Chris Melissinos's Blog: Community: Java Games Archives

Posted by spaceghost on February 05, 2004 at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So, I just got a new Tapwave Zodiac. If you have seen one, it's a pretty cool PDA right? Convinced my wife that I needed it for work. After all it runs Palm OS 5.2T (for Tapwave), has 128MB of RAM, 2 SD slots (1 SDIO), Bluetooth, etc. Everything that the working man/woman on the go needs to keep track of appointments, to do lists, and notes. All of the exciting and important stuff.

Oh yeah. It also sports a kick ass 8MB ATI 4200 graphics processor, 4" TFT screen, stereo speakers, vibration feature (like the PS2 controllers), analog joystick, 6 game buttons. Drool.... So what about Java?

I downloaded the MIDP build for the PalmOS and found that it is pretty capable. Sure there are some issues with it on the Zodiac, but that is to be expected as the Zodiac is ushering in an entirely new generation of capability in the nerdy PIM world. I wonder about the game capabilities for the Zodiac with a proper MIDP 2.0 build. With OpenGL ES and OpenAL bindings on top the Zodiac it could prove to be quite a capable Java games platform. In fact, this kind of device could open up the game enthusiast market, with those developers having access to freely distributed Java technologies, and we could see a flood of creative content springing up from out of the smallest corners of the web.

Throw an 802.11 SDIO card into the mix and you have got a portable game client that would be capable of running a scaled down StarWars Galaxies environment so I can do more than just check moisture evaporators and in game auctions while on the go. With Bluetooth I can throw down with another player while sitting in a mall, on a train, or even in the board room. Ah, the work of a Jedi in training/technologist/Chief Gaming Officer is never done.

As mobile clients become more capable, and the Java technologies present in them become more robust, I fully expect to see game companies take advantage of these capabilities and disrupt corporate meetings across the globe. What the more "traditional" corporate technologists need to understand is that entertainment = enterprise. This is big business folks, and a market segment that will blow up into the multi billion dollar subscription revenue range over then next few years. Entertainment is the key to unlocking the data pipe and letting the bits flow.

So Jonathan, if you hear my PDA beeping and booping during the next “All Hands” meeting, that's just a custom alert on my business oriented Palm OS device, not the sound of an alien civilization falling under the crush of my mighty game god hands.

2004: New Blog Resolution, Holiday Gaming, and Other Bits

Posted by spaceghost on January 06, 2004 at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Happy New Year! After a much needed holiday break, and an excessive amount of gaming (2:30am chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and diet Cherry Coke to keep the gaming energy going) I am fired up and make this resolution: regular blogging. Yes, I know that things have been quiet on the gaming front, but no more! So, with the first blog of the new year, let's tackle some holiday gaming, outlooks for 2004, and a pet peeve......(cue the music).....

2003 was a VERY good year for gaming. Titles like SSX3, Knights of the Old Republic and Lord of the Rings:ROTK made for some awesome game evenings in the “Melissinos Media Pit”. The cinematic nature of these games and slick presentations are starting to REALLY blur the lines between interactive content and television/movies. I dare say, the Lord of the Rings game was more enjoyable than the movie (which is one of the best movies ever made) because I got to play through the story with my friends. KotOR is probably the BEST StarWars story written since The Empire Strikes Back. Hats off to Drs. Ray, Greg and the BioWare crew. And the audio presentation in games like SSX3 and LotR, whose audio was encoded using the THX audio specification, can be summed up in one word: un-freakin-believable.

What really struck me about these games, aside from being fantastic pieces of entertainment, was that they were available for more than one gaming platform. The current trend is to start publishing the same title on multiple platforms due to the quantity of game capable devices on the market. Of course, you need to ether have development tools and technologies available for every platform you want to target or a LOT of money to dedicate several teams to developing the same title. Developers today almost have no choice but to target multiple platforms. Why? Due to the average video game costing between $4-6 million dollars to develop, not including HUGE licensing fees for movie properties, music rights, advertising and so on, the only way to recoup your investment is by hitting as many devices as possible.

This market trend is VERY good for Java technologies. The focus of the Game Technologies Group on client side development will pay off for the game development community in a big way. With the ability to focus on a specific set of game related APIs, it will be much easier to guarantee cross platform portability with performance across a wider range of platforms than any other technology currently in the market. Add in the ability to target a variety of devices (cell phones, portals, set top box) for additional game play features and you start building a very compelling, network centric revenue and game play “platform” for developers to utilize.

