the U.S.” said Matt Turetzky, Vice President at Real. “With its success on the PC, we anticipated a similar performance for the mobile version. Those expectations were surpassed and we’re proud to have teamed with Sandlot to deliver this hit casual title to gamers on their mobile handsets.” At the end of second quarter, RealArcade Mobile moved into the top ten ranked mobile publishers by downloads, in part due to the success of Cake Mania.

Originally developed by Sandlot Games for PC and online play, Cake Mania became the best-selling casual game of 2006 and was voted Yahoo’s 2006 Casual Game of the Year. In March 2007, Sandlot partnered with RealArcade Mobile to bring the hit title to the mobile handset.

“As a runaway hit on the PC, Cake Mania was a prime candidate for conversion to the mobile platform” said Daniel Bernstein, founder and CEO of Sandlot Games. “Gamers continue to get hooked on the challenging and unique elements that make Cake Mania such a fun experience, and by partnering with Real we were able to extend this hit game to the mobile community.”

Cake Mania is a time management game in which players help young entrepreneur Jill open her own bakery, bring in customers and earn enough money to re-open her grandparents' troubled business. The mobile version allows fans and new players alike to play a hit game in small sessions of easy mobile play, without losing the favorite elements of the original.

If you are an AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile subscriber in the US, you can buy this game at BustedThumbs by clicking HERE.