Havok physics engine comes to Android 2.3, demoed on Xperia Play (video)
Great graphics are often a component of great video games, but fancy physics can help too, and last week Havok announced that it was bringing those to Android, along with all of the requisite development tools. That means smartphones with Android 2.3 or up can potentially enjoy the same procedural animations and pretty dresses that we've enjoyed on PC and home console for years, and as the first gamer-centric smartphone with Gingerbread on board, Sony Ericsson's forthcoming Xperia Play got to be the first to demo them. Watch a pickup plow through road hazards, a gorilla get catapulted across a football field, and an Assassin's Creed-esque warrior run, jump and climb with the best of them in the video above. Oh, and just so you know, we got a (very brief) hands-on with all three demos in person at GDC 2011 last week, and each was practically enjoyable enough to be an Android game of its own. The realistically bouncing ball's in your court, developers. Don't let us down.
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Havok and Sony Ericsson Push Smartphone Boundaries
Mar 1, 2011
Optimised Havok tools available now for Android™ Developers to create games for Xperia™ PLAY
March 1st, 2011, San Francisco - Havok and Sony Ericsson are delighted to announce the availability of Havok's product suite to Android™ developers, optimized for Xperia™ PLAY, Sony Ericsson's recently announced smartphone. Havok, the leading provider of game technology, has a fully optimized build of its industry leading product line ready for licensing by Android™ developers on Xperia™ PLAY as part of its entry into Android™.
David Coghlan, Managing Director, Havok said: "As part of Havok's overall support for the Android™ platform, we are very pleased to partner with Sony Ericsson to put the full power of the Havok product line into the hands of Xperia™ PLAY developers. We were extremely impressed by the performance of the Xperia™ PLAY and the ease with which we were able to port and optimise our technology to the platform. This will enable developers to use Havok technology to create cinematic, rich 3-D immersive games for Android™ smartphones with Xperia™ PLAY in the forefront."
Steve Walker, Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson said: "Xperia™ PLAY is not only a fantastic smartphone on the latest Android™ platform, it also offers the best mobile gaming experience available. We are very pleased to be working with Havok to bring new levels of cinematic and immersive gaming experiences, never before seen on smartphones, to the Android™ platform.
Havok has now fully ported all seven of its products to Gingerbread (version 2.3), the latest version of Google's Android™ platform and partnered closely with Sony Ericsson to deliver a specifically optimized runtime ahead of launch.
