When it comes to mobile games, Singapore companies are phoning in the hits.

From groundbreaking wireless gaming technologies to making games published by top publishers such as LucasArts and Capcom, mobile games developers here are sending signals that they are ready to play on the world stage.

Said Mr Seto Lok Yin, Assistant Chief Executive (Industry Development) of the Media Development Authority: 'We are currently seeing a strong mobile and handheld development segment emerging, complemented with a high degree of proficiency in developing for casual and advanced PC titles.'

And in good time too. According to research firm IDC, the wireless gaming market in the Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, is expected to generate $1.8 billion in 2008.

Singapore is an excellent market for mobile games, said Mr Keith Liu, head of Nokia's Games and Internet Experiences, Asia Pacific.

Which is why Nokia unveiled its re-invention of the N-Gage - a mobile gaming service that will allow you to buy and download games onto its cellphones.

It is on the hunt for developers to make games for the N-Gage software platform. According to Mr Liu, working with Singaporean developers is not out of the question.

After all, Singapore has been building its expertise in mobile games development for a long time. Mr Leslie Wou, who started his mobile development company, Activate Interactive, in 1997, recalls that back then, there were many companies involved in making mobile games.

'They were flooding the market with simple games that were not of very good quality,' he said. 'But after a few years, as the companies closed down, leaving a few players that put more effort into making better games, their quality improved.'

Local-based Mikoishi then made a breakthrough for both the company and the Singapore industry - a publishing deal with top US publisher THQ in 2005.

What helped it to stick out was its development of a mobile platform that allowed players from all over the world to engage in multiplayer mobile gaming.

From there, it was one success after another over the years, scoring deals to make games such as Star Wars Battlefront and the Phoenix Wright series of games for mobile phones.

Innovative cellphone technology was also what helped Activate Interactive to get cellphone maker Nokia's attention.

Their games engine allowed for multiplayer online games to be played concurrently on both cellphones and PCs.

This culminated in the game Hinter Wars, now available in eight countries in Asia.

Another firm, Nexgen Studio is building multiplayer technology of their own on 3G platform with Elven Legends, which can be played in real-time on both the PC and cellphone by many players simultaneously.