5th CUBIES ANNIVERSARY (July 4, 2011)

Theme: “The Popularity of Today’s Mobile Games”

This day commemorates the 5th anniversary since the CUBIES Game was approved as a Thesis Proposal during CBG 2006 or officially known as Games of the VIIth Colympiad. This year’s theme focuses on the popularity of today’s mobile games in the industry.

With the creation of the cell phone, one was easily impressed with the fact that the phone required no cables. However, towards the end of the 20th century, cellular phones started to modernize, and people wanted more out of their cell phones.

With the introduction of the "candy bar" style cell phone, the appearance of a cell phone as well as its features and calling capabilities became a lot more important to people. Cell phone games were among the many new features that could be expected in this new type of cell phone.

Older cell phone games were not as expansive or as popular as console games, as the phone's hardware was not suited to high-color screens or sounds beyond differently pitched beeps. The games were usually animated with black squares. A good example of an early cell phone game is Snake. Unlike today's cell phone games, which usually have to be purchased, these games came pre-installed on the cell phone, and could not be copied off or removed.

When the camera phone was introduced to the public, cell phones started to become a lot more common. The storage and graphic capabilities on these new phones were a lot better than the older candy bar style phone, which meant that higher quality games could be created. This of course also meant that companies could make a profit off these games.

Nokia tried to create its own mobile gaming platform with the N-Gage in 2003 but this effort failed mainly because, at the time, the convergence of a cell phone and a handheld gaming platform did not mix. Many users complained of having to talk on the phone 'taco-style' by tilting it sideways in order to speak and hear. There were hardware issues as well, and though some quality games came out, support for the platform was anemic.

Today, cell phone games have come a very long way. Their graphics are about the same as you would expect on a 4th or 5th generation game console (which may not seem like a very big improvement yet is considered one because the game is being played on a cell phone). Cell phone games now tend to take up a large amount of memory on cell phones, which is part of the reason why they still are not too popular. Still, certain games such as "Tetris" and "Solitaire" are somewhat popular cell phone games.

Mobile games were once considered a small distraction from daily life, never as a serious venture into gaming. This appears to be changing as recent reports show that the popularity of mobile gaming is beginning to increase. Since November 2007 the number of users downloading games has increased about 17%.

Smart phones are linked as one reason for the sudden increase in activity. Smart phones have provided easier access to higher quality games. In fact the iPhone users are responsible for about 14% of all mobile game downloads. Apple recently released its own App Store which would be responsible for these numbers.

Finally the iPhone sports a higher attach rate with 32.4% of users downloading at least one game in the month of November while only an avearge of 3.8% did the same across all other phones. These numbers are encouraging and support the idea that the iPhone and other mobile devices can compete for the handheld video game market.

The apparent popularity of iPhone applications in the market has catapulted the number of eager application developers seeking a slice of the profit pie by several counts. From mobile games to web applications, there is a whole assortment of applications in iPhone to keep users occupied for long hours. Now gaming being one of the most addictive engagements on a handheld device, iPhone 3Gs games development has become the most active arena in mobile application development today. The iPhone 3Gs, which wields some of the most advanced features and technologies ever implemented on a mobile phone has the right environment to make mobile-gaming a real treat for game lovers. Since Apple has already started accepting third party applications, there is a real rush among developers who are creating games for the iPhone 3Gs.

iPhone game programming is therefore an arena that every programmer wishes to get into. Cutting edge technologies like Cocoa/Objective C and Xcode/Interface Builder are much in use among offshore iPhone application developers, with each firm trying to outdo the other through sheer skill and tech-power. But it's not just that, which can impress a gamer. To be a good game developer, one has to be aware of the latest trends be updated with the consumer behavior so they know what to give them. Moreover, the developer also has to have a sound understanding of the process of software analysis, mobile phone application development, software testing, application distribution, and so on.

BlackBerry application programming is also another popular arena of professional engagement for application developers. Being the pioneer in the category of smartphones, BlackBerry has a vast legion of users across the globe seeking out more from its maker, Research in Motion (RIM). And RIM is only too happy to oblige to the demands of the users as is evident through the new entrants in the BlackBerry series from time to time. These smartphones have all the applications to woe users under any genre of interest, be it gaming, music, movies, business or news. Of course, all the credit go to the developers of these wonderful applications who take all the pain to make the user experience even more exciting every time.

Once again, HAPPY CUBIES DAY TO EVERYONE!!!