Dial 007...

WARNING: Movie spoilers to follow.

Yesterday I mentioned Happy Feet's opening scene as an interesting parallel to the ringtone market. You have all these penguins who select a tune early on which identifies them, and they use it not only to mate but to express who and what they truly are-- sort of an analog default ringtone.

But the movie that really got my moco brain cookin' was Casino Royale. I didn't even particularly like James Bond movies till I saw this one, and it seems to have won the hearts of many traditionalists as well. It's a twisty, kicky adventure that flexes its brain as it bruises its knuckles, and it actually features love interests who are respectable and believable rather than just one or the other or neither.

Messaging is at the heart of a good spy story, and it's all over this movie. Three times (near the beginning, at the middle and in the final minute), it is critical to the plot that a character visibly answers his cell. MI6 uses an RFID tag on Bond and a biofeedback interface to monitor his condition remotely. Other plot points include a one-word cell phone message and the ID of a rather unfortunate caller.

James Bond is an ideal many of us guys project upon ourselves... "Women want to be with him, and men want to be him." But he's not a character that lends himself to developed role-playing games, because role-players would fall short: we can't come up with the ideal lines to seduce a million women, can't think fast enough to make fools of an international spy ring. We can, however, decode simple messages. We can solve puzzles. And in performing these simple tasks alongside Bond, we can get the thrill of being him without the impossible challenge of it.

An interactive game at the simple level currently associated with mobile messaging might be just about right. It could certainly exude more lasting Bond appeal than a branded phone he'll probably drop between pictures.