MOBLIN ZONE

Mobile gaming is a rapidly growing market and the Moblin project and the Intel Atom processor are right in the middle of it. According to NPD Group, USA, one of the most explosive sectors of the gaming market is the casual gaming category which grew from $2.1 billion in 2007 to $4.8 billion in 2008. NPD says that an average of five million users are playing Facebook games online at any given time.

With the proliferation of MIDs, smartphones and netbooks, more platforms than ever are available for gaming on the go, with Moblin technology and the Intel Atom processor offering a number of advantages for game developers. For one thing, the Atom architecture is optimized for high performance, including 3D graphics and there is a growing range of codecs and plug-ins available, including Flash. The full browser experience Moblin offers enables Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and supports a range of runtimes for online gaming, such as Air, SL and Java. Moblin technology delivers integrated social networking to help build an active and enthusiastic gaming user community.

The Mobile Gaming Universe

Mobile gaming is a very broad category that covers a broad spectrum of games and an equally broad ecosystem of devices.

Very generally, mobile games can be divided into casual games, which are designed to be played quickly and sporadically and PC type games which are more immersive, more complex and put heavier demands on the hardware, software and player.

Casual games are online flash games, social games, puzzle games and gambling and skill games. They require fairly small amounts (less than 1 gigabyte) of memory, only modest processing power and fairly simple, if colorful graphics. They are usually based on the device’s web browser and basic input controls such as touch screen input and device orientation.

PC games include online MMOG games like “World of Warcraft”, first person shooters, real time strategy games and role playing games; the sort of things gamers play on game consoles and personal computers. They require 2 gigabytes or more of memory, a lot of processing power, solid graphics and more elaborate controls such as analog sticks or touch wheels. Ported versions of these games typically run at frame rates of 20 to 30 frames a second and use more powerful graphics systems such as OpenGL or DirectX.

The Intel Atom processor, which serves as the basis of the Moblin stack has a number of features which make it particularly well suited to games. For one thing, the Atom supports 3D graphics while Moblin includes Clutter, a highly visual user interface that can support superior gaming experience.

Moblin also supports HD video for superior graphics and HD audio for full HD sound. Moblin includes full browser support, including Flash, and delivers higher performance than most of the chips used in MIDs and smartphones.

Of course how much support for what kinds of games depends on the design of the individual device. The Atom processor and the Moblin project are designed to cover a range of devices from smartphones at one end to nettops at the other. The kind of gaming experience that a user will have will depend on which features the OEM chooses to support on a particular device. That in turn depends on cost and marketing considerations.

At one end of the spectrum smartphones, which typically have a 2.5 to 4 inch screen and one handed touch controls, will only support very basic gaming. At the other end will be the gaming MIDS, hand held devices optimized for games of all sorts. Their features will include 5 to 9 inch screens, two-handed operation and game controls. The smartphones and their more-graphically oriented cousins the game MID will be more useful for playing casual games while gaming and productivity MIDs will be better suited to playing PC games to go.

From a developer's standpoint Moblin offers a lot of choices as well. A wide variety of runtime environments are available, including Adobe Flash and Air as well as Java. For full 3D, OpenGL and OpenGL ES are supported.

To see a selection of Moblin games which are already available, see the Moblin Garage games section.

Game developers working on games for the lower end devices (such as smartphones, entertainment MIDs and such) can do a number of things to make for a richer, better experience.

One of the most important things is to make use of the features which differentiate the Intel Atom and Moblin stack from other processors used in such devices. This includes Atom's higher performance, HD audio and video and integration of the Clutter user interface.

To make the most of the user experience, provide for username and password entry using the touch screen. Make use of thumb friendly touchable buttons and employ sounds to help the user navigate the user interface. Gesture-based dragging (supported as of Moblin 2.1) can be used to navigate and control the game.

The browser built into the Moblin stack and the connectivity inherent in MIDs also provides opportunities for developers. For example you can enable the web browser controls from within the game, allow button mapping in the game and provide an alternate to exiting with the “Escape” key.

Moblin 2.1 and the underlying Intel Atom processor provide exciting opportunities for developing mobile games at all levels of complexity, but the possibilities are especially rich in the casual games segment of the market, which is one of the fastest growing and most popular segments of the game market.

* All names and brands are the property of their respective owners.

For Moblinzone, he acts as an independent writer/reporter.  MoblinZone is funded by Intel Corporation.