The 10 mobile gaming trends of 2010

Jon Jordan has written an insightful article at PocketGamer.biz on the direction of mobile gaming for this year, be it with iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile 7, or what have you.  What really got my attention is this:

4. Android is the new Java

Android is definitely happening but don't judge it against Apple and iPhone. Symbolically Android is the smartphone version of Java. This means fragmentation in terms of technology as well as devices, operators and app stores.

But don't forget that for more than five years, Java generated hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue to game publishers. Sure it was a bit painful but if money grew on trees, we'd all be sweeping it up and throwing it on the bonfire.

Note to iPhone developers. If you're not developing Android games, you should be positioning your company for an early 2010 trade sale or bankruptcy.

For the rest of the article, read here.

Google tries to lure game developers to Android with free phones

Looking to outdo games on the iPhone, Google is making a push to recruit game developers to make games for the Android operating system.

Google announced today that it will give away free Nexus One and Verizon Droid phones to thousands of game developers who attend the Game Developers Conference starting March 9 in San Francisco. (The developers have to register for the event by Feb. 4 to qualify).

This reminds me of the time when Microsoft, seeking to get developers to make games for the Xbox game console, offered free high-definition TVs to game developers. It’s a recognition that games are a critical part of any mobile platform.

The iPhone has been a smash hit in part because its touchscreen and tilt controls make a great game device. Roughly a fifth of the 125,000 apps on the iPhone are games, and games dominate the bestseller list for the AppStore.

Apple is aware of this as well. The GDC will have an iPhone Games Summit aimed at developers. So the conference will be a battleground of sorts for the hearts and minds of mobile game developers. Since Apple has around 60 million iPhones and iPod Touch handhelds in the market, and since those users play and buy a lot of games, it has the advantage. While Google is gaining traction with Android, it’s having a hard time catching up on apps. Gameloft, for instance, announced in November it would scale back its Android game efforts because it wasn’t getting much traction. As Android grows, that problem will go away.

Source: Games Beat

Game Review: Newton Lite

Newton is the sniper to Asteroids spray and pray. According to the developer, a lone coder named Mario from Graz, Austria, Newton is a physics puzzler heavily inspired by the great flash game Gravity Pods and some old DOS and Amiga classics with similar game play mechanics.

The point of the game is simple: you have a gun and you have to shoot the target. There are currently 21 levels which use pushers, pullers, and obstacles to show off a great physics engine. Though there are not very many levels yet, the last few are pretty tricky and may take a nice chunk of time to complete.

The graphics in the game are basic but look great, and run smoothly. The game play is very intriguing to me. I can't wait to see where the developer takes it. I've had a chance to test the level editor, it is almost ready to go live. I can't wait to see whats up next for this game.

As I was sitting down to write this review, I noticed an update to Newton Lite already up on the market. Turns out 3-D graphics were added. They have since been made optional. It is great to see the developer for this game churning out the updates quick. If he continues to add content to the game, it may quickly become one of my favorite go-to games for killing a few moments here and there.

I've spoken with the developer about his plans for Newton. The level editor is almost completed. Next up is online high score tracking. Check out This Community Page it is a thread by the developer with the dialog between him and the testers providing feedback. Feel free to post thoughts or ideas if you have them. He was also quick to respond via email if you've got questions or ideas. He has also written a tutorial on Android game programing. It's written in German, but he is working on translation to English; it should be done soon.

This App Was Tested Using: T-Mobile myTouch 3G
Presentation: Very basic, but it looks nice.
Value: Free, but limited content at this time.
Stability/Resources: Everything is pretty smooth. I noticed minor lag on the bullet trail a few times. But overall it runs great.
Bottom Line: Interesting game, lots of potential if the dev keeps up with it.

Source: Android Guys

More and more decent games on Android OS.

Google's Android OS - and specifically its Android Market store - has come under fire from games developers in recent months, with unflattering comparisons to Apple's App Store. However, it's a fact that more developers and publishers are bringing their games to Android, hoping that sales will lift off as hotly-tipped handsets like the Droid and Nexus One roll out around the world.

