Pinoy gaming enthusiast finds place in mobile app space

MANILA, Philippines - To say that it’s in the blood of Pinoys to be gamers is an understatement. Pinoys are simply crazy about games — board games, street games, PC and video games and the latest, mobile phone games. Whether on their own or with opponents, physical or virtual, gaming is simply a part of the Pinoy culture.

So for Gener Gabasa, a 29-year old programmer from Sta. Ana, Manila, it’s still all too unbelievable for him to stumble upon a lucrative career on something that just comes naturally to him. 

From a simple gaming enthusiast, Gabasa is now one of the top local mobile game application developers of the Nokia Store (formerly known as Ovi Store), the site where Nokia phone users can download and enjoy applications, games, videos, ringtones, wallpapers, themes and more. 

Gabasa’s is a classic Filipino success story. Like most people of his generation, the exciting possibilities that computers and mobile technology hold attracted him to pursue programming in college. 

He was already into developing game apps for mobile phones even before he graduated from his course in 2005. Even then, he knew that what he wanted was to explore the extent of gaming in mobile phones.

“Unlike creating games for PCs which is complicated and needs close to a hundred people to create, developing mobile phone game apps was easier because the games can be completed with a few people. Plus, I was attracted by the opportunity that mobile technology presents for app developers like me,” he explains.

After he graduated, Gabasa went to Manila from his hometown of Iloilo to pursue his goal of becoming a games developer. After working at AninoGames where he was one of the company’s game developers creating for smartphone and mobile platforms and for companies like Facebook and Nintendo, he decided to strike it on his own. As luck would have it, his first try as a freelancer was with the very same company where he now enjoys success.

“I joined Nokia’s contest last year, inviting amateur developers to develop apps for the Nokia Store. I developed a few game apps for my entries but unfortunately I didn’t win. But the exposure that my game apps got was enough to inspire me to do more,” he shares.

Gabasa’s game apps that he developed for the contest — MyTicTacToe, the mobile version of the popular board game; and MyCheckers, which is also based on the real checkers game — quickly gained hits among frequent visitors of the Nokia Store. Since then, Gabasa has been working with Nokia to develop more games for the Nokia Store.

A year later, Gabasa’s game apps have become among the most downloaded in Nokia Store. Aside from MyTicTacToe and MyCheckers, he also developed Pharaoh’s Tomb, a magical maze game, and The Tallest Ice Cream, a fun and addicting game of building the tallest ice cream. He also dabbled in paint apps called Sketch Pad+, which allows users to paint on their mobile phones and take snapshots, and edit and save their images directly on their phones.  

To date, Gabasa’s game apps have reached over one million downloads worldwide, with majority of downloaders coming from the United Kingdom and Russia. MyCheckers and Sketch Pad+ have each reached 300,000 hits in just a year. To date, he’s in the process of developing three more game apps which would be out by next year.

Aside from receiving significant download numbers, Gabasa continues to reap success as an app developer with the numerous wins and recognitions he has received. His Pharaoh’s Tomb game app has just been named Best S40 Java Game in the local category of the Create For Millions contest, a competition for consumers and developers on creating applications for Nokia’s S40 phones. He won P50,000 for winning in the local category and has the chance to compete in the global category of the competition, where one million euros is at stake.

Gabasa was also recognized in the recently concluded Nokia Store Awards, which acknowledges local developers’ contributions to Nokia’s ecosystem. His Sketch Pad+ app was named Best Smartphone App and Best Feature Phone App, while MyCheckers clinched the Best Feature Phone Game award. He was also named Hall of Fame Achiever for garnering at least one million in downloads globally. 

Gabasa simply attributes his success to his love of gaming and the fun and entertainment it gives to mobile users like him. He describes himself as a “casual gaming” developer: for him, mobile games should be fun and entertaining, and enticing the competitive spirit of the user without being hardcore. 

“Ever since I started, I focused on making the mechanics of my games very easy to understand, and with graphics that are very visually appealing. As a gamer myself, what I look for in a mobile game is simple: it should just be fun to play and should get me out of boredom when I’m whiling away time,” he explains.

His success is not solely attributable to his natural penchant for gaming, creativity and skill. Gabasa believes that without the right tools, the right knowledge and the right venue to showcase one’s app creations, success can be hard to reach. That’s why being a developer for Nokia Store for him is probably the best decision he’s ever made for his career.

“It’s easy to develop for Nokia because it gives the best tools for developers. Nokia also conducts workshops so developers are always updated. More importantly, Nokia also comes out with new devices so developers have a wider range of developing for new phones and reaching out to more mobile users — from low-end to high-end users,” he says.

It indeed pays to do something that you love. In Gabasa’s case, being a gaming aficionado allowed him to discover his passion for developing games for mobile users and getting the place he deserves in the mobile app space.  

Pharaoh’s Tomb, Sketch Pad+, MyCheckers, MyTicTacToe, and The Tallest Ice Cream are free to download and are available on select Nokia feature phones. 

Visit http://store.nokia.com/publisher/octacore (from your PC) or http://store.nokia.mobi/publisher/octacore (from your mobile) to download these games. 

Interested developers may go to www.developer.nokia.com/ or join the Philippine Nokia Developers Group on Facebook.