May 01, 2009, 4:01 PM — Sun Microsystems is making a game out of promoting its JavaFX rich media application technology.
The company is sponsoring an "alternate reality" online game, PIE (Paranormal Investigation Experts) Theory to spark interest in JavaFX. The game is similar to "The X Files" TV show and is found at pietheory.com. The site was built using JavaFX.
[ Sun believes that JavaFX can take on AJAX and Silverlight. ]
"It's basically a basically a massive, multiplayer viral campaign," said Kim Celestre, senior group marketing manager for Java outbound marketing at Sun. Featured are two characters who are paranormal investigators looking to solve a mystery.
To participate, players download a recruitment kit that includes the JavaFX SDK and the NetBeans IDE. Players need to use the SDK as part of the game, using it, for example, to find a password. Participants either already have developer skills or find assistance from someone who does, Celestre explained.
Begun March 14, the game continues until June. Sun does not have figures on how many people have downloaded the recruitment kit.
Sun representatives could not say how JavaFX itself might be affected by Oracle's planned purchase of Sun, announced last week. Oracle, though, has stressed that the Sun-created Java technology will be a strong asset and that continued investment is planned in it.