Android-focused blog AndroidHD is hammering the point home with a YouTube video stringing together demos of 50 of the latest Android games.  They include titles like Home Run Battle 3D, Farm Frenzy, Raging Thunder, Assassin's Creed, Tetris and Tower Bloxx. The vast majority of these games are also available on iPhone, of course. But it's a reminder that Android's games catalogue is steadily improving.

Watch the video below:


Source: Mobile Entertainment

The geeky fun begins...

I have always intended this blog to be a record of my efforts to learn about mobile games development on the Android operating system.  However, my daytime job has been too demanding of my time last year.  This year, however, I intend to finally get on with my Android game development project.

Check out my blog soon for more updates.

Symbian feels the heat from Android

Apparently threatened by the rise of Android OS as a capable mobile platform, people from the Symbian Foundation are now lashing out at Google.  Read on...

Some folks are claiming that Google is faking the open-source funk.

OK, it's a lot to say, really. Because for all the open-source software Google has helped put forth, it's a bit of a stretch to imply that the company is faking it. But Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, which is in charge of advancing the development and the open-sourcing of the Symbian OS, has basically called Google out for not being as open as the company could be about its Android operating system.

It's not the first time and it won't be the last that Google's been knocked about its policies regarding openness of certain technologies or strategies—policies, by the way, that certain other companies (like Microsoft!) would be blasted for straightaway.

In basketball we had the Jordan Rules, which initially was a term used to describe the strategy some teams applied to aggressively and physically guard Michael Jordan. But later it became what people called the preferential treatment the superstar received from refs who swallowed their whistles whenever Jordan traveled or fouled someone—especially late in close games. In football we have the Brady Rule, which was enacted this season to protect quarterbacks' knees after superstar QB Tom Brady went down for most of last season following a hit to his knee (and, unfortunately, applied in a tight game against my Ravens). And in tech we seem to have the Google Rules, where Google just seems to get pass after pass for stuff others would be called on.

This isn’t to diminish the tremendous capability of any of the subjects of these rules. They’re all winners and fierce competitors without them, but let’s just say the rules help. They’re like a little reward for being so good and so valuable to the game.

In an interview with GigaOM, Williams called Google "evil" and called for the search giant to be more transparent about Android. And it's not just Williams, but some of his crew that also are banging on Google to open up.

In the GigaOM interview, Williams nailed Google for fragmenting the market and for attempting to "cookie" users.

An afterdawn.com analysis of the exchange said:

    "First and foremost the goal of a Google system would be to create a situation where you have information about the user and the use of those apps," said Williams.

    "Secondarily," he added, "it would be to cookie them, so that you get that unique identifier association with the data you've collected on the individual's habits, routines, and so on and so forth so that you can target apps toward them. So you can build more intelligent cloud-based apps for them."

In that same interview, Williams called Apple "greedy" and questioned why Google would even need to mention not being evil in its motto.

Sounds like an old-fashioned Parliament Funkadelic call-out for Google to "Give Up the Funk" or to come clean or “come correct.” Or is Williams just "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing," as James Brown said?

It's clear Williams is doing a little more than just talking smack. Indeed, the points Williams raises are not new, and he is not alone in thinking and saying this. But he is alone in being at the helm of a very large ship that sees a fast-moving Android OS gathering steam in its wake. And rather than sit idly by, Williams is calling them out sooner rather than later.

The Symbian OS is the leading smartphone OS in terms of market share, but Android is looking quite strong, according to analyst reports. Some reports have Android coming in second to Symbian as early as 2012. According to Gartner, Android’s share will be at 18 percent of all smartphones sold globally in 2012, or about 94 million users out of 525 million, said GigaOM.

In his keynote at the Symbian Exchange & Exposition (SEE 2009) here on October 27, Williams did not single out Google specifically by name, but he did take a few generic shots, saying: “I've heard other companies stand up and say they have the world's most powerful operating system. I think they're wrong. ... If it took me six months to add cut and paste, I'd be embarrassed.”

Williams went on to give the audience a bit of the upcoming road map with the Symbian 3 and Symbian 4 platforms.

Meanwhile, during a Nokia Media Day event here, Shaun Puckrin, head of developer services at the Symbian Foundation, said Symbian represents "the biggest market available to developers. We outship our next competitor by two."

