(June 4, 2003) - As anyone knows who attended the 2003 E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles, if gaming is even bigger than usual this year in the software development world, then Java gaming is bigger still. Especially in the wireless gaming world.

So it would be perfectly natural if the giants, Sun and Nokia and the rest, were to use the occasion of JavaOne next week to make announcements about how they are currently using and promoting the use of Java to tackle the overriding issue in the wireless gaming space today: how best, in a wireless world of 206MHz PDAs and 3D-capable cell phones, to chase customers across multiple devices?

One person who is already fully on the case in providing answers to this question is Chris Melissinos, Sun Microsystems' chief gaming officer and author of an excellent article published recently in Java Developer's Journal.

Melissinos, who is responsible for the development of Sun's programs and strategies targeting the electronic entertainment industry, drew JDJ readers' attention to the fact that Sun had already back in September of last year launched www.JavaGaming.org "to act as ground zero for Java game development, offering everything from discussion boards to sample code to cool links."

His article pointed out how the "mobile content industry" as yet had no set standards, making the cross-platform aspect extremely difficult. Enter Java, enabling the delivery of true cross-platform, high-performance gaming… here and now. What Melissinos contends is that, as the pressures and costs of developing increasingly compelling game content in the face of new competition continue to rise, the benefits of Java will become ever more attractive.

"With the high level of penetration across dozens of different media devices," he argues, "Java is providing an exciting, high-performance platform for the next generation of games."

"As game developers learn how to incorporate these devices into their game framework, and look beyond the box to the Web as the platform, the ubiquity of Java will prove invaluable. Of all the great services and technologies that are incorporating Java, none will experience a greater impact than the games industry. So check your mobile phones, PDAs, cable boxes, and game consoles. Your favorite game will show up where you may least expect it: everywhere."

JDJ always hoped that this would be the first of many such articles on Java Gaming, and sure enough, starting with next month's issue, the July issue, there will be a fact-filled series of articles by the magazine's former J2ME editor, Jason Briggs, on "Java Games Development," starting with a marvelous Symposium involving the Great and the Good of the Java gaming world.

Sun's Melissinos is a part of it, as are: Gerardo Dada of Metrowerks; Erik Duijs, IT consultant and author of the Java Emulation Framework (JEF); Shawn Kendall, founder of Immediate Mode Interactive, LLC, who has developed Java and Java3D based game technology demos for Full Sail, Sun, and I.M.I.; Jeff Kesselman, Sun's Architect for Game Technologies, who worked on the JDK performance tuning team and co-wrote Java Platform Performance: Strategies and Tactics; Doug Twilleager, Chief Architect of the Java Games Initiative at Sun and one of the architects of Java 3D; David Yazel, VP of software development of trading systems and portfolio management systems at a leading financial investment company by day and, by night, games developer for (and founder of) the Magicosm project, a 100% Java-based MMORPG.