One of the most popular games ever made turns mobile in Japan

Nov 2, 2007 09:09 GMT  ·  By

Second Life's popularity has hit Japan as well and they are now working on ways to develop the technology needed for bringing it on their mobile phones as well. It's all pretty close to becoming true as the service will be released before the holidays. The service is targeted at DoCoMo handsets from the 3G FOMA 700 and 900 series. If it proves successful, an adaptation for other phone models might see a close release as well. Some people spend hours and hours building themselves a virtual life from their PCs. Putting some mobility in this second reality means detaching it from the desktop and taking it anywhere the player might go.

The craze with the Second Life might just see an even greater development, now that it has a new environment to exploit. Of course, it will bring only some basic features, as it would be impossible to make the mobile phone version match the huge number of features and possibilities handled by the more evolved processor of a PC. It should be great even in this basic form, as it will bring a solution for those who want to stop using the PCs for a while.

First of all, the mobile phones need powerful software and hardware, in order to generate the 3D virtual world. That meant tough work for developers up to this point in order to make the adaptation possible.

A free version of the mobile phone Second Life will be equipped with some main functions, such as moving about for easy inspection, retrieval, teleport, Second Life map and chat. DoCoMo is currently looking for 100 Beta testers in preparation for the launch of the application, which should happen pretty soon. Second Life Japan's mobile application should see a public launch on December 15th if everything goes according to plans.