Added Puckrin: "Sure Android is open source, but we are a community that adopts things from the actual developer community; that's a difference. ... Whilst Android is open source, it's been difficult to get changes into the OS. But we're attempting to get to a genuine open-source project. I think the proof will be in the pudding."

Moreover, Puckrin said that, though Android is an open-source project, "it's more about using open source than being open source."

John Forsyth, a member of the Symbian Foundation leadership team who is responsible for technology and delivery management, echoed Puckrin and Williams. "With Android you can't get a road map," he said. "We have an entirely transparent process from that perspective. You can go to our site and see every feature that is being planned. With Android, the real source sits behind the Google firewall."

For his part, Forsyth noted, "There's a halo effect people try to get out of open source without actually playing by the rules. You almost get a grudging respect for Microsoft when you see this kind of thing."

Puckrin said he believes proof of Symbian's seriousness about open source is its move to open-source the operating system kernel. "We concentrated on the kernel, which is the crown jewel of the platform," he said. "It set a benchmark and it says we're serious about this." Both Puckrin and Forsyth added that because Symbian has successfully open-sourced the kernel of the Symbian OS, the rest of the platform will follow easily and the organization will meet its planned schedule of having the entire platform open-sourced by the second half of 2010.

"While Lee [Williams] has his personal opinion, I think how Google acts in general is open source," Forsyth said.

Meanwhile, Forsyth questioned the Android architecture itself.

"It's a late '90s architecture," he said. "It's Java—not as light and fast as an AJAX [Asynchronous JavaScript and X M L] environment. Android's a bit unnecessary, and I don't think it's in Google's best interest. But they have a bit of a 'see what sticks' mentality."

Ooooh, yeah!  Money is hot and the times are a-changing!

Source: eWeek

Android 2.0 Creates New Possibilities for Gaming

Google has released their Android 2.0 software development kit (SDK), lovingly named Eclair, to developers. Eclair boasts many new interface options upon release. Device synchronisation and Bluetooth technology are among some of the popular features that Android 2.0 developers can expect to get their hands on. But perhaps the most exciting feature is the new multitouch interaction.

This is definitely not the first time that multitouch technology has made headlines, but it very well may be the biggest. Adding multitouch technology to Google's Android 2.0 OS opens up an entire world of possibilities for interface developers to improve current UI experiences. It also means that we can expect newer and more creative interfaces once Andriod 2.0 hits later this year. Beyond every-day application use, we are also incredibly hopeful that this multitouch technology will quickly make its way into the mobile gaming market.

Even the most popular portable gaming platforms, including Sony's Playstation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo's wildly popular DS, may soon feel pressure from Google's new Android 2.0 OS. The Nintendo DS, which sold successfully as the first portable video game system that fully employed touchscreen technology, suffers from the limitation of a single stylus pointing device. Though hundreds of games have found entertaining and creative ways to utilize this technology, they have had to rely perhaps too heavily on additional gestures (tapping, swiping, spinning, etc...) in situations where having a multitouch experience would be ideal.

Multitouch gaming would be an especially welcome improvement to Android's mobile game market for current interfaces that have to divide control between the touchscreen and a device's physical keys. For example, a directional pad might be well emulated within the touchscreen area, but additional play buttons must be mapped to keys on a number pad or other physical keys. If Google's Eclair and Android 2.0 are as well received as the industry currently predicts, the mobile gaming industry may very well explode into new and exciting directions. The possibility of standardizing a multitouch game market that is open to ALL developers, regardless of their device, is the exact moment we've been waiting for.

Source: Stage Select

More Prognostications on Developing Games for Android

Here's another article on the future of developing games for Android by Derek James at Gamasutra:

Developing Games for Android
By Derek James

The advent of smartphones has opened up an entire new range of platforms for game development, particularly for independent game developers. The iPhone's App Store model has been enormously successful, with a recent estimate of $2.4 billion in annual sales.

From a developer's perspective, app stores have the incentive of a distribution channel with powerful search and marketing capabilities. They also provide an intermediary that handles the logistics of selling and downloading -- generally for a cut of 30%.

