Every day I have friends telling me I need to jump on board with Android. In addition, there have been countless articles talking about how Android is blowing iOS out of the water sales wise now that they have so many phones on the platform. There are a number of Android phones that look very cool, but one of the big things that keeps me with iOS is the gaming support. I'm not a tech expert so I'm sure people understand it more than me, but does anyone see iOS gaming getting killed off in the next few years due to big increase in marketshare? It seems like you'd think Droid gaming would explode yet it seems like developers continue to move towards the iOS platform. I just want to get people's opinions on the future of Android vs. iOS gaming, especially reasons specific to the Android OS. I've heard there are some issues with the Android OS where the same game tends to look much better on an iPhone vs an equivlent Android device. Apparently it has something to do with how the OS is structured. Maybe some of you more knowledge of this stuff can throw in your two cents.
The Android userbase will be growing all the time since there are new Android phones every month. But I don't think it'll take over mobile gaming, at least not in the next few years. I sort of trust iOS gaming more right now because of Apple's approval process. Apparently, there is no approval process for the Android Market, so if you think that there are a lot of crappy games in the App Store, I can't even imagine how many crappy apps there will be in the Android Market. Also, I heard it is easy to pirate apps on the Android Market. I mean, REALLY easy. From what I've heard, a person just has buy an app, backup the installation file and then they can get a refund (within a certain time after purchasing). Most big name companies probably won't like this, so until it is fixed, they may not develop for Android. But maybe it already has been fixed Anyways, I personally don't think you should 'jump on board with Android' right now. If you're worried that Android may take over mobile gaming, then switch whenever that happens. I personally don't think Android will be taking over in awhile. In my opinion, the only mobile operating systems that may be able to compete with iOS is WP7 and maybe WebOS (if HP releases a WebOS phone).
believe me when i say that android WILL NEVER become a gaming platform it suffers too much from hardware and software fragmentation, meaning that too many phones have different versions of android from too many different carriers with different hardware specs. It is a nightmare for developers to create games for Android. The best Android games so far are gameloft games which were made for iOD n ported to SOME Android devices. Right now WP7 has a bettet chance of being a competitor with iOS in gaming. Microsoft has a min hardware spec set in place for all phones that has WP7 not to mention that it also has xbox live support. Your friends are probably jealous that u hav iOS n they hav Android stick with iOS plus Infinity Blade gets released for iOS ONLY ob Dec 9th hope this helps
The difference with the Android app store is there's no approval process. If anything I suspect Windows Phone 7 will be getting quite a few ports with Xbox live integration and MS franchises (Halo, anyone?). I doubt they will get as many indie developers though.
This interview with John Carmack has some good insight on how AAA developers see Android: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/11/post-8.ars/ TLDR: Android is a PITA compared to iOS.
No!! Let me share my thoughts as a developer. In the begining I was a windows mobile game developer. I started learning how to program on my own time. As I learned , I would make short games and release them for free on windows mobile. When I met an animator , we worked on and released 4 commercial games for windows mobile. Sorry to say sales where bad , because windows mobile users are used to free. They refuse to pay and downloaded cracked software like religon. Our only game on iphone MomoAlienStarcatcher in one month has surpassed in sales what we had with 4 windows mobile games. Iphone users respect the developers and dont mind paying for quality apps. Now on to Android , there is too many devices period. The devices are all different internally , which is a huge mistake on googles part. Games work on one phone and dont work on the other. You can install games for free at will and file share. Developers will not waste time porting and making very little money. Windows Phone 7 is an amazing device , but Microsoft isnt going to be as indie friendly as iphone/ipod. In the begining they might be , only to developers who have a proven game. They have the best chance to challenge IOS , but not beat it. They want developers to use thier tools which is a tremedous mistake. Iphone developers have many different tools , more than any other mobile device. In conclusion none of the other platforms are even close to beating iphone/ipod. I mean it , there is no comparison. Iphone will totally dominate all mobile platforms when it comes to games. Really there isnt even a debate.
Android will never become better, as it runs on too many different hardwares (and the same with WP 7). The only one I see as potential competition is Samsung's Bada as it only has a few phoned built around it, with one of them having a really good hardware.
