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3-D Gaming on Your Cellphone
Posted by
michael
on Thu Jun 17, 2004 09:52 AM
from the optometrists-rejoice dept.
from the optometrists-rejoice dept.
to_kallon writes "As game devices, cellphones leave something to be desired. Most of the games found on them are rudimentary, with flat, cartoonish graphics and simple scenes.
But that is going to change. Soon cellphone owners will be able to play games with realistic three-dimensional graphics rivaling those on PC's and game consoles."
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Okay..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyways... I personally think this is stupid. As the age old /. battle continues, they need to work on making a better PHONE before working
on the features OF THE phone. And besides... Who wants to play PC-type games on a small, cell-phone screen anyways? I think the basic
2D games that pass the time while waiting for your girlfriend to finish getting ready is just fine. However, I thought the majority of gamers
want everything bigger and better?
The only good thing I found out of the article was that they are finding ways for it to use "less than a tenth of a watt for the power" of these games. Ingenious... Make use of this same technology to make the battery life of the phone in general, increase.
Re:Okay..... (Score:5, Funny)
This is Slashdot. Why are you here?
Parent
Re:Okay..... (Score:5, Insightful)
You live in the US, right?
I live in europe, I have a GSM phone. I can't hear the difference between my cell-phone and my home landline - I can't remember when I was out of coverage last.
I wouldn't spend the money to buy a cell phone that was better... I have NO complaints. They have to find some new feature I can't live without if they want me to buy a new phone. (although 3D games is probably not it in my case)
The technology is there, there is no problem except that you insist on using an inferior standard (yeah, yeah... I know in principle your system is smarter).
I say, go ahead - develop 3D games for the cell phones If people want to buy it.
Parent
I may be asking for too much... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I may be asking for too much... (Score:4, Insightful)
Both will try to maximise their own profits. The phone manufacturers are plugging in extra features in an attempt to move more units. This is completely independant of any action the telcos may or may not take to improve their networks.
Parent
Re:I may be asking for too much... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes. Europe and Japan. That is, if reliable cellular networks is all it takes.
Parent
Can hardly wait (Score:5, Funny)
Stupid Drivers (Score:5, Funny)
N-GAGE anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)
The fact is that it already supports allot of elaborate 3D games.
Re:N-GAGE anyone? (Score:3, Interesting)
That reaction being that practically everyone played the 3D games and reported that yes, while they found it impressive someone had gotten 3D in a cellphone, actually playing the 3D games made them nauseous. Apparently something about the whole handheld thing and the very small screen just caused 3D on th
We'll see. (Score:4, Funny)
Rivaling, eh? I don't know about that. Besides, would you rather stare entranced at a 1 X 1 screen, or a 25 inch TV? Which do you think is better for your eyes?
3d isn't the be-all of gaming. (Score:5, Insightful)
> with flat, cartoonish graphics and simple scenes.
Yes, because as we all know, the only way to make a fun game is to make it photorealistic.
Sure am glad it took a cell phone to teach me all the fun I've had the past 20 years with gaming really wasn't.
Cool (Score:5, Funny)
Reusing my joke... (Score:5, Funny)
"Mine has got Dance Dance Revolution on it."
Parent
Commander Keen? (Score:5, Insightful)
If only they were available for phones, that is.
New York times link generator.. (Score:3, Informative)
http://nytimes.blogspace.com/genlink [blogspace.com] for the New York times article links..
Hover-Phone (Score:3, Funny)
Great (Score:5, Funny)
Java and OGL (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Java and OGL (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:Java and OGL (Score:3, Informative)
Most mobile phone games are by and large, java midlets. The J2ME MIDP 1.0 spec gives some basic graphics functions, The MIDP 2.0 spec gives a lot more.
Unfortunatly sun were dead set against 3D graphics and even say so in the J2ME documentation. Admittedly the pixillation of the screen renders any type of 3D graphic ugly, but they might have at least supported it on the high end phones.
There are over 200 million(I think) java enabled phones out there.
Re:Java and OGL (Score:3, Informative)
There are several initiatives to bring 3D to the Jave platform as well. JSR184 [jcp.org] is a Mobile Graphics API for J2ME. Even more exciting is the upcoming JSR239 [jcp.org] which will provided Java with direct bindings to OpenGL ES!
Yeah, right (Score:5, Insightful)
I just came out of PlanetSide [planetside.com]. This baby gives me about 60fps on my 19-inch monitor, with full keyboard controls, a force-feedback joystick, 5.1 surround sound of thunderous explosions, and frantic squad radio chatter in my headset.
When I look at my phone, I don't think I'll be holding my breath for it to catch up with that experience.
Wow! (Score:3, Insightful)
I didn't know cellphones now had 640x480 pixel screens (and higher)! That's awesome!
