Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Moreover, Reasearch In Motion (RIM) (the company behind BlackBerry devices) of-
fers a guarantee that if a quality certified app doesn't make $10,000 in the first year,
they will pay up the difference to the developers. No other platform owner company
offers such a guarantee!
BlackBerry is a brand of smartphones and handheld devices developed by RIM.
The main features of these devices are the ability to send and receive push e-mails
and instant messages, while maintaining a high level security. That's what made
BlackBerry an optimal choice for companies that provide their employees with smart-
phones for business use. They also share many features of other smartphones, in-
cluding media players, Internet browsers, cameras, and obviously, gaming capabilit-
ies.
The OS used by BlackBerry devices is a proprietary environment developed by RIM
and designed to take advantage of their distinctive input devices: the track wheel,
the track ball, the track pad, and the QWERTY keyboard. The BlackBerry OS also
provides support for Java MIPD 1.0 and 2.0 (refer to the
Java ME
section), thus al-
lowing third party developers to create apps for this platform.
A developer must have an account with RIM and be digitally signed in order to guar-
antee his/her authorship.
There are several tools that can be used to develop games for BlackBerry, such as
the open source project GamePlay, that don't require developers to learn entirely
new skills to build apps for the platform.
With the BlackBerry 10 platform released in 2013, one can find many reasons to con-
sider this option, having the BlackBerry Play Book tablets in mind!
The BlackBerry App World
The BlackBerry App World is the service provided by RIM to BlackBerry owners to
browse and download apps for their devices. Launched in April 2009 and with fewer
apps than the Apple Store or Google Play, the BlackBerry App World offers all funda-
mental services provided by its direct competitors: intuitive user interface to browse
applications by category, the possibility of reinstalling already purchased apps, sev-
eral flexible payment options, and a rating and review system for apps available for
shopping.