You've probably heard the Cinderella stories of developers like Steve Demeter, whose triangular variant on match-3 games, Trism, reportedly earned him $250,000 in just two months in the iPhone App Store. Take also Ethan Nicholas' iShoot, which reportedly earned $600,000 in a single month. With the gold rush mentality and the iPhone's undeniable success with the App Store, why would a game developer choose to make a game for any other smartphone platform?

About six months ago, I started developing games for Google's Android OS, somewhat by chance. A friend who works for Google gave me a G1 developer's phone as a gift. At that point, I hadn't even heard of Android. In the process of learning about the OS, I came across the Android SDK, and downloaded it to give it a spin. I was instantly hooked.

While iPhone apps are written in Objective C, the Android SDK uses relatively more programmer-friendly Java. The iPhone store charges developers $99 a year to distribute their apps, while Android has a one-time $25 fee for developers. And the review process for iPhone apps grows increasingly lengthy -- sometimes weeks or more -- and it's somewhat arcane. Android apps go live as soon as the developer hits the publish button. Google handles the review process post-hoc, and is much more lax in terms of content.

With the greater ease of producing and distributing apps through the Android Market, why aren't game developers large and small clambering to produce quality games for the system? There are a number of reasons, but number one is, of course, money.

Mobile ad company AdMob released its July 2009 report which notes the following:

* 45 million estimated combined iPhone and iPod Touch users, compared to 3 million Android users
* 50% of iPhone users bought at least one paid app during a month period, compared to 19% of Android users
* The estimated market value of the iPhone App Store is about $200M per month, compared to an estimate of about $5M per month for the Android Market

So a major part of the equation is pure size. But another factor is the population makeup of Android users and their perception of the platform. The iPhone user population is likely much more diverse, with a greater cross-section of users representing more diverse demographics, while the Android user population is still likely predominantly tech-centric early adopters. Since Android is an open-source system, the perception may also be that the software that runs it should follow the same model. Thus many users may be reticent to spend money on apps.

Of course, the hope among Android game developers is that an influx of new phones on a variety of new carriers will increase and diversify the user base, increasing sales. However, current reports are gloomy. One case study is Larva Labs, a New York based mobile game developer. Larva recently shared its sales stats for August, and they weren't pretty. Despite having two games in the market that both spent time in the top 10 among paid apps in their categories, the daily average income for August was $62.39.

The developer laments issues with the market interface (poor organization and search) and a lax return policy (24-48 hour returns, no questions asked). But the issue of piracy is also raised, and is another likely source of poor performance of games in the Android Market. A cursory search of popular torrent sites reveals bundles of Android games for download.

The next release of Android is bringing much needed revisions to the market interface. As for piracy, as with any game market, it is difficult to determine the impact. The Android Market includes optional DRM, but it is unlikely to slow or deter would-be pirates.

Unlike the iPhone, an Android device does not need to be jailbroken in order to allow installation of pirated apps. A user can simply install pirated apps onto their SD card and use one of the freely-available app installers from the market. The return policy even allows a would-be pirate to download an app, make a copy, and then get a full refund. They don't even have to pay for the original copy they pirate!

One viable way to mitigate the effects of piracy is to monetize apps through advertising, rather than relying on direct sales. About half of the revenue from my games has come from ads as opposed to direct sales.

Despite the seemingly poor state of the Android market, the Larva Labs developers remain upbeat about the potential. The mobile analytics company Flurry notes the growth of new Android projects next to the relative decline of new iPhone ones. The AdMob market report mentioned earlier also notes that ad requests from Android have now edged out requests from Windows Mobile, both internationally and domestically. While iPhone is still the king of the hill, Android is pushing its way into the market.

There are currently only two handsets that run Android available in the U.S.: the T-Mobile G1 (aka HTC Dream) and the T-Mobile myTouch (aka HTC Magic). The G1 has a hardware keyboard, while the myTouch does not. Other than that, both devices have the same screen size, and so far cross-device development is still pretty straightforward. I've heard that both HTC and T-Mobile are pleased with the sales performance of both devices, though I'm not aware of hard figures. Based on analytics from my own apps, about 20% of my existing user base own the myTouch.

