Mobile Blog: Video, Media, Augmented Reality, Rich Media, IVVR

Especially in multiplayer scenarios, game developers need to discover ways to provide players with the freedom to interrupt a game without displeasing other players. Further, game concepts should cope with the interaction delays of IVVR (Interactive Voice & Video Response) technology. In single-player games, the game should automatically pause and save the current game state when a user hangs-up the video call, resuming the last game state when the user chooses to play again. Implementing a similar functionality in multiplayer games is more challenging. As real-time shooters require rapid interaction, they are inappropriate for the W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) network. One way to cope with the high 3G network latency is turn-based multiplayer games in which fast reactions to other players’ decisions are not required. Moreover, some actions in a game can be performed asynchronously, such as character development or adding new items for sale in one’s in-game shop.

Event notifications combine well with asynchronous gameplay since it allows the game to contact the player when a certain kind of change in the game state has occurredor when other players are ready to play. In the sense of push-communication, gamers could be alerted by receiving a video call. When these alerts are received on a regular basis and only from a limited number of friends, they can increase pervasiveness without annoying the user. In such a case, users can decide whether they would like to accept the call when they are ready to play. Combining the concepts of asynchronous gameplay, event notifications, and a turn-based strategy helps developers to create entertaining multiplayer games suitable for IVVR.

Video call set-up times are generally between 1 to 5 seconds (1-second call set-up when using MONA specified in H.324 Annex K.) independently of the IVVR (Interactive Voice & Video Response) application one is going to use, which is sometimes faster than the initialisation process of complex J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) applications. This makes quick on-the-go lookup or entry of information pleasant. However, what happens when the caller needs to interrupt a gaming session or the call is interrupted because of missing network coverage or exceeded battery life? Games should enable users to start and stop with breaks in between, since the time they have to spend may be brief. Mobile games are used especially to pass time for just a couple of minutes or even seconds when waiting for the bus, riding the subway, or to relieve boredom during TV commercials. Therefore, all mobile applications need to apply ways to interrupt a session and quickly resume to the last state as the user desires. This requirement also applies to IVVR applications. As application and user data of IVVR programs can be completely stored on the server-side, there are no limitations to auto-save program states or record the user’s actions. With the caller’s unique phone number as an identifier, it is easy to develop resumable applications.