A lot has happened since Sony Ericsson announced its first mobile Java 3D-enabled phones in March 2004. Sony Ericsson sees Mobile Java 3D as a key driver of mobile gaming because it enhances the game-playing experience through more advanced and appealing graphics. In short, Sony Ericsson is bringing 3D gaming to the masses and early adopters of Mobile Java 3D have a competitive advantage. Supporting Mobile Java 3D developers During late 2004, Sony Ericsson Developer World started addressing the challenge of educating the whole game development community about Mobile Java 3D and now during 2005, has become the leading technical resource in 3D game development with a dedicated web section. By providing documentation, tools, training, technical and go-to-market assistance, Sony Ericsson Developer World has in the past 18 months paved the way for development companies like Digital Chocolate, I-play, Zapptrio, Bandai Networks, Com2uS, Microforum and Superscape to leverage Mobile Java 3D to their competitive advantage. Today we see many of our main partners releasing and planning Mobile Java 3D titles in their portfolio. Check out the Sony Ericsson Developer World 3D Game Gallery for examples of commercially available games>> Major players from the console industry are entering the market to extend their brands into the mobile space and Sony Ericsson is working with them. Examples are Electronic Arts, THQ, Square Enix and Sony.

Overall, Sony Ericsson makes significant efforts to create an easy communication style to ensure that consumers get fast and easy access to various applications, and that mobile phones support applications, content access and are optimized for this type of content. This is done via large screens, better graphics, better/more advanced game engines, supporting many colors (65k-262k colors), polyphonic sound, multiple simultaneous keypress support, optimized Java performance, more memory for graphics, more persistent storage, making larger MIDlets possible thanks to more available heap memory etc. Developers can also make use of the joystick, vibration function and full-canvas mode supported in all new Java ME platform phones.

The Sony Ericsson SDK for the Java ME Platform supports MIDP 1.0/2.0 and Mobile Java 3D, full 3D emulation and on-device debugging of Java ME applications. We have also expanded the tools support for Java ME development to include Eclipse.

Operator uptake
Game downloads help increase ARPU for the operator but the notion of bringing mobile 3D gaming to the masses have somewhat been inhibited by size limitations in the carrier networks. 3D games are, by nature, graphics heavy and typically much larger in size than 2D games, so over-the-air downloading has been restricted to countries where 3G networks have been rolled out. Vodafone successfully launched 3G game titles together with the launch of its 3G services in November 2004 and has since seen some very positive trends towards consumer adoption of this new technology.

"The Sony Ericsson V800 for Vodafone was just one in a line of excellent 3D-enabled devices from Sony Ericsson, and we were delighted to include it in the launch portfolio of Vodafone live! with 3G in November last year. 3D gaming is at the heart of our proposition, and we're already seeing tremendous customer interest in 3D content on the service. We look forward with interest to Sony Ericsson's developments in this exciting area. Of course, their continued commitment to supporting the game development community will be crucial to ensure an attractive game portfolio," said Tim Harrison, Head of Games at Vodafone Group Services Limited, in April 2005.

Increasing demand
Throughout 2005, demand for Mobile Java 3D games has steadily increased. We think it's satisfying that we actually have come this far - it takes time to build market awareness for new technical and commercial possibilities, among carriers, developers and consumers alike. Users are sometimes surprised at what you can do on a mobile phone and others have started expecting 3D when you mention gaming, especially if you have been used to playing games on a PC or console. So 3D will soon be considered a hygiene factor for mobile phones. Sony Ericsson has shown its commitment to this emerging technology by implementing Mobile Java 3D in 21 of its GSM and UMTS phones to date, which is more than any other single handset manufacturer. Even hardware accelerated 3D is now clearly on the horizon. Sony Ericsson's first hardware accelerated Mobile Java 3D GSM/UMTS phone (the W900) has just been brought to market.

Graphics APIs
Sony Ericsson has adopted two 3D graphics APIs on its phones – the Mascot Capsule Micro3D version 3 (or Mascot Capsule v3) and the standard Mobile 3D Graphics API for the Java ME Platform (M3G or JSR-184). So far, Mascot Capsule v3 has been superior in terms of performance but now that we see the JSR-184 standard and its implementations mature, along with hardware acceleration being introduced, we will for the first time have a very competitive JSR-184/M3G VM. Java 3D benchmark results will probably show this in the months to come. Hardware accelerated 3D will make the development process more complex, but the user experience will take a huge leap forward and drastically improve consumer perception of mobile games (read the article "What's this hype about hardware acceleration?" for more info).

Sony Ericsson Developer World's experience this year has shown that it's important not to use 3D just because you can but to carefully consider how it will improve the experience for the gamer. Last year the tools for mobile 3D development were very poor and the majority of developer partners lacked knowledge and experience of Mobile Java 3D development. Still, this was a necessary phase to go through since we at Sony Ericsson Developer World have had many insights into how to better support and help developers gain momentum in Mobile Java 3D development.

Opportunities and challenges
The introduction of 3D in mobile development has indeed created exciting opportunities for game developers but also some challenges. 3D development provides a greater power of expression, and the possibilities for building a game landscape grow exponentially. Along with that, it's also easier to simulate a virtual reality. However, 3D requires higher performance and memory on the mobile phone, and to keep game code size to a minimum to allow over-the-air download, takes a lot of optimization work. Development time and the number of resources needed for a 3D game is typically 2-3 times higher than for a 2D game development project. There are new skill-sets required compared to 2D mobile game development. However, 3D graphic designers can use the same, familiar tools (3D Studio Max, Maya, Lightwave etc) as they have done for PC and console games and easily export 3D graphics to mobile with the help of mobile plug-ins (plug-ins are now available for both Mascot Capsule v3 and JSR-184).

Development teams from various companies have in our Developer Case Studies web section  described some of the challenges they experienced when creating Mobile Java 3D applications, including transitioning from 2D to 3D, supporting disparate engines from multiple vendors and general graphics issues, to name a few. Several of these developers described in their own words how they were able to overcome the obstacles.

Java platform strategy
Sony Ericsson facilitates porting and helps speed up time-to-market by its Java Platform approach, harmonized screen sizes and support for Nokia UI API. Sony Ericsson has the same Java and 3D platform for a wide range of mobile phones. This helps game developers reach a broad market without having to invest too much time in optimizing games for each handset. In the gaming business it is important to have a stable platform to help developers target as many mobile phones, and therefore consumers, as possible. It is thanks to a stable Java platform that content providers can reach the full potential with any game.

Consider the gaming audience
One issue to consider is whether to address casual gamers or more experienced ones. Mobile users are typically very casual gamers engaging in a "game snack" instead of hours of uninterrupted gaming like you may see on PC/console. However, the more experienced gamers should feel more comfortable thanks to the introduction of landscape gaming mode on the W550 and W600 Walkman phones. These phones boast a screen display that can be rotated 90 degrees as well as A and B hardware gaming buttons enabling two-handed gaming style.

"The landscape rendering mode and hardware buttons for two-handed control on the W550 and W600 phones truly improve the mobile gaming experience, regardless of whether you're a casual or more experienced gamer. As a game developer, we appreciate the fact that Sony Ericsson manages to create phones with true mass-market appeal while constantly being willing to listen to and learn from the professional development community in order to further advance the game-playing features and performance of its phones," says Mika Tammenkoski, VP Technology at Digital Chocolate's game development studio in Helsinki, Finland.

Moving forward
Of course Sony Ericsson is looking into how we can improve the gaming platform for the next generation of mobile phones. However, there is always a cost associated with introducing a new technology to a platform and it must be available for all handsets. Memory, CPU speed, screen size and OpenGL ES hardware are all variables that influence gaming. We are trying to find the best mix for the mobile gaming experience across a wide portfolio, looking for the best hardware and platform solutions for developers to be able to create a broad range of different applications targeting different consumer segments.

And obviously Mobile Java 3D can be used for much more than gaming. A few examples of non-gaming related applications are 3D GPS mapping, avatars, user interfaces adding depth (3D instead of Scalable Vector Graphics), and 3D virtual walk-throughs of, for example, a home or historic scene. Only your imagination will determine the scope of Mobile Java 3D development in the future. The phones and the technology, the tools, documentation and support resources are already here. If you haven't already, get started now with Mobile Java 3D development!

More information:

• Sony Ericsson Developer World Mobile Java 3D web resources>>
• Mobile Java 3D Game Gallery>>
• Voices from the 3D industry>>
• Developer case studies>>