SEGA to Develop Palm OS Gaming API

Posted By: Ryan Wednesday, February 6, 2002 11:43:49 AM

In an effort to vastly streamline the delivery of mobile games content to Palm OS devices, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector announced plans to enhance its industry-leading DragonBall MX1 and Super VZ microprocessors with a portable game application programming interface (API) software from SEGA Corporation.

In conjunction with Motorola and Metrowerks, a Motorola company, Sega will develop this API for next-generation Palm Powered devices. The game API will be integrated into future versions of Metrowerks' CodeWarrior^TM development tools for the Palm OS platform. In addition, Sega Corporation will license the game API to developers.

Under the terms of the alliance, Motorola plans to optimize the hardware capabilities that accelerate SEGA 3D game applications on its DragonBall platform. Developers will be able to create this software using the CodeWarrior Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and toolset from Metrowerks. To ensure that the SEGA games software runs on the DragonBall processor and integrates seamlessly with the CodeWarrior IDE, both Motorola and Metrowerks plan to work closely with SEGA as the games software giant crafts comprehensive Palm OS game applications and libraries.

"Palm OS leads the worldwide handheld computing market. Our alliance with Motorola and Metrowerks puts us firmly in a leadership role in this market," said Tetsu Kayama, COO at SEGA Corporation. "We are proud that we will deliver Sega's gaming content to the DragonBall microprocessor family. We expect that the mutual development of Sega's gaming API for next-generation Palm Powered devices and integration into the next-generation Code Warrior® IDE will accelerate developers in the delivery of premium portable gaming content."

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Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 12:10:33 PM #

I guess this could be translated as, after WinCE screwed dreamcast, Sega decided to take revenge by developing game API for palm.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 12:24:27 PM #

large companys don´t earn a buck by revenge!

if sega would´t see money in the palm platform they wouldn´t develop for it.

sonic on a color palm - i can´t wait for it.
cool.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 1:11:13 PM #

Maybe I don't have enough vision, but I can't see the upside for Sega in this. Maybe Palm OS5 and the StrongARM processor can handle the kind of advanced graphics demanded by hardcore gamers, and Sega appears to have abandoned the hardware development arena since they stopped being able to compete with PS2, Nintendo and XBox. But can a Palm OS5 device really compete with GameBoyAdvance for game depth and playability? Another weird business decision for Sega...

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 1:57:10 PM #

> But can a Palm OS5 device really compete with GameBoyAdvance for game depth and playability?

Yes, easily. Better screen, better processor.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 2:00:18 PM #

> Yes, easily. Better screen, better processor.

***
"Mommy, please buy me a $499 Palm so I can play video games."

God... You have no clue do you about the video game industry?

For example: The Atari Lynx had a better screen, better processor and was destroyed... no annihilated by the black&white gameboy.

There is no way that a Palm or an ARM Palm will compete against a $69.95 GameBoy Advance and its library of games.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 2:06:14 PM #

A majority of video games aren't sold to people who have to ask permission from Mommy. They are more likely to have to clear it with their wife.

If you are looking for just something to play video games, you'll get a GameBoy. But games are a nice addition to the many many other things a handheld can do and a GameBoy can't. Both have their markets.

p.s You'd have more friends if you could talk politely to people who disagree with you.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 3:14:15 PM #

>>God... You have no clue do you about the video game industry?

yeah - but you have!

you also know that they give away their consoles without profit because they earn the money with the games.

and you also know that porting games to a new platform is easier than writing a new game.

yes you are our game-industry guru and thanks for the lesson.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 4:03:11 PM #

>> A majority of video games aren't sold to people who have to ask permission from Mommy. They are more likely to have to clear it with their wife. <<

Not necessarily true; PC game players and buyers are usually the same person (would you trust your mother or wife to know if the video card in your PC is compatible with Return to Wolfenstein, for example?), and tend to fall into the older male, married demographic you mentioned. Video game players and buyers are a much more diverse demographic, and usually aren't the same person. It's the parents who tend to fork out the dough for video games because the shopping is so much less confusing. "Little Johnny has a Playstation" versus "Daddy has a P4 1.4gHz running WinXP with 256mb RAM, but only an Intel 810 chipset and not the latest GeForce Nvidia board." Similar games, dissimilar markets.

Anyway, Sega doesn't have a good track record at making shrewd video game market decisions. (Sega CD, Nomad, Dreamcast) The original Sega console and the Game Gear were successful for a while, but Sony and Nintendo own the hardware market now. The only thing Sega has left is the software development side.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/7/2002 12:21:22 AM #

>Maybe I don't have enough vision, but I can't see >the upside for Sega in this.
>But can a Palm OS5 device really compete with >GameBoyAdvance for game depth and playability? >Another weird business decision for Sega...

Sega is now a game publisher focusing on content for every available gaming platform (PS2, XBox, Cube, GBA, etc.) The Palm market is one that hasn't been tapped by the likes of EA or Activision, so Sega sees this as an opportunity to enter a relatively competition-free market. Let's face it, the current set of Palm games (with the exception of some titles, like those of Astraware) is pretty simplistic.

Considering Palm's user base is generally in the upper income bracket, this seems like a pretty good idea to me.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/7/2002 9:40:20 AM #

"Mommy, please buy me a $499 Palm so I can play video games."

