Mobage Town, the Japan’s largest mobile social networking service(SNS) launched their “PC version” website on July 24th 2008.
Mobage Town has made a totally new field “Cellularphone Social Network based on free games” and that success called many followers like GREE mobile, Puchige(Petit Game) Friends, Daishugou NEO, etc.
PC SNS leader Mixi, has been providing their mobile version for years, and now gives favorable treatment to mobile phone users for easier registration process by utilizing traceable subscriber ID given to each cellularphone. Now two giants are ready to make inroads into each other’s main field.
Their PC version has very strange design unless you are familiar with its original cellular phone version. Even on PC browser, it is trying to keep the same style, proportion with its mobile vesion. Your PC browser is taller so less scroll needed, but basically they look same.
Here is the Mobage Town PC’s top page,
Original menus, icons, emoji (graphical letters) are reproduced. It is like a cellularphone emulator. Some features are not available, such like news, ringertone and the biggest one, Flash games. At this point, the PC site is provided for communication – to read (ketai-novels, friends’ diaries, bbs) and write the same contents with mobile. Not all Mobage-Town users are mobile-only, nor mobile-preferred, this PC site will help older generation who likes PC keyboard more to use the service.
See Also:
DeNA’s announcement for PC site closed-beta on July 2nd 2008 [J, pdf]
Official Launch announcement on Mobage Town PC [J]
