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Sony Pictures brings more Jeopardy fun to mobile

Sony Pictures Television is bringing Jeopardy to sports fans around the world via a new mobile application called Sports Jeopardy.

The app is available for $0.99 in Apple?s App Store, Google Play and Amazon?s Appstore. Via the app, consumers can take a stab at sports-themed Jeopardy trivia and compete against friends in multiple game modes.

"Having been on the air for over 30 years, Jeopardy! is an enormously popular and well-known brand, and given the rampant success of digital sports entertainment, Sports Jeopardy! seemed like the perfect fit," said Philip Lynch, senior vice president of digital networks at Sony Pictures Television, Los Angeles.

"We supported this concept via research which showed that consumers wanted genre-specific versions of Jeopardy! to play on their mobile devices ? with sports being the highest in demand," she said. "This is just the first in a continued expansion of Jeopardy! genre extensions."

Sports trivia
Sports Jeopardy lets consumers test their sports knowledge, ranging from stats to cultural references.

Consumers progress from fan to sports legend as they unlock new challenges and achievements. They can also challenge friends in an online multiplayer mode or in person with party mode.

In-game Power-ups let users access added time with ?Time Out? or the ability to add an extra Daily Double somewhere on the board with ?Double Down.? Other Power-Ups include ?Triple Play? and ?Free Throw?.

The app also contains weekly and all-time leaderboards so users can see how they rank against other Sports Jeopardy players.

Additionally, consumers can use in-game coins to unlock sports-themed podiums, jerseys and accessories for their avatar.

Mobile games
Sony is tapping into the huge trend that is mobile gaming.

Not only Zynga and Candy Crush can take advantage of consumers? mobile gaming habits. Brands and marketers have been rolling out fun mobile games to engage consumers and increase brand awareness.

For instance, the National Football League and American Heart Association recently launched a mobile game that incentivizes getting active through a connected avatar to forward the NFL Play 60 movement (see story).

North Carolina-based BB&T Bank also released a mobile video game application to aid the company?s community service efforts in spreading its leadership model (see story).

While many such as the NFL and AHA chose to make their mobile games available for free, a number of brands went the paid route.

Stark Trek rolled out a new eight-bit Trexels iOS game for $2.99 at the same that Angry Birds and Rovio were embracing a freemium model (see story).

Sony has opted for the paid model too, under the assumption that the Jeopardy name is large enough to draw consumers to pay the 99 cents for the game.

"Mobile gaming adds to and diversifies our entertainment portfolio offering," Mr. Lynch said. "We can go direct-to-consumer and give consumers yet another way to interact with Sony brands."

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York