Rivaling PCs, eh? (Score:4, Funny)
It's great that cellphones are getting more advanced, but I'm afraid a mini-3D chip running off of a 2 ounce battery displaying on a 2" screen is not going to be rivaling PCs anytime soon.
Though who knows, maybe the new cell phones will have a DVI connector and a port of Doom 3.
Re:Rivaling PCs, eh? (Score:3, Funny)
Input Devices? (Score:4, Interesting)
Killer apps? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, what of battery life? With the screen on all the time (while playing the games, that use chip(s)/memory that require more power), battery life could be an issue. Now with OLED screen technology, that should help, but I don't want to have to carry around 3 spare batteries.
Maybe we'll need to carry more than one phone (if you don't already)...one to play games, listen to music on and one to make calls with.
Nah (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not just the screen size, it's the controls. People like cellphones to be small. But they like to have controls big enough to hold and use. The two are mutually incompatible. And if you have a seperate gamepad, you might as well have a seperate gaming device.
That's not to say that having 3d graphics won't improve the games on a cellphone. But in general it's not going to make them anything comparable to those on, well, pretty much any other gaming device.
Oh yea... (Score:4, Funny)
It's nice that the technology is there, but I can't help but feel indifferent about it.
Rivaling, eh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Rivaling... as in an approximately equivalent feature set...
Disregarding antialiasing, polygon throughput rates, and the like... let's look at just the single most important feature in any display; resolution, color depth, and refresh rate
Game console: 640x480 (underscanned) 24-bit color with a 60 field per second refresh rate
PC: 800x600 (and up) 24-bit color with a 60Hz+ refresh rate
Cellphone: 256x256 12-bit color with a 15+ Hz refresh rate
Doesn't really seem to rival to me...
Re:Rivaling, eh? (Score:3, Funny)
Hopefully Dan East will port Quake to Stinger (Score:4, Interesting)
With Stinger (smart) phones around the corner, and ATI with its latest mobile graphics chips, I expect we might see Quake on a cell phone. I think I saw a demo video from last years E3 of Quake on a 2" LCD for a cell phone, but I remember seeing the Pocket PC interface before the game launched so I'm not sure if the game has been ported.
Dan, if your out there how about some insight?
Stupid Cell Phone Features (Score:5, Funny)
Guy is at restaurant, pulls out cell phone and starts using the built-in pepper mill.
Want a cell phone with features you really need? We've got 'em! With games, cool ringtones, a camera,
I'd get a hell of a lot more use out of a pepper mill than any of that other crap. I don't want to play gmaes on my cell phone - I want to have a phone conversation. I don't want to take a low-quality picture on my phone - if I wanted a camera, I'd buy one. I don't want to have cool ringtones - if I wanted to get shot, I'd at least do it in style by making a daring daylight robbery of Fort Knox on elephant-back.
Give me a phone that I can use for phone calls. Any feature that does not directly enhance the ability to place, receive, and carry on a phone conversation is entirely superfluous to me.
OpenGL ES and 3D for Java (Score:3, Informative)
As a preferred programming environment for embedded systems Java will provide access to 3D graphics through JSR184 [jcp.org] a Mobile 3D graphics API for J2ME and more excitingly JSR239 [jcp.org] direct Java bindings for OpenGL ES!
*B*O*R*I*N*G* (Mod -5 Rant) (Score:5, Funny)
Where's the sungularity? Where's the life altering technologies? Where's the ability to enhance my reality to something that doesn't suck more than the suckiest thing that ever sucked? Where's the sexbots? Even my gadammned wonder-DirecTivo box still misses the beginning or ending of a show when the *F*U*C*K*E*D* *U*P* networks decide that they are going to adhere to a time zone in the Bizarro universe. It's that or search for bitter-torrents on web servers of a dubious nature.
Where's the vast superscience solutions to the world's ailments we were promised at World's Fairs dating back to the late Miocene? "Some day, Ugg, we will control fire, and there will one day be delicious iron skillet seared aged beef steaks as far as the eye can see." Is anyone working on this? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
The technological pinnacle of the Earth's history, and all we can work on is how to put some grotty 3D game into a cheap, plastic phone. More time will be spent optimizing the numer of dropped frames than the number of dropped calls. Intercell handoff, my ass! More like intercell fumble and turnover that lost the big game.
Hey, you could put Madden 2005 on the phone, and a fumble animation can be displayed whenever your phone call is dropped into the abyss, or a referee calling interference when more than 2 dB of background noise makes the person on the other end unintelligible. And if the girlfriend calls, it can show the Star Player[tm] fielding a call about the nine paternity suits aginst him. Just a gentle reminder to wear those condoms, boys, from the SUPERSCIENCE phone company.
