The 2009 Independent Games Festival Mobile (IGF Mobile), an event that celebrates innovation in games for handheld devices, including mobile phones, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable (PSP), iPhone and iPod touch, has named the finalists for the competition’s "Next Great Mobile Game" category, presented by the IGF Mobile’s Platinum and Founding Sponsor NVIDIA . Oriented towards the entries that offer truly unique and groundbreaking mobile gaming concepts in at least prototype form, finalists will be asked to give a presentation and demonstration of their concept and game during the IGF Mobile ceremony held during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Mobile conference on March 24, with the winner to be voted on by the audience.

Finalists for this year’s competition include FastFoot Challenge, a multiplayer GPS action game where play takes place as a real world chase supported by mobile phones, Picopoke, an interpretive photo game integrated with Facebook that asks players to take photos to beat challenges, and Rhythm of War, a unique rhythm action title for Sony’s PSP.

This year’s IGF Mobile competition is supported by Platinum and Founding Sponsor NVIDIA – which is awarding “The Next Great Mobile Game” at this year’s awards, with finalists to be revealed soon, as well as Gold Sponsor and Best iPhone Game prize sponsor ngmoco.

The full list of finalists for the 2009 IGF Mobile "Next Great Mobile Game" competition are:

• Depict (VillaVanilla) – iPhone
• FastFoot Challenge (Urban Team) – J2ME
• Picopoke (Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab) – Photo/Internet-capable Mobile Handsets
• Rhythm of War (SME Dynamic Systems Ltd) – Sony PSP
• Reflection (Team Reflection – University of Southern California) – Nintendo DS

As well as receiving $2,000 of the IGF Mobile’s $30,000 prize pool, the winner of the IGF Mobile’s "Next Great Mobile Game" will be given a spot in the IGF Mobile’s pavilion (adjoining the main IGF Pavilion) in which to demonstrate a playable version of their game, alongside the finalists of the main IGF Mobile competition. The pavilion is to be at the Game Developers Conference 2009 and is set to take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from March 23rd to 27th.

The Independent Games Festival itself was established in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers, much the way that the Sundance Film Festival honors the independent film community. The creation of IGF Mobile in 2007 was the direct response to the maturing of the mobile game industry, and the desire to similarly recognize and reward those driving the advancement of the space.