Introversion plans a portable DEFCON

Back in the day, working out the survivability of NATO versus the Warsaw Pact was a real-life game that combined the skills of the accountant with the military strategist. No wonder they called it M.A.D..

But despite being inspired by the pivotal peacenik scene in the classic 1983 movie WarGames where the War Operation Plan Response computer learns the only winning move is not to play, global nuclear warfare sim DEFCON, which originally debuted on PC, managed to subtly invert this view of Mutual Assured Destruction.

The young whippersnappers from developer Introversion Software came up with a scoring system that awarded points for the net number of million deaths inflicted on the enemy. Maybe they were just being ironic?

As for the company's own strategy for world domination, it's a bit more modest, but does include flanking movements, as the previously PC-only developer attempts to branch out with a mobile version of DEFCON.

Plans are in very early stages – currently it's more of a proposal than a project, which we got wind of from the boys at an academic event in London last week – and there are no details yet on which platforms the game is likely to be developed for.

Most obvious would be a PDA release, while a similar touchscreen interface would work well on the DS, although it's less clear how frying cities in a clouds of radioactivity would mesh with the themes of Nintendo's Touch! Generations demographic. Most ambitious would be a PSP port – its screen would certainly be the best display option, but control would be trickier. (Frankly, we don't think mobile phones yet have the buttons, screen or audience for the job, unless it was radically reworked.)

While we await more info, your best bet is just to hit the 'Track It!' button to get intel in your inbox whenever more news breaks.