Cascata, a new mobile entertainment venture led by industry veteran Neil Wooding, has announced its first product.

CubeHead is a puzzle game for Pocket PC devices in which the user must align corresponding tiles to score points. It is highly customisable, supporting downloadable tile sets, backgrounds and theme music. The game will be available for $18.99 from e-tailers such as Handango and PocketGear. Cascata is developing a wide range of mobile entertainment titles for handheld and wireless platforms and hopes to license its software to device manufacturers and network operators. The company is working with leading independent games designers to license and bring-to-market innovative entertainment titles.

Wooding, formerly Head of Pervasive Technology at agency OgilvyInteractive and Managing Director of mobile portal Go32.com, said: “I am thrilled to see our first product – CubeHead – online! We hope that our funky puzzle game will provide hours of fun, humour, and maybe just a touch of addictiveness! My background and passion is in design, and I have been an avid game player since my teens. I specialised in mobile and wireless technologies, and my wish was to bring together creative original ideas, funky design and great game play for every type of platform, be it handheld, mobile, interactive TV or PC. Cascata has a variety of new projects underway, including an exciting mission-based game for PalmOS devices, which will be first to use the MobileWizardry advanced 3D Deity engine. We find that creating a game is as about combining ideas and working with talented specialists to achieve each implementation. We work through a collaborative partnership network of talented individuals and small enterprises, so everyone brings their different expertise to the Cascata mix! We hope that CubeHead carries the Cascata signature for quality, innovation, and inspiring gameplay.”

Insight

Cascata has an experienced team in Chief Executive Neil Wooding and Chief Evangelist Alison Bell. Both have worked for the Purple Technologies Group, a veteran of Britain’s mobile gaming industry, while Wooding gained further experience on projects such as IBM’s groundbreaking Wimbledon PDA advertorial at Ogilvy.

CubeHead is a polished and well presented product and will do well in the booming market for handheld computer games. According to figures published by Handango, the leading mobile software e-tailer, around 40% of its sales are derived from games and entertainment software. This is likely to increase further as it becomes possible for consumers to buy games directly from their handsets and download the products over-the-air. However, it is a market in which players such as Digital Bridges and Wooding’s old firm Purple Technologies are well established and Cascata will need to innovate continuously to attract the attention of operators and, ultimately, consumers.