State Of The Mobile Gaming Union

The Eco system for mobile phones to some is as confusing as the Nintendo Wii outselling the Xbox 360 and PS3. If that has had you scratching your head so much that a visible bald spot is being hidden by your now permanent fitted baseball cap, you might want to read on as I give some clarity to the status of mobile cell phone gaming.  I thought about writing this when I started receiving numerous requests on Skype about Infinity Blade not coming any time soon to the Android platform. The Android lovers who read my review seemed to have a lot to say about the title currently an IOS exclusive and seemed to enjoy the promise that was Angry Birds, which was sooner or later will trickle down to a Android device.  The truth is far more convoluted then you may presume when you take a look at this from a developer’s standpoint. Before I dabble into the boring wonders of mobile SDK development, I want to first clarify my views on the current platforms that we all support. After all here is where a lot of forum battles and comment sections crumble under the keyboards will with riled up loyal subjects in arms to their given platforms defending their cell phone just as bad as the legendary “console wars”.  All is not understood in the mobile gaming world when it comes to cell phone gaming and general platforms, so let’s get into this debauchery of a subject and begin this venture.

Currently as we all know there are 4 major players in cell phone OS market, IOS ( Apple ),  Android ( Google ), Blackberry ( RIM ) and Windows Phone 7 ( Microsoft ).  Also in the out skirts of relevance oblivion are Symbian, Web OS, which if you own one of those phones running those platforms consider yourself a rebel of society and knowing that you should purchase a copy of Mad Max Enter the Thunder dome or Top Gun and have your name legally changed to “Maverick”.  It’s that amount of understanding and effort that is needed to have a clear conscience these days in this arena of mobile cell phone technology. Of course im joking here and should begin now with some tidbits of each OS & and there viability as a gaming platform.

Windows Phone 7 (Microsoft)

There are 2 major things that stand out from a gaming standpoint about Windows Phone 7. These feature points are standardized spec requirements for devices, meaning the minimum requirement on the platform will  be a 1.G snapdragon minimum & Xbox Live integration. Although you may ask why is the standardized spec of any relvance this allows devleopers to focus on one spec for the OS each release and not have to deal with fragmentation. Microsoft has also  done there users and devs a huge favor buy following the sucess of Apple buy using a mass update system through the Zune software which means everything is on the latest updates. This means patches will work for all platforms and software will be updates according without version variation. The Bread and butter of owning a Windows Phone is clearly Live integration by far so lets dabble into that for a bit.

Live integration means you can login into the hub see your Live avatar and achievement points and play games from the Live environment. This was genuis for Microsoft because it lends a level playing field with there already established user base. Although playing a user on a Xbox isnt realized as of yet you can enjoy the PC interpolation of playing someone on Windows Live on some games aswell which is a very nice option. The more unique you can make your platform and create easy user experience for the user the better the product will fair, and Windows Phone  7 is off to a decent start posting close to 9k apps and over 20k worth of developers. The possibilities are great for this OS in the coming future, especially when duel core starts hitting its stride riding on the announcement that they have chosen ARM as there future processor catalogue. On the gaming side we have alot of development happening from every major manufacture that i can think of and this in my view can only get better with Microsoft creating a easy transition from a Xbox title and a mobile verison for its phone OS. I can only imagine deals will be struck just as Sony has done and Nintendo with there handheld. Indeed the future looks in my view to be done with dedicated mobile gaming platforms , and cell phones being as powerfull is they are , seem to be the new gaming frontier claiming the throne. People often stated that a Microsoft needed a gaming handheld, i think they have created one in the form of this OS which by all business standards is a better solution to tap into that market. If you want to see the possiblities of this OS and platform look no futher here is one game that i think will be a great introduction to as what your new handheld can do.

The Harvest

By far the most visually impressive game displaying what a powerful engine can do on this platform, the Harvest is a 30 FPS beast exporting beautiful special effects and a custom soundtrack to make this release stand out beyond anyhting else currently on the platform. Future titles look to be trickeling in from Xbox Lives Arcade section but the Major releases list looks rather timid on the OS currently. This either may be due to secret titles being worked on and havent been released yet. The future is bright for Windows Phone 7 and i give it time to mature considering these are first gen devices, exploiting Live integration will give them a keen advantage over others since Live is the primier online console expiernce now.

Pros
-Standardization of requirments from Microsoft hardware wise ( OS updates,Processors, Camera)
-Live Integration & Windows Live PC interpolation
-Excellent OS and Microsoft Office tools embeded
-Future possibilities can really take off if done properly

Cons
-No Copy & Paste and Visual Voicemail (update coming soon)
-C# programming is hurting major titles from arriving, C++ Native Support is needed badly
-More hardware differentiation design wise, the main phone launches where good but they don’t blow the competition away
-At this point in the game MS needs to come correct if there expecting to take major thunder from Android and Apple.

Android (Google)

A primer title “Rage” from iD Software was delayed to this reality and titles like Angry Birds failed to make decent proft as said by there developer due to this fragmantation. The end user has great support from the Android Market which tends to try to mask the main issue, but i believe Google themselves will make a move soon with Ice Cream to make these transitions based off one platform. This hasnt slowed down Android sales wise with so many releases but it certinly has hindered gaming development on the Andorid side compared to what where seeing on IOS. There is so much going on with Google and Android now that you would be a fool to doubt they have some major things coming up for there mobile platform once Gingerbread becomes the norm. Duel core models are already a reality like the Motorola Atrix , which blew my mind upon first use. I bleieve duel core android phones running Gingerbread that are comptabitle with the future that is Ice Cream will be a major market shift for Android. The current phones are almost peaked to what there able to acheive and are not really creating the sense of doing anthing better other then flash based web browsers , which are nothing really to boast consdiering the “Appification” of the web for the general user. Andorid has major releases coming to there platform, and i believe that many developers are wating for open release of gingerbread on there devices. Froyo has been a great update , but gaming wise we havent seen massive new titles bless the platform yet and i believe that Gingerbread will be the psuedo standard when it releases until whatever Ice Cream sets out to accomplish hopefully solving this debacle once and for all. In my view, the average user doesnt want to care about there OS version when they buy a device, since on IOS that isnt something you think about unless there is a hardware limiting factor. But despite this , Rage is still release and other major titles that will soon grace the platform. Its a good time to be a Android user right now, but it will be an amazing time as soon as duel core devices release mark my words.

Pros

-Open Source ( Custimization )
-2nd Largest App Market and Growing
-Amazing new outlook for future ( Duel Core Android phones are AMAZING)
-Selction of devices ( support from many manufactures )
-Gaming is becoming a larger focus ( Gingerbread and new rumours of the PSP Phone)

Cons

-Manufacter based support for OS updates leaving some in purgatory
-New versions based on Froyo havent really defined what Andoird can do
-Skins are a gift and a curse, Moto Blur users i feel your pain.
-Game development can only grow compared to IOS if standards are put in place

BlackBerry (RIM)

The out look for Blackberry devices are modest beyond the upcoming Playbook, i hope RIM wows us enough on there new phones aswell as there new tablet because gaming on a Blackberry is preety harsh if your looking for something as simple as Angry Birds or advanced as Infinity blade.

Hero Of Sparta

Pros

-Great buisness devices ( BBM,BES servers & email )

-Great quality of handsets and attention to function
-New App World and Tablets set to redifine Research In Motions focus

Cons

-In need of a serious gaming agenda
-Blackberry’s need more then BBM to carry them amongst the new Android and IOS additions
-Support to dev community with Blackberry 6 needs major refresh

IOS (Apple)

Infinity Blade