Rolando creator: Java mobile gaming is ‘such a mess, such a mess'

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz yesterday, Rolando creator Simon Oliver has been talking all about the iPhone and why it’s so good to develop for and release games on, going so far as to say Sony and Nintendo will have to mount a ‘rapid reaction’ if they want to keep up with the slick newcomer.

In the same interview, he has some damning things to say about conventional Java mobile gaming. Asked whether he used to play mobile games before the iPhone, Oliver manages in a single breath to impugn almost everybody involved in the mobile industry.

“I remember going on some of the early development courses years ago, for Java... It was such a mess, such a mess. From everyone's point of view. For customers it was an appalling user experience - it was overpriced, the games were terrible, there were compatibility problems. It was horrible from end-to-end. The only people that benefited were the carriers.”

Ouch. So is there any way back for Java gaming, GamesIndustry.biz asks?

“I don't think so, if you look at what some of the traditional developers are saying, people like Gameloft and Digital Chocolate - they're saying the iPhone is amazing for them, and generating the majority of their revenue since launch, despite the fact that it's only about 2 per cent of the market at the moment.”

Of course, iPhone penetration is relatively low at the moment, and recent figures suggest that iPhone games aren't doing quite the business many supposed. Java gaming has some work to do, but the fight isn't over yet.