Hey all! It's great to be back and getting into the swing of things. I thought I would kick off my "back to blogging" with a bit about the Nokia SNAP (Scalable Network Application Package) technology mentioned at this year's JavaOne conference. An announcement was issued regarding the Nokia SNAP API integration into Sun's Java Wireless Toolkit. This will provide game developers with a robust Java technology game development environment, including network and connectivity integration via the Nokia SNAP platform. For those of you who don't know what the SNAP platform is, here is the description from Nokia's SNAP site:

SNAP MOBILE FEATURES

SNAP Mobile offers a full-featured combination of multiplay and community systems combined into one seamless package providing:

High Performance Online Multiplay based on proven technology
-  Efficient, scalable, server-based, multiplayer game data distribution
-  Versatile matchmaking including ranked, freestyle, and challenge modes

Community features including
-  Chat and friends list
-  Presence (online, offline, and in a game)
-  Comprehensive rankings supporting matchmaking and, in the future, tournaments

Operator benefits
-  Opportunity to create an online multiplayer community
-  Increased customer loyalty and reduced churn
-  Increased data ARPU

Developer benefits
-  New revenue opportunities
-  Ability to focus on gameplay instead of technology
-  Decreased development times and budgets for multiplatform and multiplayer online games

SNAP Mobile takes into account the size and power restrictions of mobile phones, providing optimal developer efficiency and robust playability in the J2ME environment. Game developers can now more easily create multiplayer, community-enabled Java games. SNAP Mobile also overcomes difficulties inherent in mobile operation, where connection instability and short playing intervals are the norm.

To see the Nokia SNAP technology in action, check out the following video shown during Nokia's JavaOne General Session presentation. Very serious stuff here.....

(25.9 MB .MPG)

For those of you who don't know the history of the Nokia SNAP platform, here is a brief rundown:

• In the mid 90's, Sega (awesome video game company) released one of the first online game/community services known as Heat.NET This service connected online gamers to a stable environment that made finding other online players very easy. Also, the front end of Heat.NET was written using Java 1.0! Very cool indeed A very solid online game technology, Heat.NET enjoyed reasonable success.

• After the PC explosion for online gaming, it was time to head to the console side of things. While there were experiments in the 80's/early 90's with console based modems and online services (Note: Nintendo had set up an online banking, e-mail and gambling network for their FamiCom system (NED here in the US) back in 1984, 10 years BEFORE the commercialization of the Internet, and had signed up 184,000 subscribers!), most of these failed. The first game console to launch in the US with online gameplay as a core feature was the Sega Dreamcast in 1999. The online service for the new power console was an evolution of the Heat.NET architecture which, BTW, was mostly powered by Sun SPARC systems and Solaris!

• After the cancellation of the Dreamcast by Sega in 2002, the folks at Sega.Net were at a loss for what to do with their proven online technology. The goal was, as Sega was now becoming a multiplatform game development company, to repackage the platform with enhanced features and offer it as a solution for game developers who wanted a robust network development environment without the headache of rolling their own. Thus the Sega Network Application Platform was born. A few titles utilized the technology including the stunningly beautiful, but bitch to control, Auto Modellista was launched for the PS2.

• With the Java version of the SNAP API ported to mobile, Nokia, who was actively looking to enter the mobile online game space, wisely snapped up (ahahahaha!) Sega Mobile and acquired the SNAP platform as well. The marriage between a great game technology/development company and Nokia has been highly successful and some of the most innovative games and product are now coming out of this camp.

• With the integration of the SNAP API into the WTK, mobile game developers have the advantage of developing their next big hits on one of the most robust solution sets in the mobile market today!