Shocker: Games are most popular apps on iPhone, Android devices

Seriously, what did you expect it be--apps for communicating with people? Please, this is 2011. Nielsen has found in a study that mobile games are the most popularly used apps on mobile devices like iPhones and Android phones.

According to the study, 64 percent of mobile folks have played games on their smartphone in the past 30 days. But what will make the industry folks absolutely salivate is that, according to Nielsen, app downloaders are most willing to pay for games than any other type of app.

If you're EA or Zynga, you've already wiped the drool off of the keyboard--though it is interesting that, as screen size gets smaller, gamers seem more willing to pay, no?

A whopping 93 percent of app downloaders would pay for games, and that's directly inverse with the supposed 1 to 3 percent that pays within social games. No wonder Zynga has released two mobile games, Hanging with Friends and CityVille Hometown, in just under two months.

Nielsen mobile gaming
The thing is, nowhere in this study are in-game, or in-app, transactions mentioned, which are quickly becoming the lynch pin in mobile game creators' strategies. For instance, Capcom launched Smurfs Village for free on iPhone with micro-transactions, and the game has made money like gangbusters ... perhaps too well. At any rate, don't look at your bulky laptop to see of the future of gaming--it's happening in your pocket right now.

Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition whips up screenshots, but no release date

At the beginning of July, EA and Playfish quietly announced the existence of a Restaurant City iPhone game, now called Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition. While we plan on having a Q&A with the developer closer to the game's launch (the date is still unknown to even us), we have been given some screenshots, and even a logo, to help tide us over. Ok, so these will probably only make us more excited, rather than calming us down, but there you have it.

This first shot seems to show that we won't lose much of the "design-a-restaurant" gameplay found on the Facebook version, with its transition to the smartphone (although it does look like we may only be able to have one theme at a time, rather than swapping out on the fly). Also, it doesn't look like we'll be able to expand to an outdoor grassy area, as this particular screenshot seems to have decorated one of the four corners of its indoors to look that way instead. However, the basics are here: there are stoves with individual chefs, drink stations and all of the tables and chairs we'd expect, along with bathroom facilities at the far right. So far so good.

What does look to be a bit different is the design of our ingredients and cooking screen. This particular screenshot shows off the ingredient trading feature, which will again allow us to trade ingredients with friends to more easily complete recipes. It's presumable that the entirety of the cooking menu (including the recipe select screen) would have just as streamlined an appearance, in order to make browsing simple on the smaller screen.

I wish we had more information as to what to expect with Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition, as I'm just as excited about trying out this new game as you are, but I suppose for now, we'll have to simply scan and re-scan these pictures for any new details we may have missed while waiting for more news to be announced. You can be sure we'll let you know when there is.

Are you excited for Restaurant City: Gourmet Edition on iPhone? Which item themes are you hoping Playfish brings into the mobile version of the game? Do you want an entirely new decorative theme for your new restaurant, or will you try to duplicate your Facebook restaurant?

CrowdStar, others dock in Sibblingz Spaceport for mobile social games

If we haven't driven home yet that mobile will be massive in the future of social games, we clearly haven't done our job. Luckily, news like the fact that Sibblingz has signed on It Girl creator CrowdStar and a number of other developers to use its Spaceport service helps us make good on that.

TechCrunch reports that--in addition to CrowdStar--BitRhymes, IKIGames, LuckyLabs, Fortune Planet and DeezGames have signed on to use Spaceport to create mobile versions of their Facebook games. Spaceport is Sibblingz's cloud-based game development platform that allows developers like CrowdStar to create mobile games that work on both iOS and Android devices.

Essentially, it allows developers to create a mobile game once and have it run on multiple mobile devices. The platform makes use of coding languages like Javascript and HTML5, but neither of which are known for making robust or fully-featured games on iPhones or Android phones. However, Sibblingz claims that games built on Spaceport feature an app-like experience.

What Sibblingz means is that, while these games are built using simpler code languages, they will perform like, say CityVille Hometown by Zynga. That game was built using tools specifically for iOS devices and is thus more visually impressive and feature-rich than mobile browser games. However, according to TechCrunch, developers can even create games specifically for iPhones and iPads through Spaceport.

Sibblingz also says that developers can make games for Facebook's worst-kept secret, Project Spartan--an initiative to bring Facebook to mobile devices through browsers using HTML5 complete with full-featured apps and games--through Spaceport. Jeez, on paper it sounds like Spaceport can do anything but make the cash flow.

Regardless, what's important to take away here is that social game developers realize that mobile is where it's at. Frankly, it's one area where clear winners have yet to be defined, much unlike Facebook (ahem, Zynga and EA). At this point, anyone could come out a winner on mobile, and perhaps the companies that embrace cross-platform game creation like CrowdStar will have the upper hand.

Do you think these developers have a chance at winning the mobile race these social game creators are running with Spaceport? Who do you think will ultimately win the mobile social gaming war?

Diamond Dash rushes to blast back at Bejeweled Blitz on iPhone, iPad

Watch out, PopCap: It looks like someone is gunning for your best game. Berlin, Germany-based social games maker wooga announced at the Le Web Conference in Paris that its Facebook hit Diamond Dash has finally hit iPhones and iPads everywhere. (The keyword in that sentence is "iPad", folks.) Better yet, the Facebook-connected game--announced way back in July--is 100 percent free to play.

Through Facebook Connect, players can compete for dominance between their friends on weekly leaderboards on their iOS device, and the game will track their progress should they hop back in on Facebook. While the game is free to play, you'll be governed by that dastardly Heart system--just the way it is on Facebook. However, you can also dole Hearts to your friends like you do on Facebook. (Of course, you can buy more, too.)

Wooga also promises players that the game, which is available in nine languages, will be updated frequently with new content. Diamond Dash hits the App Store the same day as its main competitor, Bejeweled Blitz, relaunches as an independent freemium game. While Diamond Dash is beating Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook in monthly players, according to AppData, the alternative gem crusher has some catching up to do on mobile devices. And the fact that it's first to officially hit the iPad certainly helps.


Click here to download Diamond Dash on the App Store for Free Now >

Do you prefer Diamond Dash or Bejeweled Blitz for your shiny smashing fix? Does the fact that the former is on iPad first sway you at all?