Mobliss Adds Nintendo's Merrick As President, CEO

Mobile messaging, gaming, and content delivery company Mobliss announced that it has appointed former Nintendo executive and 12-year entertainment industry veteran Jim Merrick to the position of president and CEO. Merrick currently plans to expand the company's presence in the area of creative mobile entertainment, including increasing the company's focus in the mobile-phone gaming arena. Mobliss develops a number of mobile games that incorporate wireless technology, including the first multiplayer cross-carrier game, Family Feud. Merrick joins Mobliss after a long history with Nintendo, where he served in a variety of roles, from head of software, hardware and brand marketing across Europe, to technical director for Nintendo in the US, where he developed new technologies and lead a support team dedicated to helping licensees develop games for Nintendo systems - Gamasutra reported his departure in January 2006. Merrick will oversee all Mobliss operations, which include game licensing and development, mobile messaging and Mobliss' proprietary SMS voting platform, which is most widely known for powering 'American Idol' SMS voting. “Mobile phones are a part of everyday life for millions of consumers. That number just keeps growing,” noted Jim Merrick. “Mobliss is a pioneer and already has proven people want to do more than just use phones to chat. They love to play video games and they love to communicate instantly in many different and edgy ways. Growing this is my sole focus.”