God... You have no clue do you about the video game industry?
----------------
The question was can the Palm perform as well. The response was, Yes, it has a faster processor/better screen.

Your response implied that the price point was too high. Apple and Oranges. Next time you so rudely respond to somebody, ensure to address the point.

I do happen to agree though that this will see limited success. Playability and price don't make for good gaming. Maybe the less expensive next-generation M100 series Palms will compete best.

RE: Sega Revenge 1.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/8/2002 10:30:07 AM #

You people obviously didnt understand this game-these will be simple puzzle games, dont expect to see Sonic or Desert Strike on your palm anytime soon!

Cost?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 12:21:47 PM #

"Sega Corporation will license the game API to developers."

I can only assume this means it will somehow be not free for developers, unlike the normal Palm development model where at least minimal good development tools are free. Probably a good time to start an open source "gaming API" project, for the OS 5 platform.

RE: Cost?

peter167 @ 2/6/2002 12:32:41 PM #

Yes, that's a great idea. But the biggest obstacle is that where are the games, especially the big RPG games. The small developers will not spend too much time to think of the game plots.

The Sega Game API may be aimmed on more complicate games, like NBA 2002.

RE: Cost?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 12:59:16 PM #

"I can only assume this means it will somehow be not free for developers, unlike the normal Palm development model where at least minimal good development tools are free."

Yes. That's what LICENSING means.

"Probably a good time to start an open source "gaming API" project, for the OS 5 platform."

You've got the right idea. If people don't wish to use SEGA's proprietary API, they don't need to. But just because SEGA is creating a dedicated gaming API doesn't mean it will be the only one available out there for the world to use.

But if this equates to better games at a quicker turn out rate, especially for those developers seeking ways for more ease of developemnt without having to create their own API's, why not?

RE: Cost?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 1:41:34 PM #

GNU is a LICENSE too, yet you can obtain software for free. IT doesn't mean SEGA won't charge for it though, but Palm might subsidise it because of its interest in having PAlm more than calendar/memo thingy

Why Bother?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 1:47:57 PM #

If the Dragonball's days are numbered as PalmOS's hardware foundation -- some say in less than a year -- then why would Motorola bother to optimize their hardware? Perhaps for other non-PalmOS Dragonball using devices? (I don't know of any others off hand.)

Does Sega and Motorola expect me to buy a non-ARM PalmOS machine just to run their games? I'll get a Gameboy first. I'm just about to spend several hundred dollars on a new PalmOS PDA, and my next one after that WILL be OS5 if it's available and decent.

I'll love to run some of the Sega titles on my Palm, but it sound from this that even a current Clie won't do it.

-Brett Blatchley

RE: Why Bother?

Edward @ 2/6/2002 2:29:25 PM #

The Dragon Ball MX is ARM based. There are a lot of 68k based VZ's out there too who like playing games.

RE: Why Bother?

bcombee @ 2/6/2002 2:39:08 PM #

Palm showed Palm OS running on the 68K based DragonBall SZ yesterday. It seems likely that a few manufacturers will be using the new 66MHz 68K chip to produce new versions of their devices before the ARM hardware and OS are readily available. David Fedor indicated that the chip benchmarked at twice the speed of current VZ-based units.

CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead

RE: Why Bother?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/6/2002 7:23:25 PM #

I can't imagine how they will convince people to buy games made with this API.

"Requirements: Palm OS 5 with Dragonball processor" seems too difficult to convince tons of people to go for...

Unless all Palm hardware manufacturers implemented the API, I don't really see wide adoption of this.

In fact, it seems like a step backwards to have such hardware dependencies. The Sega API is essentially a gatekeeper for a graphics accelerator. Upcoming Palm OSes will have support for graphics acceleration. So why would a programmer write for the few platforms using the Sega-"enhanced" processors when they could write for all of them?

Motorola DragonBall MX1 = ARM® core-based DragonBall product

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/7/2002 12:28:54 PM #

Exactly Edward. The Motorola DragonBall MX1 is a ARM® core-based chip.

Motorola breaks out new chip at PalmSource

Correspondent Melissa Francis demos Motorola's first ARM-based processor at PalmSource 2002.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?X1CD15401

The DragonBall MX1, the first ARM® core-based DragonBall product, targets high-end, wirelessly connected mobile products that can leverage its ARM920T core-based microprocessor with speeds up to 200 MHz. Additionally, the DragonBall MX1 provides the first on-chip Bluetooth™ baseband hardware accelerator announced from a major worldwide semiconductor supplier.

To deliver total solutions to the market, the DragonBall family has developed close intellectual property partnerships with ARM for the ARM920T core technology on the DragonBall MX1; SanDisk Corporation for MultiMedia Card (MMC) interface on DragonBall MX1 and Super VZ; Sony Corporation for Memory Stick™ interface on DragonBall MX1 and Super VZ; Digianswer A/S for Bluetooth™ technology on DragonBall MX1; and Metrowerks for CodeWarrior on the DragonBall Super VZ and DragonBall MX1.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?X4DD42401

ARM BlueTooth pdf file (December; 183K)
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L2ED42401