Verizon Offers Guitar Hero For Cell PhonesVerizon Offers Guitar Hero For Cell Phones

Verizon Wireless, in partnership with Hands-On Mobile and Activision, on Thursday began offering the Guitar Hero III mobile game exclusively to its customers.

End-user generated revenues from mobile games will reach nearly $10 billion by 2009, according to a November report by Juniper Research. Over 460 million mobile users are expected to download games by 2009, which is double the current number, the report said.

Verizon Wireless and other carriers are trying to capitalize on the billion-dollar opportunity.

Guitar Hero III, the third installment of a very successful console music video game published by Activision, a worldwide developer and distributor of interactive entertainment, is being offered to Verizon Wireless customers through the carrier's partnership with Hands-On Mobile, a publisher of mobile entertainment products.

The mobile version of the video game lets cell phone users jam to music, much like they do on the console game. Users get rich graphics and high-quality audio, despite the fact that they're playing on a cell phone and not a large screen, said Verizon Wireless.

There are some modifications, however, that had to be made to the game in order to play it on cell phones. For example, Guitar Hero III Mobile comes with four authentic guitars and three venues, which requires players to hit number keys in sync with colored notes that appear on a scrolling fret board.

Verizon Wireless customers initially get 15 song tracks from the Guitar Hero console series, but they can add more tracks to the video game with song packs that Verizon Wireless will introduce each month, the carrier said.

Guitar Hero III Mobile can be accessed on a monthly basis for a fee of $4.49, or customers can purchase the unlimited use package for $12. The game is compatible with Verizon Wireless' Get It Now-capable phones, which include the Moto Rizr Z6tv, the Chocolate by LG, and the Gleam by Samsung. Customers will also have to sign up for Verizon Wireless' digital service to access the game.