Round-Up: Mobile 24, MTV VMAs, American Idol Game, TriSol

Today's wrap-up includes news on 24 for mobile phones, game-related nominations in the MTV Video Music Awards, Konami's grabbing of the mellifluous American Idol license, and a new movie company/game company alliance, as well as the latest product news and today's Gamasutra job postings. - Fox Mobile Entertainment has tapped I-Play to develop and publish a mobile phone game based on the hit TV series "24." The game will mimic the real-time nature of the show, and center around a simulated assignment from Agent Jack Bauer delivered over the player's mobile phone. The game is one of a planned series of mobile phone titles based on the TV show, and is scheduled to be released concurrently with the start of the show's fifth season in 2006. - MTV has announced the nominees for its 22nd annual Video Music Awards, which include a smattering of video game-based tunes. Though the awards show largely concentrates on video presentation of popular songs rather than the songs themselves, the 2005 awards do feature a "Best Video Game Soundtrack" category, which seems devoted to licensed soundtracks rather than original scores. The nominated soundtracks are Def Jam: Fight for New York, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, and Madden 2005. Winners will be announced during the broadcast on August 28th. - Konami has acquired the exclusive rights to produce games based on the American Idol TV show, in a multi-year contract with FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide. Few details on the resulting game, which will be released throughout North America, have come out, but given the company's successful Karaoke Revolution series, it's likely that an American Idol title would feature similarly microphone-based gameplay. Konami's release will be the second attempt at an American Idol game, following Codemasters' 2003 title for PlayStation 2 and PC. - Hollywood producers Howard Kazanjian and Craig Darian, founders of Tricor Entertainment, have formed a deal with Solar Studios to develop video games with accompanying feature film tie-ins. Though Solar Studios has yet to release its debut title, the upcoming PC game Metal Combat, Kazanjian and Darian have experience in Hollywood that includes work on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and Demolition Man. The first joint project is an untitled action/adventure game. "We are confident that the blend of creative imagination, technical innovation and business maturity between our two companies will make for a dynamic commercial combination," said Darian. - Also updated today: product news including Exit Games' announcement of its Neutron middleware for BREW-compatible mobile phones and DemonWare's Matchmaking+ being utilized for Empire Interactive's upcoming Starship Troopers game, as well as a new Letter to the Editor discussing storytelling in games a little further, and the latest job postings from companies including Climax, Factor 5, Gameloft, Mad Doc Software, Mythic Games, Rainbow Studios, The Art Institute Of California, and Torpex Games.