Cell Phone Gamers, Meet Zeemote

On a computer, on a console, on a handheld, on a cell phone, on a kangaroo in the zoo, I love gaming. Naturally, I was pretty pumped when a new gaming option for cell phones arrived in our office. The “Zeemote” is a Bluetooth controller for wireless gaming on Java-enabled cell phones. Our unit came with a host of preinstalled games including Heli Strike, Perplex, Planet Riders 3D, PubDarts 180 (my favorite of the bunch), and Sonic the Hedgehog. The games’ graphics look pretty decent and the graphics are similar to Sega games. Individual titles are expected to cost about the same as current cell phone games—in the $5 area—and will be available on a WAP Web site, from Zeemote, and likely from the game publishers themselves. We shot this video of the Zeemote in action. Zeemote could afford some improvements in the ergonomics department. We generally liked our gaming experience with the Zeemote, but a third “C” key sits under the handset itself and is awkward to press. Zeemote claims the device has 35 hours of battery life—not bad at all for a Bluetooth accessory. There’s a catch to the Zeemote though. It could be three months until it comes to market, and the company is technically still in talks with three of the largest handset manufacturers to make its release a reality. If and when this happens, the Zeemote will likely be packaged with a phone as part of a gaming package. Sold alone, the unit is expected to cost in the area of $25 to $50.