Like it or not, the cell phone is poised to be the next big video-game development platform. That’s the message from Robert Tercek, founder of the GDC Mobile Game Developers Conference, a two-day event held at the big Game Developers Conference (GDC), which ran earlier this month in San Jose. Tercek said that new cell devices already rival circa-1995 desktop computers - and they will soon reach the processing power of the first PlayStation.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor
of Projection Monthly &
Microdisplay Report

With the rapid deployment of phones with high-quality screens and cameras, coupled with the ability to play MP3 audio, mobile games for cell phones are already attracting some very big players.

In gaming, the 800 pound gorilla is Electronic Arts (EA), which hammered its stake in the ground last December by buying Jamdat Mobile Inc., the largest mobile-game developer for a whopping $680M cash. That was a 32% premium over the existing stock price. For its money EA bought an instant 28% of the $500M US mobile game market. Globally, that market was $2B in 2005 and is expected to grow to $8B by 2010, according to British research firm Screen Digest.

EA has a healthy stable of "platinum" games ("Madden NFL," "Sims," "FIFA Soccer" etc.) it can adapt to the new small-display platform, along with its recently acquired hits like "Jamdat Bowling." But analysts warn that the Jamdat purchase does not guarantee EA cracking the European or Asian mobile markets, which together represent a full 75% of the global gaming space.

As the handheld cell phone emerges as the next gaming frontier, the effects will go well beyond the fortunes of game software developers; the repercussions will be felt throughout the entire display industry.

Electronic games providing the oomph for advances in display technology isn’t new. It’s been happening since the early days of first-generation Atari video games and the milestone release of Pong, the game that started the $10B video game industry. Since this happened a generation ago, it’s worth mentioning that 1970s-vintage home games consisted of dedicated (one console/one game) cartridge-driven consoles that used the family TV for a display. The early arcade/coin-op systems found in the local Shakey’s Pizza had displays that were large for their time, even if they started off being monochrome. (They’re now museum pieces. Don’t throw out the arcade Pong console you have in the back of your garage.)

Much of the credit for our new "digital age" of wiz-bang technology goes to the game industry. It constantly pushed the display-performance envelope by demanding speed, speed and more speed for image rendering and display, and for faster refresh rates because speed wins the game. From black and white to grayscale (CGA to EGA), and then to eight colors and full-color (VGA), and now to the frontiers of high-end graphic engines and LCD technology in the form of HDTV sets, the revolution continues.

So if there’s anything to be learned from history - and there is - look for faster, brighter and clearer displays in the palm of your hand, courtesy of the relentless gamer, hunting for her place in the top-score marquee.