At the annual Games Developer Conference (GDC) in San Diego, Nokia is trumpeting its future in mobile gaming, which, according to Informa Telecoms & Media, surpassed $2.43 billion in 2005, is projected to reach $4.02 billion this year, and could top $10.17 billion in revenue by the end of the decade.

The Finnish phone giant unveiled its successor to the N-Gage gaming platform, a software development kit (SDK) with additional support for wireless game developers, and SNAP Mobile, a solution for the creation of Java-based online gaming communities.

Nokia last year indicated it would bring N-Gage gameplay to devices (starting with the NSeries) other than N-Gage-specific smartphones, as these devices did not perform well in the marketplace. While Nokia has started to make this a reality, with the as-of-yet unnamed N-Gage follow-up, the new gaming (software) platform will extend this progression even further.

The company said the interface will be compatible with a range of smartphones and be built on the S60 interface (on top of the Symbian OS, of course). S60 is the most popular smartphone platform in the world, by far.

By bringing its new gaming interface to S60 as a whole, Nokia has a much better chance of attracting developers. The difficulty in developing for N-Gage, the perceived lack of support by Nokia, and high costs involved resulted in far fewer applications than users and operators had hoped for.

Nokia says the new development tools and consumer interface are designed to empower the mobile games industry to create high quality 3D mobile games for Nokia smartphones. The first of which aren't due until the first half of 2007.

One estimate puts the number of devices that will initially ship with the new gaming interface at about 5 million, possibly rising to tens of millions in the ensuing years. Those figures jibe with the growth expectancy of the smartphone market as a whole.

ABI Research predicts 123 million smartphones will ship this year alone, mostly between the Symbian, Windows Mobile and Linux platforms. And those numbers don't include RIM's popular BlackBerry devices; no doubt because the analyst firm views them as wireless handhelds and not smartphones. You say tomato, I say tomato.

Game Developers
Nokia said new developer tools include Game Development Libraries, based on C++ programming libraries that are updatable on client devices for resolving compatibility issues, and adding new features including industry standard DRM solutions for content protection with minimal integration. Developers can also take advantage of the real-time connected gaming and community features enabled by the N-Gage Arena.

“Our new SDK contains familiar tools for developers, making it easy to focus on doing what they do best – creating great mobile games,” said Gregg Sauter, director, Games Publishing, Nokia. “Our platform lets developers put their games in millions of pockets worldwide and these new tools ensure developers can get on board to take advantage of this fantastic business opportunity.”

There's also Nokia provided debugging and analyzing tools, as well as enhanced support through a new PRO Games Zone section for game developers on Forum Nokia, the company's developer site. It joins an expanded Mobile Games section on the Forum Nokia community Web site.

Nokia VP for Forum Nokia Let Epting said, “Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone and expansion of the community games section shine a spotlight on Nokia’s mobile gaming leadership, from the first-ever mobile game - Snake, launched in 1997 - to the N-Gage platform and SNAP Mobile.”

“Forum Nokia has a great history of supporting mobile game development of which the new PRO Games Zone is the latest example, further enhancing the developer offering, providing easy access to all platforms and programs related to Games in Nokia and exclusive benefits for PRO membership,” Epting added.

Community
Nokia also wants to make it easier for operators to create communities for gamers to support its new mobile game interface and developer initiatives. SNAP Mobile's purpose is to encourage the creation of these online communities for mobile Java games, using the same underlying technology as N-Gage Arena.

Operators who choose SNAP Mobile’s Starter Kit or Standard Package, for example, can have their users hosted on the SNAP Mobile Community, a full-featured, generic Web site, which creates an online gaming community almost instantly, according to Nokia.

Nokia said in-game players will have their own unique user identities, as well as features such as friend lists, presence, rankings, chat and instant messaging. Out-of-game, users will not only have the ability to maintain their unique user identities and view rankings, but will also have at their disposal news and events, message boards, and featured game pages.

“Mobile technology was born out of the fact that people are social by nature and demand the ability to communicate outside of their offices and family rooms,” said Lisa Waits, Head of Nokia SNAP Mobile. “We asked why shouldn’t mobile gaming offer the same and we’re answering with our plug and play community solution for operators and publishers that will deliver a seamless, social experience for gamers.”

SNAP Mobile’s Premium Package provides a community Web site that can be fully customized to suit the operator’s needs.