The push towards mobile games

At a time when most of the handset makers are offering similar features to their users, the companies are looking at mobile gaming to differentiate themselves.

Even the hardcore gamers have started converting towards the mobile games — partly due to sheer need, after all the consoles cannot be carried everywhere, and second, the mobile gaming segment is being taken seriously by even the handset makers.

It's good to be a part of the market which is being pampered by the mobile companies, right?

Sony Ericsson has launched a dedicated gaming phone, called Xperia Play, which has dedicated slide out keys for gaming. Since users are also able to make calls on the same device, gaming turns out to be an added bonus.

HTC Play : exclusive store for games

The recent patent indicates HTC's interest towards making an exclusive store just for games that too not just for different smartphones but for multiple OS's also

Taiwan based handset maker, HTC Corporation may soon come out with an exclusive game store for users. HTC has filed a trademark with the US patent and trademark office on May 24 relating to a service known as the HTC Play. Although no official comment has come from HTC yet but it is expected that HTC Play will be a unique, one of a kind service related to video games or gaming.

HTC in the past has also revealed some information about its services related to a dedicated audio service.

Popular video game emulators disappear from Android Market

Following complaints from game manufacturers, Google acts against console emulators on Android Market.

Popular video game emulators like the Nesoid, Snesoid, Gensoid, Ataroid and many others have reportedly been removed from Android Market by Google.

Google had in the past also removed a few emulators from the marketplace following a complaint by game and device manufacturer Sega.

Five of the best free games on Android

Must have free to play games for Android smartphone users who have time to kill and brain cells to exercise.

Mobile phone gaming is giving stiff competition to gaming on other platforms, and to a large extent the credit goes to the newer breed of smartphones. With advanced processors, better graphic capabilities and controls that range from just touch to motion control, smartphones give a realistic feel to the games being played on them.

Here's our list of the five best free games for Android smartphones: