A sip of Java on mobile phones seemed to be bland nowadays, so what happened to the flavour?

The gaming industry is experiencing a boom in the market never before seen since the days of Pong, thanks to the technology available to create games with remarkable eye candy and gameplay mechanics.

Portable gaming too has never been so crowded with so many handheld gaming consoles; gamers are spoilt for choice with established ones like Gameboy DS, Sony PSP and the Nokia N-Gage, as well as the slew of new Java-enabled mobile phones to boot.

Gaming veterans generally prefer the established consoles over the new Java phones simply because there are more games available for the former. This has to do with the limitations in creating Java-based games on the mobile phone platform. (This has to do with the amount of memory available to store and run applications).

Does that mean mobile phones should forget trying to be a game console as well, and instead relegate game-capability as an afterthought? That would have been okay in 2000 when a game of Snakes on a Nokia 5130 would have satisfied me. But it’s now 2005 and my appetite for games has changed. I want more from my phone.

To be fair, Java games, though nowhere as good at the games for established, standalone consoles, have come a long way. Like many hardcore gamers, I used to think Java games were at most so-so only in quality. But one games maker really changed my mind: Gameloft.

Yes, it is the very same Gameloft that introduced us to the world of Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and RayMan for the mobile phone. Gameloft has managed to overcome many of the limitations of the Java (or J2ME) platform that has kept most game developers from creating mind-blowing games.

A good case in point is Gameloft’s Prince Of Persia (POP) series, with its rich graphics, enthralling storyline and smooth gameplay. With the console (for Xbox, PS2 and GameCube) version generation so much buzz – e.g. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within– there were great expectations for Gameloft to come up with a phone version.

I too had my doubts Gameloft could live up to expectations but the company really came through with Java versions of both titles. The Prince’s acrobatic fighting capabilities are maintained in the 2D action platform (this includes, believe it or not, wall running).

All these are done in a 2D environment, which obviously is not as dynamic as the 3D version found on video consoles. But Gameloft really does a good job of adapting it to Java, so much so that if you didn’t know better, you’d easily mistake these games as original games made specifically for Java phones rather than adapted versions from consoles.

What I’ve learnt from playing the POP series for Java is that it doesn’t matter if the games are in 3D or 2D. The important thing is that the gameplay mechanics are maintained, even if they have to be adjusted to a more limited platform.

Of course, not all game developers are able to successfully convert console games to the Java platform. But the fact that Gameloft has managed to do so with such panache bodes well for the future of Java games for phones.