I defied the majority. In 2008, instead of joining the lemmings who lined up outside AT&T stores across America to anxiously join the iPhone cult, I waited patiently for the first Google Android phone - the G1 - to become available through my carrier, T-Mobile. I did my research and I knew this was the phone for me. Despite my daughter going the iPhone route, my husband and son opting for the BlackBerry, I stood firm in my desire to own an Android.

I received it a day before it dropped to the public (thank you, T-Mobile!) and, to date, have not been disappointed in any aspect of the phone. Apparently, I am not alone. Since we powered on our G1s, the phone's success has caused Google to authorize several different generations of the Android phone for a variety of carriers. The most recent iteration, the Nexus One, hit the market this month. This is touted as Google's answer to Apple's iPhone and, given the reviews that are floating through cyberspace, the prevailing opinion is that the Nexus One IS, in fact, the answer to the iPhone. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch Review calls it "the best Android powered phone to date." Joshua Topolsky of Engadget declares this phone "handsome...lustworthy." PCmag.com says, "Android has become the most-buzzed-about smartphone platform for everyone who doesn't have AT&T."

One of the features the reviewers love best is the 3.7 inch 480 x 800 OLED capacitive touchscreen. Arrington gushes, "This is the best mobile phone display on the market today, blowing away the iPhone's 480 x 320 display. The screen is bright and alive, and an absolute pleasure to use." It's clear from these rave reviews that Google has been listening to its users' criticisms of the Android because the company has consistently improved the Android since the days of the G1 until now, when the Nexus One is considered by many to be a real competitor to the iPhone.

This is all well and good. But, I still have one question for game developers: why aren't you giving the Android some love? To date, the number of casual games available on the Android is pretty damn paltry. According to the Android app directory AndroLib.com, there are currently fewer than 3500 games available for the Android. Compare this to the 13,000+ games available on the iPhone.

And, worse news for Android game players was yet to come. In November, 2009, Gameloft, which describes itself as a "world leader in the publishing and development of downloadable video games," announced that they were going to decrease their development of Android games. Could this be true? The company's finance director Alexandre de Rochefort released this statement: "We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like...many others. It [Android Market] is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue. We are selling 400 times more games on iPhone than on Android."

Gameloft's competitor, EA Mobile, has similar feelings about the Android. A check of AndroLib.com shows two - that's right, TWO - EA Mobile games available on the Android Market, The Sims 3 and Bejeweled. But, unlike Gameloft, EA Mobile has not publicly announced a downgrade of development dollars for the Android, opting instead to look on the bright side of the situation. VP of worldwide publishing Adam Sussman says, "We look for Google's Android platform to become an important channel for EA Mobile and we have already launched some of EA Mobile's most popular franchises on Android including Bejeweled and The Sims 2 with more to come, including Surviving High School, Spore Origins and many others."

To be fair, shortly after de Rochefort made his statement, Gameloft backtracked, saying it fully supported Google's Android platform and promising to continue releasing games for the current generation of Android mobiles. VP of publishing Gonzague de Vallois said, "The arrival of this new generation of phones will allow the development of High Definition games that make the most of the technological capacity and the speed of execution offered by the new Android phones. Consumers will benefit from a top quality gaming experience." The company seemed to support de Vallois' statement by announcing 20 Gameloft games to be released for the Android platform.

But, the rush to get games into the Android marketplace does not exactly resemble a flood. While small developers are creating intriguing free apps, apps and games from the sexy, big-name developers are slower to arrive. I'm not naïve...I'm sure this boils down to numbers. For example, Google sold 20,000 Nexus One phones during its first week. These aren't bad numbers, but they hardly compare to the 1.6 million iPhone 3GS handsets that were sold in its first week. And, there are other issues at play. Skyhook Wireless conducted a survey of 30 "influential application developers" who admitted to being unhappy with the Android download volumes (too low), poor Android Marketplace design (too confusing) and the Google Checkout process (too difficult). A majority of the developers were frustrated by their profits due to the low download volumes. And, since there are different Android phones, each with different specifications, the developers worry about the difficulty and time spent creating apps and games for so many different versions of the Android. (By comparison, the iPhone has a uniform design, so the apps and games fit on any version of the iPhone.) The Android platform's "divergence has just created further problems," says developer James Grafton. "We simply can't afford to test across all Android phones." And, storage is an issue: most Android phones have 256 MG of storage for apps, which prevents developers from creating high-end games.

The situation doesn't look particularly positive, does it? So, if you're an Android lover like I am, we have work to do. Trump up your Android phone to others; get them interested in switching to our side! And, if you want more games and apps for your Android, get your wallet involved! Don't settle for free apps and games...select ones that cost money and then buy them!