The Game API package, which in itself is an extension of LCDUI (and thus the MIDP 2.0 API), provides a series of classes that enable the development of rich gaming content for wireless devices.
Mobile devices have minimal processing power, so much of the API is
intended to improve performance by minimizing the amount of work done in JavaTM;
this approach also has the added benefit of reducing application size. The
APIs are structured to provide considerable freedom when implementing them,
thereby permitting the extensive use of native code, hardware acceleration
and device-specific image data formats as needed. The API uses the standard
low-level graphics classes from MIDP (Graphics, Image,
etc.) so that the high-level Game API classes can be used in conjunction with
graphics primitives. For example, it would be possible to render a complex
background using the Game API and then render something on top of it using
graphics primitives such as drawLine, etc.
The Game API has its own package: javax.microedition.lcdui.game.
It is included as part of the JSR-118,
Mobile Information Device Profile for Java TM 2 Micro
Edition (MIDP 2.0) API specification. The API was first introduced
in S60 and Series 40 2nd Edition.
This guide features the use of the following MIDP 2.0 Game API features:
Class GameCanvas, a subclass of Canvas with
game-related features
Class Sprite, for animated sprites
Class TiledLayer, for tiled game backgrounds,
including animated tiles
Class LayerManager, for managing Sprites
and TiledLayers
The following MIDP 2.0 features will also be covered, as they are useful for games:
MIDP 2.0 Media API, for playing sound effects
Features of the MIDP 2.0 low-level UI, including transparent images, full-screen mode, vibration, and backlight flashing.