A few months back I bought a Motorola Droid when it came out in November for two reasons. One was to get rid of my old flip phone and shut my brother up about his Iphone, and the other was to develop applications for it. Since releasing my first app, a port of Virus Effect, I have a few things to say to all Java developers out there. Jump on the wave while there is still room.

The Android platform is perfect for any beginning developer that wants to release an application and slowly build upon it. The turnover time for releasing updates depends on how much time you have and how fast you can code. There is no Apple enforced review process you have to worry about. This is great for any developer that wants to try out their skills in the mobile world, especially indies. The development community is also very active, and there are various resources to aid you when developing on the platform.

The main reason everyone should be developing on the platform is because there is still room for independent projects that can get awesome reviews and be successful. The Apple App Store is overly saturated with games and apps that shouldn't have seen the light of day, and being successful on there is a more difficult achievement. On Google's platform you can refine your project then port it over to the Iphone once your successful in the Android Market. The best part is you can make a buck or two while working on it with easy to implement ads or releasing a full version of your app.

Google has been extremely kind to new and dedicated developers. I recently attended one of the Google Developer Labs in Austin and got a free Motorola Droid. So now I have two, and can test out multiplayer when I get to it in the near future. They have also just recently announced that they will be giving out a Nexus One or Droid to any current developer of an Android app that has at least 5,000 downloads and a 3.5 or higher rating. This is a ton of developers, a category in which I don't fall under but I'm not disappointed. VE Android is still in the early stages, and I don't need a third Droid... yet ;)

So if you don't have an Android phone to develop on, focus on getting one or use the emulator. It is perfectly fine to develop an app with, and if you are coding your games correctly you should be able to get decent performance out of it. On the bright side you will know when its on a phone it will perform much smoother. The most rewarding part of the whole experience is seeing the smile players get when playing your game for the first time, or in my case the frustration people have with the controls. :P

-Corvinex-