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Icon
of Cool, Fido Dido is now going to feature on Mobile Games the world
over, courtesy Mumbai based Jump Games. The Mumbai based developer
- publisher has acquired the license to create mobile games on the
ever popular character from its creator Joanna Ferone, founder of
Fido Dido Inc.
Fido
Dido Inc's Joanna Ferone (President) and Dean Koocher (MD) were
here in Mumbai and at a specially arranged one on one with AnimationXpress.com
(at the Jump Games studio) shared, "The association with Jump
Games is as key to us as our association with the 7UP brand. It
is a first for Fido in terms of Mobile device appearances and the
plan is to create a bunch of cool casual games for cell phone users
across the globe. Fido will be presented in a fun, accessible and
animated way, independent of any brand associations"
Jump
Games CEO Salil Bhargava shared, "As publishers and developers,
we are a global player and we are looking to expand our share in
the global pie with world famous characters such as Fido. He has
universal appeal, fits in really well with mobile gaming. We are
also banking on Fido to enter the Latin American market"
Jump
plans to initially launch a couple of Fido games, one in 2D and
the other in 3D. The 2D game is Fido hi flier and 3D one will be
a Fido bowling game where he reacts and interacts with the players
with a wide variety of animated expressions.
"Mobile
games are generally fun casual games and Fido fits in well"
shared Salil. The 2D Fido hi flier game is playable with single
hand and will add to the ease of play factor.In fact creating simple
games is critical and they can be most fun to play, though difficult
to create" he added.
Jump
Games EVP Ninad Chaya shared "The game will have leader-boards
for score submissions across the operator networks and FIDO merchandise
is part of the cool give-aways to the winners"
Pune
based Digikore (which also has its own animation studio and institute)
is the Indian partner and agent for Fido Dido. Joanna shared that
Digikore was instrumental in the Fido - Jump association and that
several other licensing deals with the character were in the pipeline
including one with a Delhi based apparel company.
Sharing
more on the licensing front, Fido Dido Inc's Dean Koocher shared
that Fido is doing great in China too. "The business in China
is run by RMM enterprises and they have done an incredible job there
with Fido shops & boutiques that just sell Fido stuff. The fashion
and apparel license business for Fido is also solid in China. We
also have Luggage and Car accessories that are doing well there"
"In
Brazil and Latin America where Fido is huge, we have a great presence
in Fashion and apparel and have a very strong Licensing partner
in Exim which is expanding the license into all areas. Globally
7UP is our biggest and long known commercial partnership. And all
the different 7UP creatives featuring Fido that are aired in different
parts of the world are run through Joanna" he added.
"And
I think JWT is doing a fabulous job of it" Joanna quipped.
Fido's
creator Joanna Ferone shared that, "Fido came into being 21
years ago as a doodle on cocktail napkin in a pub over discussion
about what me and my partner felt about life. And Fido represents
acceptance of all kinds of people which is so characteristic of
New York as a city"
"If
you notice, there is a little bit of Fido in everyone and a little
bit of everyone in Fido. He is simple, black and white, silent and
more of an Icon that represents a lot of positive good values"
she added.
Jump's
Bhargava shared that, "Worldwide Fido is the king of cool"
Fido
Dido Inc's Dean Koocher shared that, "One thing that's most
exciting about Fido is that he is very licensable and that's because
he's simple yet means a lot of things. And there are hundreds and
thousands of characters out there, but in my experience I know for
a fact that it is very difficult to create a simple character, that
can actually become an Icon and mean things to people"
And
so while quite a few Indian IP creators and aspirants are getting
into their creative acts and developing new characters, the Jump
Games - Fido Dido association and mobile games are definitely going
to be worth waiting for.
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Anand Gurnani
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