Jonathan Sharp, director of games strategy at Nokia, commented: "Nokia is committed to enhancing the mobile gaming experience and by adding these new elements to the SNAP Mobile SDK, we're making it faster and easier for developers to add connected gaming elements to their games. Consumers expect more and more from their mobile games and this SDK will help developers deliver great Java games with superior connected gaming elements. We are working in close collaboration with our gaming partners to evolve the mobile gaming industry at large and together we can ensure that consumers get even better games."
The new game template provides a complete implementation for all required community functionality such as friends list and chat, with an interface that allows developers to either plug in existing game code, or to use as a basis for entirely new connected games. This template enables developers to concentrate on developing their game, not on the platform requirements, since most SNAP Mobile requirements are already in the game template.
With the user interface framework, developers can quickly manipulate a game's look and feel with easy to change XML. The UI framework includes a clean separation of controller logic which makes it easy to use with developers' existing UI frameworks. For example, PopCap Games' Chuzzle powered by SNAP Mobile is now available with new connected elements that enable players to compete globally for high scores. PopCap took their existing Chuzzle game and used the SNAP Mobile SDK 2.2 to quickly add connected functionality with only minimal redesign to the game's user interface. This is PopCap's first connected mobile game developed on a Nokia platform, with development ongoing for additional games expected to be available in 2009.