The good news: a spate of new devices are on the way. Motorola just unveiled its Android-powered Cliq, which will soon be available through T-Mobile. Another Motorola phone announcement is expected soon. Earlier this year, the estimate was that 18-20 Android-powered devices would be released by the end of the year. That remains to be seen, but there it is extremely likely that by the holiday season there will be at least half a dozen Android smartphones, probably on multiple carriers.

Things could get very interesting with this new wave of devices. The myTouch alone hasn't changed the game, but the incremental influx of new hardware, especially with the openness and customizability of Android, and choice of carrier, could start to see Android carving out a significant portion of the market.

On the one hand, that seems like good news to Android developers. An increase in the market can only be good, right? Well, an open issue is one of device compatibility. The current HTC devices have a trackball, while other devices may or may not, opting for a touchpad or alternative input device. Another issue is screen resolution. The current devices all have a 3.2 inch screen with a resolution of 480x320, but newer devices may have resolutions that are smaller or larger (e.g. there are already tablet PCs running Android slated for release).

In terms of RAM and processing power, there are not significant differences in the devices rolled out thus far. Although continued improvements and custom builds of Android can get the most out of existing specs, the newer generation of Android smartphones -- those poised to be released by the end of this year -- should have more RAM and more powerful chipsets. So building more CPU-intensive games for the platform will only get easier, but the decision to do so may become more difficult.

One advantage of programming for the iPhone is not having to worry (much) about hardware compatibility. This could potentially be a problem for Android game developers as new handsets emerge. The possibility of a backlash exists if users buy a new Android smartphone only to find that the most popular games in the market don't render properly on their screen, or that the control scheme for the game doesn't work. A developer can try to work their way around these issues by designing for multiple screen resolutions and including multiple input methods, but this of course means extra work.

Other issues include the limitations of the first-generation hardware that's currently running Android. Specifically, battery life and storage space are both big issues on the G1, and games can tend to hog both, especially the more features they use. I just finished a game for the second iteration of the Android Developers Challenge -- more on that in a moment -- and it uses the GPS functionality of the device. Unfortunately, the GPS finder is a huge drain on the battery.

As for storage space, the G1 only has 70MB of storage allocated for apps. That means designing lean games in terms of music and art assets, since users may not want to delete a bunch of existing apps to make way for your 10MB masterpiece. The newer generation devices have several times the capacity, so in a sense these problems are being resolved as new hardware rolls off the shelves. But the limitations are in place for most of the current generation of users and developers.

Likely because Google is behind the curve in the smartphone game, it has instituted a strategy designed to lure developers to the platform with the promise of cash -- not in the form of market profit, but in prize money. Last year Google held an open contest for the best apps, the Android Developer Challenge, a free-for-all in which candidate apps were selected by a panel of judges.

This year, it kicked off the Android Developer Challenge II, with $2M in prizes. Rather than lumping all entries into one bin, ADC II is divided into 10 categories, including two for games (Casual/Puzzle and Arcade/Action). The deadline for submissions closed on August 31st, and winners are to be decided by two rounds of judging: one by users and one by a panel of judges.

However, If you hadn't heard of the challenge, you're probably not alone. Google didn't do much to spread the word, probably assuming that the lure of large cash prizes would carry the news effectively. With the overall winner set to take home $250,000, the strategy seems sound. But the jury is out on whether or not the ADC II has been effective in drawing game developers to the platform. The first contest had about 1,700 entrants, but no numbers on the second challenge have been released as of this writing.

I spent the summer working on an entrant into the ADC II, a puzzle/RPG hybrid along the lines of Puzzle Quest, with the twist that the player must physically visit locations near them, such as coffee shops and grocery stores, in order to unlock content.

Developing the game presented some unique challenges, learning how to incorporate the Google Map API, for example. And some aspects of development still need a lot of work. For example, the functionality for playing sounds and music is extremely limited and has been historically buggy. However, overall the experience was very rewarding, and grassroots developer communities provided answers to nearly every issue I encountered. In particular, the sites anddev.org and the Android Developers Google Group have been helpful.