I'm a lil more interested in the psp phone that's rumored. If done well I can see it give iPhone a challenge as a "gaming" platform
Naw iOS users shouldn't fear Android, not because they're safe from losing to the competition, but because the competition will drive quality up in the app store. As an iPhone user, I'm happy to see the competing Android-based games market growing; it will only mean better games all around. And yes, the Android user base is too splintered to take on Apple's standard IMO.
I hope not. It kind of pisses me off to see Android gaining any ground. Competition is good, but it sucks when the competition starts to win... This wouldn't be happening if Apple didn't go AT&T exclusive. One of the only reasons why Android is gaining any ground is because AT&T sucks, and Android's phones are available on more networks. But I think Droid's days are numbered. As soon as Apple makes a Verizon compatible iPhone, there will no longer be a reason to bother with Droid other than maybe price, and a few extra features.
Thanks for the feedback. It's especially cool to get developer comments. At the end of the day developers are going to make games where they feel they have the best chance for success. I never went into this whole smartphone world expecting to game on it, but it's really become a big hobby over the past several months. I love gaming on my iPhone (and maybe an iPad one day). It's nice to know that at least for the time being this platform seems to be in a good place for providing long term support of gaming. Is the fragmentation of devices really that bad on Windows 7 as well? Also, is that really that detrimental in regards to developers wanting to support the platform?
I never wanted an Android based phone, but the Windows phones are making me jealous simply for their Xbox Live connectivity. The iPhone 4 is still a more intuitive device though, and the iPod function is still the very best portable MP3 player around. So I don't see myself switching as of yet, even if I had no contract.
At least here in the US that is EXACTLY it. You don't know how many people I've talked to who are on Verizon or Sprint who would get an iPhone if they could. I was actually talking to a cell phone sales person at Best Buy last week and he said that he gets more people wanting iPhones over anything else by far, but a bunch of people end up going with an Android to stay with Verizon/Sprint/T Mobile because of contracts or the AT&T network mostly. If Apple ever gets out of that exclusive deal, I think Android sales would dry up quick.
As mentioned already, I think fragmentation is a big issue for people looking to develop games for Android. That being said, Android's current dominance in marketshare will take a big hit once Apple finally brings the iPhone to other carriers like they are rumored to be doing with Verizon in 2011.
Yeah, I mentioned it over in the sale thread for Gameloft's thing... All the tweets with users having problems etc.. At the end of the day, fragmentation REALLY messes with the end user's experience. Android's a compelling mobile OS, but it's not "open-source", that's a smokescreen. It's "open" for carriers to pre-load their phones with crappy apps that only people who want to root their phone can remove. And people that talk about apple's "walled garden", well, it's a very nice garden to be locked into. Amazing UI, design, apps, games. I've thought about picking up an Android to do geeky linux experiements with and in general stay up on top of new good apps released, but they're not there. Android doesn't have killer, exclusive games developed for it. Activision's not taking iOS seriously as a platform, what do they think of android i wonder..
I wouldn't use the term "never". The landscape is constantly changing and competition is increasing every day. You simply can't ignore the growing Android base and the reach it's had over across different devices and carriers. As a developer, you would be short sided to think that the iOS is the only game in town. As a business, you have to expand your offerings across the board to remain viable. This is similar to the OS wars of the 80s and 90s when Microsoft decided to license itself to other PC manufacturers while Apple decided to remain isolated with its OS. For what it's worth, that worked out for Microsoft, and it took Apple almost two decades to come back with the iPod and later iPhone. You're seeing the same thing play out right now with Android, iOS and Windows 7. Only time will tell what happens, but as I said, you cannot ignore Android's increasing user base. If history is an indicator, Apple should really be considering a strategy for expanding its iOS onto other platforms and devices beyond the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Even with its success, Apple hasn't done itself any favors tying itself to AT&T. And, the Android devices are pretty good from the ones I've used. You can only sit on your perch and pride for so long. That happened last time with Apple, and hopefully, it doesn't wait too long this time.