Muse.On-The.Net

Wildly successful as a business tool, the BlackBerry created a new category of mobile device. With the additional of the Pearl model, Research in Motion (RIM), creator of the BlackBerry, is now aiming at regular consumers. Is the BlackBerry tasty enough for casual users?

Handango reports that their BlackBerry application library grew 81% in 2006, faster than the growth of any related smartphone or PDA category. What applications were they buying? The Business & Professional category was #1, but Games were #4, trailing Productivity and Entertainment but ahead of Travel and Communications & Multimedia categories. Furthermore, Games ranked 4th in Sales by Category and 3rd in Searches.

Free mobile phone game site, MobileRated, rated the BlackBerry Pearl #2 and the BlackBerry 8700 #22 on their list of the The 25 Most Popular Mobile Phones of 2006 as used by gamers. A look at MobileRated’s page of Free Games for the BlackBerry Pearl revealed a wide selection of tempting games.

Perhaps responding to MobileRated, for pay game developer Gameloft has announced their intent to offer a variety of games for BlackBerry devices. “It’s becoming quite common to see people playing games on their BlackBerry,” said Mark Guibert, vice president of corporate marketing for RIM. “The reality is that the market isn’t split into two binary segments of gamers and non-gamers.” Gamers today come from all walks of life and there have been reports of meetings missed due to a need to set that new high score on Jamtris.

Games can be tempting distractions, but are in themselves not yet considered a selling point for the devices themselves. ” Primary applications such as phone, e-mail, Internet and intranet access, and other factors still rule the day in terms of purchasing decisions and loyalty, but gaming is catching on,” says Guibert. Indeed, while BlackBerries may be purchased for work functions, the devices are ubiquitous and people become attached to them. As part of their daily lives, the devices would naturally be considered for leisure activities as well.

The market of BlackBerry gamers is estimated at 650,000 according to BPlay Vice President Nicholas Reichenbach. There are approximately 8 million BlackBerry users worldwide. RIM has encouraged game development with better handset features like clearer, crisper screens and trackball controls more suited to games, and an open API for game developers.

While BlackBerry appears to still be aimed at business users, there is no denying the appeal of a device that meets multiple needs. People may not buy BlackBerry to play games, but play games they do.