Still, there are existing issues that are problematic for the platform. There are quite a few games for the iPhone that utilize an underlying physics engine, but I'm currently not aware of any games for Android that are physics-based. Ports of some existing 2D engines to Android have apparently not performed well enough to use them for games. Again, as with the other issues related to developing on first-generation hardware, newer devices will probably render them obsolete.

For now, if a developer decides to implement a game exclusively for a particular smartphone platform, and the choice is between the iPhone and Android, the tradeoff is between trying to get noticed in an incredibly crowded and competitive market where the potential payoff is huge for those at the top, or entering a market with low barriers, little competition, currently low returns, but the possibility of potential growth. Hopefully there will continue to be developers that take both roads, and the smartphone market will continue to grow as a diverse outlet for game development.

 Source: Gamasutra

Game Review: Abduction! World Attack

by Damien McFerran

If UFO spotters are to be believed and we really aren't alone in this universe then the kind of activities our extraterrestrial visitors get up to don't really paint them in the best light.

Creating obscure crop circles and buzzing military aircraft strike us as pretty low-level pranks. Perhaps Douglas Adams was right when he hypothesised (via his excellent Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book series) that these occurrences were down to bored, rich alien kids with nothing better to do than confuse us dim-witted earthlings.

Stealing cows is another rather daft activity that our xenomorphic guests seem to get up to, and this unusual pastime is the focus of the cute-looking Abduction! World Attack.

Produced by Sydney-based ex-pat bedroom coder Phil Symonds, Abduction! World Attack is based on his earlier Abduction! game, which is still available free of charge via the Android Marketplace and essentially serves as the 'Lite' version of this release.

The aim in both titles remains the same: you assume the role of a heroic cow (other animals are available as you unlock them) whose herd has been sucked up by an alien tractor-beam.

Thankfully the alien abductors have unwittingly ripped up several parts of the landscape as well and these hover peculiarly in mid-air, providing ideal platforms for your bovine avatar to jump on.

As you bounce up the screen from platform to platform you'll get the opportunity to rescue some of your beloved herd, who are parachuting down from the alien mother ship. You can also pick up various present-shaped bonus items, although it should be noted that not all of these are beneficial.

Granted, some of the packages will give you an additional life (so should your cow fall off the bottom of the screen – an event that usually leads to instant death and a rather unsightly mess on the ground below – you actually bounce back up unharmed) or even give you a higher bounce, but others temporarily make it hard for you by reducing the number of platforms or making them crumble beneath your hooves when you jump on them.

The game is controlled using the phone's accelerometer, so tilting from right to left affects the direction in which your heroic cow bounces. We were pleasantly surprised by the accuracy and effectiveness of this interface – even the most subtle of movements is picked up by the game and translated perfectly on-screen.

While the general gameplay in both the original Abduction! and Abduction! World Attack is essentially the same, the sequel adds a little more longevity to the concept by including additional characters to unlock (so you can choose to be other courageous animals, such as a goat or deer), more backgrounds and even an objective-based challenge mode.

These tasks range from getting to the top of the screen in a certain time to successfully rescuing a set number of friendly animals. You're awarded a grade upon completing each assignment and securing a gold in each one results in a neat unlockable bonus.

However, the core part of the game is the Adventure mode, which sees you traversing a map level-by-level until you've liberated all of the unfortunate beasts that have been kidnapped by the unkindly spacemen.

All of this additional content clearly makes Abduction! World Attack a worthwhile investment if you liked the original, but the biggest issue is that while the game is fun in short bursts, it fares less well under intense scrutiny.

The score-attack element is naturally a big draw, but only if you have friends that are also hooked on the game. The ability to post your best scores online (you have to install the separate ScoreNinja Android application in order to do this) will obviously give the more competitive gamers out there the excuse to pour hours into this title, but even then it won't be long before boredom sets in.

It's just not well-suited for longer periods of play, see, and if you're craving for something meaty to get your teeth into on Android you're probably better off beaming up another experience. But in short bursts, you'll find Abduction! World Attack to be an ideal way to fill the odd spare moment.

Source: Pocket Gamer

Game Review: Trap!

