Marseille, October 17 2006 -- The International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) today announced the 25 games that have been shortlisted to enter into the next stage of the competition. A record 400 submissions were received from 42 countries this year, which represents a staggering increase of 100 per cent on last year. Almost half of the entrants originate from Europe, with the remainder coming from Asia (30 per cent), North America (15 per cent) and the rest of the world (nine per cent).

The jury members* consisting of leading experts in the mobile gaming industry and media gathered in the Belle de Mai Media Center in Marseille at the beginning of October to select the most creative and original 25 games to enter the final stages of the competition. The jury was highly impressed by the outstanding quality of the games.

This year saw a wide mixture of techniques, technology and concepts being implemented including the use of high quality 3D, advanced connectivity features and the integration of user-generated content. Some games had an education element, with developers coming up with new ways to teach foreign languages as well as dance. Real world games (mobile games, which are played outdoors by groups of people using localisation technology) made a debut at this year's Awards, with a research lab in Holland called TNO creating Triangler, a geometric outdoor mobile interactive game, involving two teams of 100 players competing in a two-hour match in a city or rural area.

Five games from each of the following categories were selected (25 nominees in total): the Best Interactive Experience Award, the Best Use of Connectivity, the Excellence in 3D Award, the Most Innovative Game Award and the Best Use of Flash Award. A description and images of the 25 nominees can be viewed on the IMGA website at www.imgawards.com.

Maarten Noyons, Managing Director of IMGA, commented, "The quality of the games was outstanding this year, which is testament to the talent and vision displayed by developers all over the globe. I personally want to thank and congratulate all entrants on making this year's Awards the most successful yet. The IMGA is all about providing developers with the platform to showcase their games on the world stage. We are witnessing the next generation of mobile game developers, which will guide the direction of the industry as a whole."

With the help of the sponsors, the nominated entrants will work up a playable version of their game before 26th January 2007, with the winners being announced at a lavish ceremony at 3GSM in Barcelona in February. Each entrant is in with a chance to win a share of the $40,000 cash prize, with the overall winner of the Grand Prix prize scooping $15,000.

*Jury Members of the International Mobile Gaming Awards - 2006 Edition Eric Wittman (Adobe), Fuyuki YAMAGUCHI and Atsushi Yanai (Movida), Kamar Shah (Nokia), Oscar Clark (NVIDIA), Bryce Johnstone (Texas Instruments), Dr. Mark Ollila Co-founder Telco Games, (last year’s winner), Stuart Dredge (Freelance Journalist), Paul Munford (Editor of Monty's Gaming and Wireless Outlook) Matthew Bellows (Co-founder and General Manager of Floodgate Entertainment), Kyu C. Lee (President of Gamevil USA), Robert Tercek (Chairman of GDC Mobile and co-founder of Multimedia Networks) and Guillaume Roser (Vivendi Games Mobile). IMGA will be announcing details of the Student Award shortly.

About IMGA

The International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) is a yearly contest for the most innovative and creative mobile games in the world. The objective is to create a new and exciting set of awards to recognise the world's most talented mobile game developers, whether they are from professional studios, universities or even back bedrooms! Recent research published by media research group, Screen Digest, suggests that by 2010, there will be a global installed base of more than 2 billion games-enabled mobile handsets and the worldwide games download market will be worth US$6.4B.  See www.imgawards.com.