Editor's Corner

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Game Development for Next-Generation Devices:
Keeping a Moving Target in Sight
By Chris Ruff, President of UIEvolution.

As mobile devices are brought to market, product diversity and continual evolution of device technology complicate the process of game development. Millions of customers are accessing and enjoying games, news, content, and blogs from anywhere and everywhere.

The game creator's primary dilemma lies with a balancing act--targeting the newest devices while also maintaining the broadest possible user base where no pervasive standard exists.

This is especially noticeable in the US, where more than 20 device platforms compete for market space on more than 200 handsets. Even the leading platforms aren't individually broad enough to secure significant market share for the game creation community.

Always Connected

As new consumer devices and networks are introduced to the market, the problem deepens. Consumers expect an always-connected, richer experience where the boundaries of technology are continually stretched.

Developers today focus on creating a handful of games and applications for each platform, but see missed opportunities in not being able to reach all devices. Porting across devices becomes a steadily increasing expense, reducing revenue and adding frustration. While consumers are increasingly connected, the technologies used on all of their devices are not.

Game developers and content providers desperately want a way to reach their audience in a true device-independent manner. If developers were offered a truly cost-effective, cross-platform solution, tapping into a company's multimedia content could easily be turned into a profitable service. Content could be delivered to users whether they surf the Internet from their PC or their mobile phone.

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