Mobile inustry veteran Bango says it is currently enjoying high levels of demand for its services from top games publishers such as Capcom, Hands-On Mobile and Codemasters, thanks to the growing popularity of mobile games. Many of the most popular titles such as Street Fighter, X-Men 3 and ToCA are now being actively promoted direct to mobile phone users along with other branded content such as ringtones and wallpapers. Bango enables immediate world-wide access and payment for games and other items. 
Bango says the uptake of mobile games is being fuelled by the exciting gaming experience offered by over 80% of the mobile phones being sold today. MIDP 2.0, second generation mobile Java, is now widely supported on handsets such as the Motorola RAZR V3R and Samsung D-500. It provides the full 3D graphics and multimedia capabilities that turn the phone into a great mobile gaming device.

“The mobile games market has always promised to be big and now we are
really seeing a rapid take up of popular titles available on mobile
phones,” says Anil Malhotra, Senior VP, Marketing & Alliances at
Bango. “It is estimated (by Informa) that the mobile games market will
be worth over $11.2bn by 2010.”
Games publishers are increasingly launching their own branded sites on
the mobile internet to build a direct interactive relationship with
their customers, alongside the benefits they get from being in a mobile
operators portal. As well as additional revenues from selling games,
logos, music and cheats or tips, it enables them to build a much closer
two-way connection with their gamers. 
Brands are also building mobile communities using viral mechanisms such
as Tell a friend that allow users to pass on recommendations of games
they enjoyed, even across different operators. These mobile Internet
games sites also harness the power of Yahoo! and Google mobile search
and enable mobile advertising opportunities that have a high and
measurable return on investment.
Hands-On Mobile, a leading global publisher of mobile lifestyle, games
and personalization products, has developed the Marvel Mobile portal
which offers a host of top games from popular Marvel characters,
including X-Men 3, Fantastic 4 and Spider-Man.  Users send a simple
text message – GO MARVEL – to 83055 in the UK to access the site and
buy the content.  The message costs 1.50 for use against purchase.
“We recognise that the mobile games opportunity is growing from
different channels,” says Karen Smith, Marketing Manager, Direct to
Consumer at Hands-On Mobile.  “To capitalize on the current trends, we
wanted to make sure we had a direct relationship with our customers to
extend the Marvel brand experience into mobile and promote customer
loyalty.”
Other games publishers exploiting this opportunity to sell their content direct-to-consumer are Capcom and Codemasters.
The newly-launched Capcom mobile site features top games such as the
world renowned Street Fighter and Resident Evil.  Other game titles
from Capcom include, Solitaire Fighter, Megaman Pinball and Street
Fighter II Rapid Battle with at least one new title released every
month.  Users simply visit capcom.wap.com on their mobile or text GO
CAPCOM to 83055 in the UK to access the site and download their chosen
games
Meanwhile, Codemasters recently rolled out its mobile service with
popular games such as ToCA Race Driver and Sensible Soccer Skillz.
Promotion of its mobile service has been through advertising delivered
when games are sold to console users around the UK and Germany. Users
can simply text GO CODIES to 83055 to download their chosen game.