Hmmm (Score:4, Interesting)
Proud owner of a Nokia 1100. Small. Not flashy. More durable than a flip phone. Functional.
My girlfriend's flip phone has speed issues, and the games aren't that great anyway. Even if they looked better, the controls suck.
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:3, Insightful)
What plain jane phones?
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:5, Interesting)
If you haven't been shopping for a phone latelty, you may have noticed that most of their promotional items are for the phones laoded up on featuers. Cameras, 10 games, 32-bit color screens, PDA options.. It's sickening. If you want one of those plain jane phones it will cost you more than a phone with all the features I just mentioned above.
Parent
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:3, Interesting)
Mobile phone companies will subsidise a camera phone in the hope that you start MMSing - thus driving up their revenue.
If you want a cheap, basic phone, try an independant store where the salesman isn't on commision to sell you a phone and contract you have no need for.
Although, you are on
(Disclaimer - not speaking for my employer)
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would I want to SSH my server from a bus? My company doesn't know my cell number for a reason.
Parent
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:5, Interesting)
What? I always thought Slashdot people would be The People who would really appreciate features such as SSH on the phone.
In my time I've owned three phones that have had the possibility of connecting to the Internet. The first was Nokia 9000 Communicator, in 1998. It's nice to know future was invented more than six years ago.
During that time I've used SSH, Web and e-mail on the phone. Let me give you some anecdotes:
Once I was hurrying to the train station and I missed the bus. I had no idea whether I'd make it in time if I waited for another bus. It was early Saturday morning, so I couldn't call anyone at the Commuter Traffic Center. Instead of calling a taxi, I checked the timetables for the bus from the Net. No need for a taxi, so I saved some 20 Euros there.
(I've done something similar countless times on Friday evenings after the regular busses have gone and I don't know how I'll find a night-bus.)
Another time I was picking up some video tapes from the video shop. Unfortunately when I was almost there, I noticed I had left the note with the orders home. Option 1: turn back, face the rush hour, might not even make it today. Option 2: check email for said note. Option two saved me at least two hours, maybe even a full day.
(And again, other similar incidents have happened.)
I have dozens of stories like these. These features can be a real lifesaver at times! I'm not saying a smartphone is an excuse to be sloppy, but it is REALLY useful when accidents happen.
I haven't even mentioned the entertainment benefits. Tending the fire while camping, everyone else asleep? Play Doom. Stuck in a strange city at a late hour, two hours before the bus/train/plane leaves and no way to spend time? Irc or IM with your friends. Need to do something productive? Take out your laptop and copy some stuff from home server over GPRS.
Although 3D on cellphones is nothing near modern PCs, my current phone (N-Gage QD) is roughly as powerful as the PC I owned 4 years ago. (Granted, it was quite old at the time.) It is more powerful than the computer I used to play Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, and can show more colors!
I wouldn't be surprised, if Nvidia had Nokia as their main client after, say, 5 years.
Parent
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:5, Interesting)
I asked what else one could get and it turned out you could get many low end non colour screen phones for free as well. The only difference between the free feature packed phone and the free simple phone, was the monthly contract price actually wen't down with the simple phone.
BTW this is in South Africa, so I have no idea how the US service providers do it.
Looking at Nokia USA it seems you can get several black and white and thus long battery life nokias.
Parent
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:3, Insightful)
It's sickening. If you want one of those plain jane phones it will cost you more than a phone with all the features I just mentioned above.
How are cell phone companies fucking you extra hard these days? They are offering pay-per-use services. Pay to send a photo. Pay to download a game/ringtone. If you get the plain-jane phone, what the hell are they going to charge you for?
Re:Plenty of plain jane crap phones around (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Plenty of plain jane crap phones around (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:4, Interesting)
I didn't want a full color LCD (drains batteries) or a phone with useless background images or a million built in ring tones or any of that frilly stuff. Guess what, there ARENT any new phones that are "plain"
What's more, for all its frills, it doesn't have the functionality to do a simple thing like vibrate, THEN ring. My old motorola, which is at least four - five years old, can.
Parent
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:3, Informative)
My last "it's just a phone phone" was a SonyEricsson T600 [sonyericsson.com]. Such phones exist if you want them to. As for the vibrat
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:3, Insightful)
This would be true, if they were developing the features that we want in plain-jane phones. If the cutting edge phone was able to get reception inside a faraday cage in the bottom of a missile silo 400 miles from the nearest cell tower, then better reception for plane-jane phones wouldn't be far off.
But since they're developing 3D graphics, 3D graphics (and their battery-sapping performance) won't be
Re:Let's get this out of the way (Score:3, Funny)
Just remember that the more advanced features these phones get, the cheaper your plain jane phone will be.
Very soon the day will come that people can compare the heatsink fans mounted on their cell phones.