AndroidGuys have rediscovered an old PC game refitted with the coolness of Android. Here's an excerpt of their review:

Ok call me crazy, but up until now I really haven’t used my phone for gaming purposes.  Perhaps it’s just that I haven’t been in any situations that have called for something to simply occupy my time.  All that changed on Friday when I was stuck waiting for a friend in a very public place with little to do.  I jumped into the Android Market and perused through the new applications available.  When nothing piqued my interest I thought to myself, “Why not?” and I went into some unknown territory… the games section.


What a wellspring of awesomeness!  I was soon downloading games like a madman: Amazed, Abduction, Colorix, Bonsai Blast, etc.  There is one game, however, that has managed to consume a great deal of my time as of late.  It’s called Trap! I can’t explain why it is so addictive, but whenever I start playing, I have a hard time putting it down.

Read here for more, or simply go to the Android Market and stuff your phone with games!

Can Android Games Compete with iPhone?

Stage Select has come up with a very interesting article on the future of games on Android phones.

Gaming on Google Android Phones - Can It Compete With iPhone?

There's a war on: iPhone versus everyone else.

This war against the iPhone has largely been by necessity.  Since the iPhone is exclusive to AT&T in the States, other carriers have watched helplessly as more than 17 million customers switched for the sole purpose of owning the iPhone. When you combine that 17 million with the iPod Touch's sales, there are more than 30 million of these devices in the hands of the public. 

These past six months have seen an explosion of phones and other devices intended to take on the iPhone, feature by feature. Competing with the iPhone would have been difficult, were it not for Google Android.  Like Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Google has developed an operating system that can be used (mostly) on phones, but other devices as well.  Unlike the iPhone, the Android OS is open to all comers; any phone carrier or laptop manufacturer can use Android in their own devices.  Unlike Windows Mobile, Android has been stable and crash-free since its first release, and frequent updates are making Windows Mobile devices look positively antique in comparison.

Android is making headlines, especially this weekend.  Have you seen Verizon's new "teaser" commercial for The Droid?  Verizon is about to take on the iPhone head to head, much like T Mobile, Sprint, and other carriers have.

I recently picked up a myTouch 3G (T Mobile).  I also had the chance to evaluate several other Android devices.  Given Apple's recent push to position the iPhone and iTouch as gaming devices, how does Android stack up for gaming?  What's the furture of gaming on Android?  Will Android serve to unify the mobile gaming market, or bring additional confusion?

Cell phone users on non-AT&T networks will have a lot to cheer about when they get an Android phone.  Android, at least in its current form (called Cupcake), could be described as a "geeky" iPhone.  This is apparent in how most of the current Android phones are laid out (multiple home screens, kind of like Linux), the developers its attracting, and the policies of Apple versus Google (in regards to the Android Market).  Most of the features of the iPhone/iTouch are available on the myTouch:

*Custom apps, both free and purchased, are available in droves for Android
*Google runs the Android Market, their equivalent of the iPhone/iTouch app store (more on this later)
*Music playback (paused when getting a call) is very good, and features album art, shuffle, etc
*voice dialing
*a touchscreen interface (although my device isn't multitouch, Verizon's "The Droid" should be)
*Accelerometer (tilt controls / sensitivity)
*Multi-megapixel camera / video camera
*An "underground" application development scene (more on this later as well)

Here's where they are notably different:

*Really good voice powered search on Android
*Openness of the Android Marketplace
*Better graphics on the iPhone
*A larger variety of games on the iPhone
*Different mindsets in each respective development community
*Total screen customization on Android
*Android works on different service providers
*Android doesn't suspend apps - it uses true multitasking

Here's a video of a 3D game on Android, to wheat your appetite:



To read more, go to the Stage Select article.

Writing real time games for Android

Phones being with much limited resources compared to your desktop computer, writing real time games for Android requires some considerations that you often take for granted on the desktop-based or web-based environments.  Google's Chris Pruett talks about these issues and how to deal with them in this video:


The PDF slides are available here.

Let there be... Android games!

The Android Games Developer is your source of great news and information on the coolest games and development of games for the Android operating system.  Come and join the fun and excitement of Android games!