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Lamity mobile virtual world heads to Android

And it's being preloaded on Japanese phones now

Lamity mobile virtual world heads to Android
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Japanese mobile games firm Eitarosoft is diversifying into virtual worlds, with an innovative new service called Lamity.

It's a Second Life style virtual world designed purely for mobile phones, with a big games focus. Users can wander about and chat to each other, but also play nifty 3D games.

Lamity looks set to get into the hands of many more Japanese mobile users, thanks to just-announced deals with Sony, Sharp and NEC to preload the application on operator NTT DoCoMo's 906i range of handsets.

However, the exciting news is that Lamity – currently a Java app – is also being ported to Google's Android operating system, which could make a European launch that bit more likely, once the first Android phones go on sale late this year or early next year.

The world can support up to 400 users at once in individual locations, and is funded by sponsorships from beer companies and other brands. The built-in games look pretty nice too, including a 3D multiplayer golf game called Magical Shot, and a Pokémon-style creature battler called, ahem, Batomon.

For now, those of us in the west will just have to look here and feel a bit jealous. But rest assured, if Lamity does get a release over on this side of the world, we'll be on the case immediately.

Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)