PopCap gets connected with Nokia SNAP

Something that got lost amid the discussions about N-Gage at last week's Nokia Games Summit was the announcement of the latest SDK for Nokia's SNAP Mobile connected Java gaming platform.

Version 2.2 of the SDK was announced, with key new features including a game template, new tools for creating user-interfaces, and support for cross-platform games.

Publisher PopCap Games has already taken advantage of the new SDK, producing a connected version of its Chuzzle puzzler, with global rankings. The publisher will be using SNAP for more titles in 2009.

The game template in SNAP 2.2 aims to make it quick and simple for developers and publishers to add connected features to their existing games, plugging in existing code.

The cross-platform element is interesting, too. SNAP now supports the J2SE standard, allowing developers to turn their SNAP-powered mobile games into desktop applications or Java web applets.

N-Gage game Reset Generation recently used the new features to run its web-to-mobile multiplayer features.

Meanwhile, SNAP 2.2 also has a new API for bots, allowing developers to match players up with AI bots if there's nobody online to play against.

"Nokia is committed to enhancing the mobile gaming experience, and by adding these new elements to the SNAP Mobile SDK, we're making it faster and easier for developers to add connected gaming elements to their games," says Jonathan Sharp, director of games strategy at Nokia.

That's undoubtedly true, although the barrier to more connected mobile games isn't so much the technology as the business models – here in Europe at least.

Issues such as the rollout of unlimited data tariffs, the introduction of more subscription and/or pay-to-play pricing, and the willingness of operators to allow connected features in mobile games sold on-deck will all be big factors.

Anyway, you can get the new SDK from the official SNAP Mobile website.