TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Manoa company brings
popular game to
(really) small screenOne of the world's most addictive video games has been brought to the small screen of certain cell phones by Manoa-based Blue Lava Wireless LLC.
The block-busting game Tetris has been available via Sprint PCS Vision service since last fall, produced using the Java programming language used by Sprint. Blue Lava has now produced Tetris in Qualcomm's "BREW" operating system for other cellular providers, such as Verizon Wireless, AllTel and U.S. Cellular.
BREW stands for Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless.
"This is a big step for us," said John Ray, Blue Lava vice president of business development.
As of Dec. 31, Verizon had 32.5 million subscribers and Sprint had 14.8 million, according to Ray.
Tetris was first downloaded from Sprint PCS' Vision service in September but, "we don't have public numbers we're allowed to give in Sprint adoption rates," he said.
Blue Lava is looking at other carriers and platforms for Tetris and other Blue Lava games such as Video Poker and Blue Blocks.
More games are in development. Some are public domain, "but we're starting to put more focus on original titles."
A downside of video games for cell phones is the small screen, said Blue Lava founder Henk Rogers.
"I'm very conscious of what the difference is between a game for a cell phone and for a computer," Rogers said. "The graphics have to be much easier to see."
For Blue Lava's Mine Hunter game, "instead of having a static screen, it scrolls," he said.
Multi-player games are in Blue Lava's plans for around the end of the year.
"Now we have about 2 million phones that can play those games. Once we're up to 10 million, I think that's enough (to start)," he said.
Ray also believes the coming year will bring growth to the market, and cited analysts' predictions for a longer term explosion in games for wireless phones.
"There are projections that say the wireless gaming business by 2006 worldwide may be $5 (billion) to $15 billion. Some even predict it'll be bigger than the current market for console video games," Ray said.
"I'm not sure we're quite that bullish," he said. "Wireless games will never replace console games. They cost what they cost for a reason. They're very sophisticated machines."
Users pay between $2 and $3 for a 60-day use of the Tetris game, or around $6 for unlimited use, but the cost varies by carrier and service area.
"One of the main reasons the cell phone phenomenon has taken off so well in Japan is they spend a lot of time in public transport," Ray said.
The market in North America is cell phone users who have lots of down time while waiting for flights, or riding a bus or train, he said.
Or perhaps in boring meetings.
Games could soon integrate applications, such as a multiplayer scavenger hunt game which would incorporate a wireless phone's camera function.
Blue Lava obtained the rights to Tetris from Delaware-based Tetris Co. LLC. Rogers is president of similarly named Blue Planet Software Inc., which is a 50 percent partner in Tetris Co.
Blue Lava has only one employee who was "imported" to the Manoa Innovation Center; the programmers and designers are all local, and Ray works in Florida where he's closer to the East Coast-based carriers, Rogers said.
The company was established in Hawaii primarily because of Act 221, he said. Advice from his attorney, David Kwock, did the trick.
"You're not going to find a better place to start a new high-tech business," Kwock told him.
Plus, there's money for investments here where it has dried up in California, Rogers said.
"The second thing is when I tell people I've moved to Hawaii everybody says 'quality of life?' and I say, 'No, intensity of business.' In the past I couldn't say that," he said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com