The electronic games industry is no exception when it comes to multimedia convergence. The big tech companies have been out in San Diego this week for the Game Developers Conference, and many have been showing off the latest in wireless gaming solutions.
Despite the fact that we're just coming out of what could be considered a serious depression in the technology sector, a few technologies have managed to make leaps and bounds in a very short period. In just the past few years, there have been incredible improvements, and a convergence of computers and wireless across the board. One of the most improved areas has been the crossover between personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones, a.k.a. "smart phones." The processors have become speedier, memory larger, screens clearer, input easier, and wireless Internet access faster.
Those advances and enhancements have opened the door for technology companies to roll out a wide variety of new services and applications. And one area these companies are betting big on is the future of wireless gaming. Currently, consumer interest in playing games on a cell phone is low compared with other derivative functionality, but that is most likely because to date, most of the solutions offered have been primitive -- to say the least. Just a couple of years ago, games that were included with cell phones made Pong look like next-generation technology. But that's changing rapidly. And if the tech companies have anything to say about it, mobile gaming will be a major market in the very near future.
Motorola (NYSE:MOT) is at the conference showing off its latest phones, which are capable of 3-D real-time multiplayer gaming, along with its development kit for getting game developers on board in creating new games. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) is there with ATI Technologies (NASDAQ:ATYT), telling 10,000 game developers about the hardware the two have teamed to build that is specially designed for 3-D gaming. And struggling Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW) sought a ray of hope in a dedicated online gaming server designed to enable faster and more expansive online game play. The company also announced that Nokia (NYSE:NOK) has used the Micro Edition of its Java 2 Platform to create a soon-to-be-released online multi-player gaming solution Nokia is calling SNAP.
This is a market that has the potential to grow substantially as the technology continues to improve, better games are rolled out, and more companies jump in, wanting a piece of the action.
Talk about gaming and cell phones with other Fools on the Nokia discussion board.
Fool contributor Mark Mahorney doesn't own shares of any companies mentioned.
