With the race and the controversy heating up between Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, there are a lot of discussions about titles on other platforms. I believe most would accept that the days of the exclusive franchises are more or less over. Gears of War and Halo will remain XBox titles unlikely to show up on the PS3, but that doesn’t mean they won’t jump ship from console to PC (as Halo 1 and Halo 2 are). The Assassin’s Creed story is a prime example of this new state of affairs. Agreeing only to remain silent on where the title will show up when at the E3 show, it didn’t take gamers long to recognize that the 360 would see the title as well. And, sure enough, that was recently confirmed by UbiSoft. Big surprise there. Resident Evil, GTA IV, and other previously-exclusive titles on the Sony consoles are coming to 360 on their respective launch days. Of course Nintendo walks to its own beat and understands that only its exclusive control over Mario and Zelda is keeping it alive. It’s unlikely we’ll see Mario on the 360. But, despite Aaron’s love for the big N, I am little motivated to give the Wii a try. In my cars and my consoles I prefer a little more power under the hood.

But all of that is actually a sideline to what I want to talk about here today. While developing for a 360 and a PS3 can be a hurdle due to a fundamental difference in hardware, software tools, and interface, most companies are managing just fine. What bewilders me is where it can be a complete mess when developing on the same operating system and fairly similar hardware. I’m talking about Cell Phones here… which though we don’t cover at GamerWithin.com, is nevertheless a rising platform and one that desperately needs some revamping.

Case in point. Most Cell Phone games run on a version of Java, which is not a particularly complicated language. There are thousands of Java games on the web, and many of them are considerably more complex than the stuff you get on your phone. Why then is it the case that each title needs to be tooled specifically for each individual handset and carrier? I can’t play the Doom RPG because the developer and publisher don’t support my particular brand of phone and my carrier. Oh wait… I can buy a similar model and it will work on that. But… oops… I went and upgraded my phone and now all titles I paid for won’t work on my new phone. I clearly need to buy all new versions of the same game, using the same Java engine… just because my phone model is different. How stupid is that?

It would be like buying a DELL notebook for gaming, and then later upgrading to an Alienware and abruptly your version of Quake IV, Oblivion, Battlefield 2, or whatever you purchased no longer will run. The notebook is faster and more powerful, but you need to buy the special Alienware versions of the game in order to play. But… oops… Alienware doesn’t have support for Quake IV at this time, so you’ll have to do without. Would anyone stand for that kind of nonsense? Unlikely.

It’s a small platform compared to a major console, but Cell Phone gaming is growing into a multi-million industry at a furious pace. What it requires… and requires NOW… is some standardization. Honestly, how hard is that? Time will tell it seems.

- Martin VanWoudenberg