Cool Hunting

Setup: Mark Ecko, founder of Ecko Unlimited, worked with Atari and The Collective to produce the urban culture game, Getting Up, where the central theme is graffiti art. The console game is for PS2, set for release later this year in the fall.

Gamespot has just reported that Ecko, Atari, and Sorrent will be producing a mobile version of the game. Although I have no doubt that some entertainment value will be derived, I'm a bit concerned when it goes mobile. Simply because graffiti is a bit like call and response. The artist is responding to the environment around him or her. And the viewer, be it another artist or not, responds as well. So wouldn't it make sense, especially with a theme like graffiti art, that if they're going to move to another level of interaction between the player and the game by going mobile, that they should go all the way and reach an audience? (I'm making the assumption that the mobile version does not, since there was no indication of it in the news article.) I'm not trying to condone it because I'm sure it'll be fun. However, I simply bring up the question of "Where's the next step?" I guess I'll just have to wait and see.