It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the next big thing will be 3D gaming that delivers console quality applications on next-generation smart phones and portable wireless devices.

We take 3D for granted on PCs and dedicated games consoles, but the three-dimensional revolution is about to hit the mobile computing industry big time. It will inevitably be driven by the gaming market, which leads the pack in the traditional consumer 3D field.

The games industry is now so lucrative, it stands alongside the movie box office in the US as a major power broker.  It isn’t going to miss a golden opportunity like 3D mobile devices to tout its wares.

Gamers are a demanding bunch.  They want visually rich 3D gaming experiences on their mobiles, without any compromises. That means a power efficient, cost effective mobile companion. No ifs, no buts. 

Both hardware and software mobile 3D technologies are approximately five years behind traditional computing 3D. But they are catching up fast. According to analysts, the mobile 3D market is maturing nearly three times faster than its predecessor and is set to hit critical mass by 2006 – if not before.

Wireless gaming is set to lead the mobile 3D field. Market research company IDC, expects wireless gaming to generate USD $1 billion in wireless gaming revenue by 2006 for wireless carriers in the US alone. A generation of mobile devices just around the corner will be capable of rendering pretty much the same quality of 3D graphics seen in mass-market web-based 3D games.

True, smartphones and PDAs are multipurpose devices and 3D will only form part of their functionality.  But it is a key part, so it is little surprise that the biggest names in the industry, including ARM, are leading the charge for 3D software standards that run on mobile devices.

At the same time the heavyweights are sealing technology alliances to develop console-quality 3D applications.  Only recently ARM teamed up with US mobile gaming company Superscape and Korean software group Sinjisoft to produce high-definition 3D games for the Korean mobile phone market.

Under the terms of the agreement Sinjisoft has licensed the Swerve client technology, jointly developed by ARM and Superscape, to act as a 3D graphics engine in its GNEX mobile gaming software platform. Swerve is a fast and efficient software solution that generates and manages interactive 3D scenes using model description data. It is optimised for small download sizes, and saves memory and download time, making it ideal for the mobile phone gaming market. Sinjisoft has an existing gaming platform that does not include 3D, but it is already generating 16M consumer downloads a month. Sinjisoft hope to increase this with the introduction of 3D technology.

Interestingly mobile gaming in Japan and Korea has a much wider consumer acceptance than compared to Europe and and USA. So companies in the later two markets will be exploring endless ways of enticing new consumers. We will see more and more companies enter into such alliances as mobile handset providers seek out key ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. 

The 3D mobile gaming market is, for now, wide open and ripe with opportunity – but its sheer potential means it won’t be for long.