In their drive to produce the ultimate MMO, a South Korean MMO development studio has put together one of the first full scale mobile massively multiplayer online games. Dubbed Fantasia, the MMO cost about two million dollars to create and is described as a 2D gaming experience. Although they use the term "ultra-mega-epic" in their press release, the fact remains that a World of Warcraft type of MMO experience is much closer than we anticipate.

Here's the official release:

Alongside the increasingly stringent cell phone specifications is the improving quality of mobile games. The era wherein we can enjoy playing games such as "World of Warcraft" (WOW) on a cell phone seems to be just around the corner.

Game developer Lemon Co., Ltd., announced that it has developed a MMORPG that can be played with the PC and a cell phone linked together. It is an ultra-mega-epic game with total investments amounting to KRW 2.5 billion. A total of 23 personnel were involved in game development, which took 3 years.

Although "Fantasia" is a mobile game, it can hold its own even against online games. Its outstanding and detailed graphics, various skills, and large map are comparable to the online game "WOW." Its solid world and detailed scenario - which went through extensive work for over 2 years - are believed to have outdone those of online games.

What¡¯s more, all the characters of "Fantasia" were produced in elaborate detail by taking one step further than online games. To provide more natural, realistic motion, they first created the characters in 3D, and then modeled them again in 2D.

In addition, they have implemented a colorful system for communities between users such as postage system, item transactions, chatting, guild management, and party management. You can also enjoy competitive play between users through an application exclusive for an arena.

Functions such as the PET system - which finds items and informs the player accordingly through text messages even when you are disconnected - is a function that made the best use of the features of cell phones.

Moreover, users will experience no inconvenience in playing the game on a cell phone since it provides various controls such as automatic target movement and touchpad support.

Since they believe stabilization should be the highest priority, the developer of Fantasia has yet to set a definite opening period. "Starting with the closed beta test to be performed, we are planning to release the game after going through an extensive verification process. We are targeting the commercialization of "Fantasia" around the first half of 2009," Lemon Co., Ltd., CEO Yun Hyo-seong said.