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The State of Gaming on Android: No More Playing Around

Android has always taken a backseat to the iPhone in gaming. Can Google change that?

It's understandable that consumers want to play games on their mobile phones. It's always with you and while the experience might be better with a dedicated device like a PSP or Nintendo DS, the phone is just more convenient. It's why casual gaming on the iPhone took off early and has grown into a huge business for Apple. Gaming on Android was slower to start, but is finally picking up steam. Newer, faster hardware combined with better operating system level support are driving this change. But there's still more work to do. 

Let's have a look at where Android gaming is, how it got there, and where it's going. 
 

The hardware situation is promising

Before you can have a vibrant gaming ecosystem on a phone, developers have to be convinced the power exists to do what they want. All the Android phones that were released for the first year of the platform's existence were on the slow side. They were all running on the Qualcomm MSM7201A chipset clocked at 528MHz. This ARM11-based solution was already on its last legs when it was used in the T-Mobile G1, but we continued to see it in phone after phone. In fact, the earlier versions of Android did not even have support built in for different chipsets.  

The nature of Android and the SDK mean that games had less in the way of resources to use. The original iPhone ran on a similarly pokey CPU (a 400MHz ARM11 core), but by having a unified hardware platform, gaming was easier to pull off. Even on these earlier iPhone platforms, graphics intensive games like ZenBound ran very well. 

Android phones just seem to require more power to run equivalent games. We finally got that more powerful hardware when the Motorola Droid launched late in 2009. The Droid had a TI OMAP 3430 chipset with similar CPU and GPU specs to the iPhone 3GS. Now developers could see more potential in the platform. Some games, like ExZeus, showed up in the Android Market with explicit instructions that users should not attempt to run the game on older phones. The release of the Nexus One with a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU just upped the ante even more. At this point Android also started moving to higher resolution screens allowing for very attractive graphics. The hardware situation is actually looking very good for Android now. 

There was still a speed problem with the operating system. These faster CPUs weren't able to truly live up to their potential because some aspects of the Android kernel weren't up to snuff. 

The software situation turns a corner

One big impediment to the early adoption of Android gaming was the complete lack of multi-touch in the operating system. The hardware supported this feature, but the Android OS and its native apps did not. Many games require multiple on-screen elements to be pressed during gameplay. Android just couldn't do that, and that kept many game developers on the iPhone exclusively. There were a number of games ported to Android from the iPhone with the multi-touch capability removed. An example of this it the popular iPhone game iDracula. The non-multi-touch version on Android is hardly worth playing. With Android 2.0 (Éclair) came multi-touch APIs, but there were other problems as well. 

Android apps are mostly built in Java, and when they run on a phone, they have to be compiled to native code. This is handled by the Dalvik VM in Android. Dalvik was always been too slow for really rich apps to run well. Google has only rectified this recently with the addition of the Just In Time compiler (JIT) for Android. This finally allows apps to run faster, taking full advantage of the CPU. The change will roll out in Froyo (2.2), but many phones will have to wait to get it.  

Android also took its time to adopt gaming-friendly graphics libraries. Most Android phones right now are running on OpenGL ES 1.0. This does not compare favorably to the iPhone's support for the 2.0  revision (on the 3GS only). OpenGL ES 2.0 is fully programmable with GPU-based instructions. Developers could simply see more potential in the iPhone platform for reasons like this. With the release of Froyo, however, we expect to finally see OpenGL ES 2.0 support come to Android. Hopefully developers will take advantage of it. Overall, Android has cleaned up the software side of things fairly well. 

3 ways for Google to move gaming ahead

A lot of the pieces are already in place to help Android gaming really take off. Hardware has finally gotten to where it ought to be. Many refinements in the operating system have, or are about to, allow developers to take full advantage of that hardware. So are we about to see an explosion in Android gaming? It will definitely increase, but Google could take some steps to improve matters. 

The hardware differences in phones are not made clear to users. Google should strongly encourage their hardware partners to move exclusively to OMAP and Snapdragon equivalent hardware for all but the most basic entry-level handsets. If people are buying a new smartphone, it should be able to play the current crop of games. Google has an easy way to gently enforce this. Google shouldn't be denying access to Android to slower phones, but their stewardship over Android gives them some sway. Strong partnerships with Google can offer benefits, as Motorola and HTC can attest to. This can give manufacturers some impetus to lean towards faster hardware. 

Google also needs to be more upfront about Android system updates. We understand that the breakneck pace of updates these last few years has made that difficult, but the huge differences in features discussed above mean developers need to know what to target. In the Market you'll often see a version of an app meant for Android 2.0 and higher devices, and another of all others. This all goes back to the fragmentation issue. Google may be saying that this is a red herring, but it really does impact developers. 
Google has made noise in recent days that the pace of updates would slow to once per year. This is exactly the way to increase developer confidence. If they can manage this, it would help with the version fragmentation in a big way by giving manufacturers time to update their custom interfaces. But openness is still key. We need to know which phones will be updated, and which won't.  

     Above: Flight Control for iPhone, Below: Air Control for Android 
     Above: Flight Control for iPhone, Below: Air Control for Android 
Lastly, Google need to court game developers in a big way. This too seems to be apparent to them. At the recent GDC event, Google was handing out Motorola Droids to game developers. This is a nice gesture, but they need to demonstrate more commitment. If an iPhone game dev even makes a peep about making an Android game, a Google employee should show up at said developer's house with a free Nexus One with a prepaid SIM card. 

In recent months, some Android games have begun to compare a little more favorably to iPhone games. As more developers enter the market, the overall quality of the games is improving. For instance, the Android game Air Control is as enjoyable and almost as pretty as Flight control on the iPhone. The hardware is there, the software is getting there. If Google can manage to keep the platform more together in the future, and court game developers, we could be in for some great Android games. Do you feel optimistic about Android gaming?

minorinyaon June 2, 2010 at 11:31 p.m.