2004 promises to be a great year for the games industry. There will be close to 75 on-line games that will be released, showcasing a diverse amount of content in the market. We will see the current consoles showing their best content to date and hitting their stride as the current product cycle starts winding down in anticipation of the next generation platforms in 2005/6. Sony should be releasing the first product that will have the ability to go after Nintendo's dominance in the portable gaming market, the PSP. Nintendo will be releasing two game console products this year. Mobile games will continue to grow at a record pace (but could also collapse if not managed properly, another blog another time) and we will see more game specific devices ala N-Gage and Tapwave's Zodiac hit the market. We will see newcomers like VIA and Iridium Labs try to bring new “general” game consoles into the already crowded market.

Lastly, PC vendors will continue to bring game specific PC's to the market. No surprise there as the exotic gaming hardware actually has the ability to generate more than 1-2% of revenue and people will buy them! Hot colors, funky case mods and all shapes and sizes. Anyone that does not understand that gaming and entertainment is what drives the consumer PC industry is asleep at the wheel. Why else can you buy a 3+ GHz processor, 1GB ram, and a video card that eats most workstation performance alive at Best Buys for $1000? To surf the web or balance your checkbook? I don't think so.

Now, on to my closing rant: pet peeves. I only have one to pick at right now, so here we go. Video game violence and the media. The blame levied against the games industry for violence by our youth has reached a fevered pitch. The press can't seem to understand that video games have moved on from being an anti-social activity for introverted 13 year old boys to an adult embraced mainstream pastime. While I don't agree with all of the violence in certain games, I don't believe that they should be banned either. As a parent I see it as my responsibility to monitor the exposure of media to my children. Yes, I have Grand Theft Auto III in my house, but my kids are not allowed to play it and they know it. Just like they would not be allowed to watch Good Fellas or the Sopranos. BTW, a hallmark of any permanent technology or medium is met with the same opposition. Look at the music, television, motion picture, comic book industries and so on. You don't want to play it, don't buy it. Off the soap box.

So there you have it, games for the new year, outlook for 2004 and a wee pet peeve. Wishing you a safe, fun and exciting 2004! Happy New Year!

-Chris Melissinos

Masters of Doom and Deja-vu

Posted by spaceghost on August 01, 2003 at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Ever get that feeling? The glitch in the Matrix? The feeling of Deja-vu that is just so strong you can't shake it from the front of your brain? After finishing the new book, The Masters of Doom, the story of how John Romero and John Carmack (Surgeon John and Engine John) started id Software, defined the First Person Shooter (FPS) and changed the game industry forever, I get the feeling that history is about to repeat itself. Glitch in the Matrix.

The story of the two Johns is really about people pursuing their dreams without knowing the "rules" of the video games business. After all, how can 2-4 guys making games out of a rundown lake house take on EA, Nintendo, or Sega? No question about it, what they were doing was supposed to fail. From game development to distribution you just don't make games this way. So why were they successful?

The first thing that id Software had going for them was vision. They wanted to make games they wanted to play and believed that the fast action, first person perspective game framework would change the way people experience virtual worlds. But, at the time, the video games industry was focused on 2D fighters and platform games. That's what consumers want, not this Wolfenstein 3D stuff....

The second thing id Software did was to leverage a relatively new distribution model called "Shareware". Give the player a little bit for free and charge them for the rest. This distribution allowed id Software to become the most successful publisher in Shareware history and almost instant millionaires. By leveraging a new distribution model and following a vision for game design, id Software beat the odds and the big boys. So, will history repeat itself? Is there still room for small developers with vision in the multi billion dollar video games industry to rock the world?

I believe that the wireless market will prove to be the fertile ground for small game developers to change the system and make their mark. With the wealth of Java development tools, cheap hardware, and a brand new medium, the market is almost demanding that someone shows how revolutionary mobile gaming will be. Today, most mobile devices have become "wireless consoles" where games are just downloaded to the phone and played there, negating the handsets most important characteristic: it is a wireless device that can be connected to something else.

The possibilities that wireless game devices open up is seemingly endless. Location based interaction, multi platform connectivity, persistent world communications, game groups that change depending on your physical proximity to other gamers, character/environment maintenance, and the list goes on. And the market is wide open! There is no one clear leader in this new video game space! Anyone with a new idea, vision, and can see how a new distribution model might work could emerge as the new thought leader.

Hmmm....did you see that? Deja-vu...

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