GDC 2007: Mobile games should be as vital as email, says Trip Hawkins

GDC in San Francisco has kicked off with a blistering keynote from Digital Chocolate boss Trip Hawkins.

The industry veteran lambasted the industry for its short-term outlook, its peddling of 'second rate' mobile games, and its reliance on exploitative licence holders such as movie companies, who demand too much money from developers of game tie-ins to leave them enough in the budget to develop interesting gameplay.

Hawkins even criticised the company he originally founded, games behemoth Electronic Arts, for spending too much money promoting Tetris.

But as games business website Next Generation reports, Hawkins was more positive when it came to the future of mobile games: "We all spend too much time alone in our cars, in front of the TV. We live in big cities and are surrounded by strangers. That's why we are so keen on new technologies that enable us to reach out. Games with a social dimension can enable that."

He added that "this is the era of social computing", and suggested developers look at the business models of companies like MySpace.

Hawkins' company Digital Chocolate is responsible for some of Pocket Gamer's favourite mobile games, including Gold Award winners Tornado Mania and Tower Bloxx.