By
Ebby Chacko George
OMAN Mobile
Telecommunication Company (Oman Mobile) celebrated heritage conservation
at the core of a new mobile game created by a 4-member student team from
Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in the 3rd student gamer challenge
organised by the leading telecom company.
‘Harvest season’,
the new mobile game based on the life of a date palm farmer, was
announced at a felicitation ceremony presided over by Dr Saud bin Nasser
al Riyami, Academic Adviser to the Higher Education Council, at Muscat
InterContinental Hotel. Dr Amer al Rawas, Managing Director of Oman
Mobile, was present on the occasion.
The winning team
from SQU, Hind bint Said al Mahthour, Ahmed bin Khalifa al Shikaili,
Awatif bint Said al Munthari and Latifa bint Masoud al Abri from the
Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Medicine, flew to Paris and met
mobile gaming industry experts to develop their winning idea into a
mobile game.
Khalid al
Kharousi, Branding and Market Communications Manager, Oman Mobile said:
“The student gamer challenge was launched in 2005 in collaboration with
SQU. Since then, the competition has witnessed remarkable improvements
and spread. Oman Mobile has sustained the initiative purely to create a
competitive environment of excellence among the young generation rather
than seek any commercial gains.”
Sahar al Asmi,
Data Product Developer, said: “The harvest season of Oman covers the
whole summer season, which starts in March and rolls out by the end of
September, which is mainly the season of dates harvesting. “The theme of
the winning game centres on this activity, which illustrates the various
stages farmer Aboud follows to complete the task while encountering
several obstacles and surprises.
“The dates
harvest season passes through four stages — pre-harvest preparation,
ripe dates harvest, cutting palm leaves and date storage in special
containers made of palm leaves. The basic concept of the game is that
the player has to overcome obstacles during the four stages, including
harmful pests.”
Oman Mobile is
committed to stay ahead with innovative services and products, which
have passed 41 value added services. The student gamer challenge is
aimed at motivating students to create simple mobile games inspired by
local heritage and traditions, Al Kharousi said.
Oman Mobile
launched the student gamer challenge in 2005 with SQU students. In the
following year, the competition was opened up to five colleges in the
Muscat area and this year, it was further enlarged to accommodate
college students from all areas of Oman. Forts Adventure was the winning
mobile game in 2005 while Shaking Funjan was the 2006 winner.
Oman Mobile
subscribers with WAP-enabled phones can download these games in three
easy steps. To start, type SF for Shaking Funjan, FA for Forts Adventure
and QS for Al-Qaidh Season (Harvest Season) and send by SMS to 90014
when you will receive a message containing the link to the game. Then
click on the game link to download. Once the game is downloaded, start
playing and enjoy the fun. The charge is RO 1 per download, and 0.5 bz
per kb bandwidth charges.
