Column: 'Going Mobile: Question The Answers: The Dance of the Dueling Analysts'

In one of today's main features on Gamasutra, the last 'Going Mobile' column from former GameSpot Mobile and Wireless Gaming Review chief editor Steve Palley focuses on how analysts gauge mobile phone game sales behavior, focusing on 'diametrically opposed' impressions on the health of the industry from firms M:Metrics and Telephia. Steve, who is now heading up mobile game consulting firm Foci Mobile, comments of the confusing state of statistics for the mobile game biz: "It sounds like a joke, but the stakes here are high. There’s little question that the information vacuum has interfered with the mobile games industry’s growth, because the lack of reliable, granular sales numbers that can precisely identify leading companies, techniques, and trends inhibits the flow of investment money and has frequently led to its misallocation. On a broader scale, it’s tough for the media or anyone else to take any industry with ambiguous, nebulous or absent sales numbers as anything more than a fad. This is a particular concern for mobile publishers, who are desperately trying to carve out space in mobile users’ perceptions and entertainment budgets. Who wants to invest in an industry that is currently growing by nearly 50% OR close to 0% a quarter, depending on who you listen to? Who wants to play games developed by an industry that nobody invests in?" You can now read the full Gamasutra column on the subject for more of Palley's insight, including more on the specific problems and some possible solutions (no registration required, please feel free to link to this article from external websites).