CTIA Wireless 2005 is still a few days away, but mobile gaming--sure to be one of the hot topics on this year's convention floor--is making its fair share of noise this week as well. Not only were wireless gaming developers out in full force for the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, but Qualcomm announced new publisher and developer support for wireless 3D games on its enhanced multimedia platform. Topping it all off, a new Juniper Research report projects that the value of the worldwide mobile gaming market will increase this year by 78% to nearly $5.6 billion, while the value of the North American market will grow tenfold over the next five years to $4.1 billion.

According to Juniper, the key to unlocking wireless gaming's potential lies in reaching out to subscribers beyond the core gaming demographic--i.e., young adult males. That means developing games that don't fall into the sports and first-person shooter genres that currently dominate the market. But regardless of subject or genre, the real money to be made here hinges on multiplayer gaming. Consider the success of Internet multiplayer gaming, with its high-score lists, public and private game rooms, and head-to-head competition against friends. Multiplayer gaming on wireless networks is a can't-miss.

But like so many other wireless applications, multiplayer gaming is mired in issues of standardization and interoperability. This is not breaking news. In July 2001, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens launched the Mobile Games Interoperability Forum for the purposes of defining interoperability specifications, application programming interfaces and protocols for network-enabled gaming. A year later, the forum rolled into Open Mobile Alliance, renaming itself the Games Services Working Group in the process. According to the handful of documents posted on the GSWG's Web site, virtually nothing has happened since then; a charter dated Jan. 24, 2004 is the last sign of life.

In short, multiplayer gaming enters CTIA Wireless 2005 facing the same questions and obstacles as last year, and the year before that. Like they say about the lottery, you can't win if you don't play--so why does everyone seem so content to remain on the sidelines?

E-mail me at jankeny@primediabusiness.com.