Sony steps up efforts to rival Nintendo in smartphone gaming industry

Electronics giant Sony announced plans to launch 10 new mobile gaming titles in the near future on Wednesday, with as many as six due to become available next year.

The Japanese company's releases come in a year when gaming console rival Nintendo reaped massive success with its augmented reality version of its classic Pokemon game, Pokemon Go.

Sony also unveiled a new device known as Project Field, which is a lightweight piece of hardware which connects real-world objects to the gaming world via the user's smartphone.

The move will allow Sony to make some of their most popular games available to smartphone software programs such as iOs and Android, rather than simply on its Playstation consoles.

The games will initially only be available in Japan before moving onto other Asian markets, and eventually a global scale.

"We believe this is a brand new platform that will allow for a playing style that has not existed up until now," said Project Field developer Kazuyuki Sakamoto at a press conference announcing the news. "To sum up the concept in a few words, we want to add a digital spice to the experience of touching an analog thing."

Despite dominating the traditional console market for the last number of years, Sony had been facing the threat of being taken over by mobile gaming, particularly in Asian countries.