SIS

Playyoo, the mobile games community where mobile game players and game creators meet to freely exchange mobile games, is seeking to hire a Java/J2EE Engineer for the development of its social mobile games platform.

In a young and dynamic environment, the successful candidate will work on a highly creative and challenging project where her/his contribution can influence the overall company’s success.

The candidate must have a proven track experience working as Java/J2EE engineer on complex Internet solutions in multitier architectures. A plus is the experience working on mobile applications.

Job description

As a Java/J2EE Engineer you will work in a team to develop and provide technically advanced (mobile) Internet solutions at the cutting edge of technology.

Qualification

• Knowledge of Java 2 Enterprise Edition
• Deep knowledge in JSF, Facelets , EJB 3.0, AJAX, Servlets, JSPs, Struts 2.0 and Java Beans technologies
• Knowledge of the ImageMagick software suite is a plus

We appreciate

• Experience in rich internet applications based on Flex/Flash/Flash Lite
• Experience in using the Glassfish application server
• Experience in using the PostgreSQL ORDBMS
• Experience in developing with the NetBeans IDE

Technical background

• A degree in Information Sciences, Software Engineering or similar.
• Excellent OO Java software development skills including the ability to select and apply well-known OO design patterns
• A good knowledge of the UML object modeling and specification language
• Skilled in Internet solutions and multitier architectures

Other skills

• Ability to work in heterogeneous teams
• Expertise to take initiatives and decisions and to shoulder the responsibility
• Good knowledge of the English language, both spoken and written

Playyoo SA is based in the lakeside city of Lugano, in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, in Switzerland. The location offers an excellent quality of life, less than an hour away both from the Swiss Alps and the city of Milan.

For the successful candidate Playyoo SA will manage all the local requirements for the issuing of the required work permits as well as assist with relocation requirements.

For further information on this position or to submit applications please contact ivan.stefanini@playyoo.com .

Is Microsoft Paint about to displace Adobe Photoshop as the minimalist designer’s tool of choice?

Take a look at the cool work done in an advertisement for KuneriLite where they hand draw a Nokia N95 using just Microsoft Paint and one very talented hand, the result is pretty neat.

>> KuneriLite extends Flash Lite and allows developers to access S60 features (i.e Bluetooth, GPS, Camera, and more) and create great looking S60 applications.

Next in line is Mariam, her game Sea Combat came in 17th place.

The Game

About Mariam

My name is Mariam Dholkawala and I am based out of Mumbai, India. After spending six years in a game development company (Indiagames Ltd), I recently moved on to work independently on projects under a development studio iGameStudio.I have been a game developer for close to 7 years now and have loved every moment of it. I started my gaming career with Macromedia Director as the Lingo Scripting Language was a lot more powerful for than Actionscript. Soon as Flash evolved and the market started demanding light weight and graphic rich games, I moved on to Flash development.

The Interview

WordRap

How did you become a Flash Lite developer?
My journey into Flash mobile game development began when I first read an article about the Mobiclip extension for Flash. This extension allowed me to compile a swf file into a format for mobiles. I immediately requested for their SDK and become a part of their small developer base. Working on this gave me an understanding of mobile limitations and ways to overcome them.Soon I received an invitation to be a part of the Flash Lite 1.1 beta and my journey into the world of Flash Lite began. The first game I made with my team at Indiagames was “Cryptic Capers”. This won us an award at the Macromedia Flash Lite Content Contest in 2005 in the Best Game Category. Then on I just got hooked to this technology and created a huge catalogue of games. It’s now been close to 4 years and I still love working on Flash Lite.

You are interested in casual games, tell us why?
The biggest advantage of developing casual games is they are simple, fun, and in most cases provide an easy one thumb play to its users. Today people want to fill up their spare time (waiting for someone, in a meeting, travelling in the train) in playing a game. Hard-core games don’t allow that because they need detailed understanding and time. Casual games are currently considered a market driver, and that’s why I develop casual games

Tell us how you came up with idea for this game.
While submitting my games for the Playyoo contest, I realized that most of my games were single screen games. I wanted to do something different so I thought of doing a game with a scrolling screen. At the same time I also wanted to make sure that the scrolling experience was consistent on all handsets that supported it. So discarding the idea for a complex scrolling game I thought of this simple concept for Sea Combat.

What other games do you like on Playyoo?
Currently the Playyoo website is populated with various games, so filtering the good from the average is difficult. However as a manager of the IndiMaD UG, I did get an opportunity to see all the games off the Playyoo website and I think all the developers who have contributed have done a great job on their games. Kudos to all.

What are you currently working on?
Currently I have tied up with a local Indian brand to create a mobile viral campaign for their product. This application is being developed using Flash Lite. Apart from this, I also have a Flash Lite game which I was working on, but has been put on hold due to this new project.

What do you think Playyoo can offer to you as a developer?
I think Playyoo provides a great platform to showcase and share games with the rest of the gaming community. It is a great place to receive feedback on your work, make new friends and see what other developers are doing.