 Android also took it's time to adopt gaming-friendly graphics libraries.    

B. Shoemaker will eat you for that grammar mistake.
milkhamon June 3, 2010 at 1:44 a.m.
What's that game with the screenshot next to the SDK paragraph?
DrFeelgoodon June 3, 2010 at 1:57 a.m.
Moving to OMAP would be perfect for consumers since a few Android phones already utilize PowerVR SGX units for graphics acceleration and it works great. Samsung in particular, when referencing their Galaxy S handset, claimed that they could process 90 million triangles per second through one of their special SGX GPUs. They could definitely take gaming to a whole new level especially since Imagination Technologies claimed that they are in the process of developing PS3 level computing for handsets which could be released within the next 3 years.  
 
Still, there is already some great emulator support on Android from Yongzh and some incoming support from ZodTTD (Possible N64/PSX emulators hooray!) but some original Android games could still be really cool (pick up the pace, Gameloft!)
ryanw staff on June 3, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
@milkham: That's ExZeus
Rolentoon June 3, 2010 at 8:15 a.m.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Who needs all these newfangled simplified touch games when NESoid and SNESoid (the Nintendo and Super Nintendo emulators, respectively) exist? 
 
Go ahead and land airplanes.  Sounds like a blast.  I'll be playing Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III.
soralapioon June 3, 2010 at 8:17 a.m.
Definitely positive about Android gaming, but not without reservations. I agree with the overall points you make in the article, especially that Google needs to take a somewhat more active role in the process. 
 
While it's nice that the barrier for entry is extremely low, this also means that for every good Android game in the marketplace (which, I might add, is still not fully available in my native Finland. No paid apps for us!) you'll get 50 Family Guy soundboards or "games" where you spank a hot girl in a miniskirt.  
 
One big development that I'm personally super excited about is Unity 3.0. Having developed some games with Unity I can vouch for its ease of use and power. Many iPhone devs already make their games with Unity. With 3.0 we should get support for Android devices, which will immediately boost the number of quality games available on the platform.  
 
With that, hugely increasing hardware sales across the globe and established developers like PopCap promising to bring games to Android devices, I think things are about to get a lot sweeter.
VinceNotVanceon June 3, 2010 at 1:22 p.m.
Funny, I was just thinking about the state of Android gaming when I saw this article posted up. I think there is plenty of potential here for a solid slate of games, but no one's really stepping up. 
 
Personally, I just want Popcap to toss a couple games our way, then I'd be happy. 
 
@Rolento: I'd agree with you, but playing old-school console games on a touch-screen device is kinda dumb. It's nice to show off to your friends from time to time (especially since there are free versions of the emulators out there), but it's not like it's particularly fun to play these games on a touch screen. I'd imagine RPGs would work better, however.
Rolentoon June 3, 2010 at 1:48 p.m.
@VinceNotVance said:
@Rolento: I'd agree with you, but playing old-school console games on a touch-screen device is kinda dumb. It's nice to show off to your friends from time to time (especially since there are free versions of the emulators out there), but it's not like it's particularly fun to play these games on a touch screen. I'd imagine RPGs would work better, however. "
Yeah, you have to stick with RPGs and other slower-input games for them to be any good with a touch interface.  However, that's still a pretty vast library of AAA games one can play around with on the go.
GozerTCon June 3, 2010 at 4:43 p.m.

I can't remember if it was Giant Bomb or Mac OS Ken guys who mentioned it but I'd really like to see someone throw a PSP or Gameboy level game at the iPhone and the Android.  I.e. $30 game with all a Gameboy or PSP release entails.  I wonder if there would be a market and if the systems could handle it?  (I'm pretty sure they could.)   
 
WolfOfOneon June 3, 2010 at 11:14 p.m.
@Rolento: using the PSX emulator and a ps3 controller, you can play old playstation racing games on the n900.  And w/ tv out it's a portable console :)  And I have Doom and Duke Nukem installed right now.  Android, meet cake that I'm eating :p hehe   
 (wow, I'm totally biased atm haha.  I do want to see Android gaming take off though, the hardware (esp. the snapdragon procs and the software support for newer gl 2.0) of most Android phones is really promising.  I think that it will be somewhat parallel to the console vs PC situation, with the iphone being (biased statement following:) the underpowered but predictably stable hardware of the console, and lots of differing hardware that refreshes faster and is more varied across different PCs being Android.  Needless to say, I wish Android better luck than what PC gaming has been seeing of late.  Let's see Android (pc) beat iphone (consoles) this time around :D.
Anways, does anyone know what racing game that is on the article's first photo? 
 
A Plants vs Zombies port to Android would likely entice me to dual boot my n900, hint hint :D
soralapioon June 8, 2010 at 12:41 a.m.
@VinceNotVance said:
@Rolento: I'd agree with you, but playing old-school console games on a touch-screen device is kinda dumb. It's nice to show off to your friends from time to time (especially since there are free versions of the emulators out there), but it's not like it's particularly fun to play these games on a touch screen. I'd imagine RPGs would work better, however. "
 
I think this is a problem with iPhone / Android gaming in general. People try to shoehorn in games that don't really work that well on the system. On-screen controls don't really work quite as well as one might hope and also at least my thumbs are not see-through. When I'm touching the screen, I'm obscuring it.  
 
Obviously this is a tradeoff that has to be made, but I'd still love to see developers play with the size of their on-screen visuals and the controls they really need. Zombieville USA on the iPhone is a great example of how to do this: big, flashy graphics work really well on the small screen and the controls are really unobtrusive.
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