Do you folks with experience using Game Center, Openfeint, etc. think it's event worth the investment for games given the type we publish? We basically do retro-style old school games re-spinning them with a lot of action, including breaker, invaders. But we also do kid games like bug squashing. Thoughts if it's even worth it for this type? Pics/links can be seen at our website below. Thanks, Papa @ Daddy Quack Quack, LLC (www.daddyqq.com)
I've done a retro arcade style game and included Game Center for high scores and achievements. Comments have been positive about it, although I don't know how much that effect that has had on sales or time spent playing. I think it helps include GC or an equivalent. In the longer term I think games will be marked down for not having something like that.
"the average joe" still has no idea what things like OF and GC are. However I assume it makes it easier to get any kind of promotion (from ANYone) to have that stuff in. As for the average TouchArcade user, at this point not having GC in (or Retina Display, etc) means that they will possibly not even want to download your app, no matter what it is. Tough crowd! __________________ twitter - HeadcaseGames.com Puzzling has Evolved - Get 180! FreeAppTracker.com Win ANY app you want, daily!
Anything with scores is a no brainer. People want to compare themselves to their friends. Achievements on the other hand are optional because they are a lot more work.
well its not difficult at all to implement game center or open feint.. the new versions of open feint even allows you to handle game center data over them..
This. Leaderboards are important ESPECIALLY if your game is a simple concept. Make a simple game where you tap the screen as many times in 30 seconds and you can play it once or twice and then get bored. Add in a Leaderboard setup and now you can taunt your friends about your score, your buddy says "pfft I can beat that" and buys a copy...you can hold contests for who can get the highest score or stay in the top spot the longest and give out prizes...lots of opportunities to keep your game being played. Agreed. I found this Gamasutra Article on Achievement Design 101 fascinating. It's long but it covers a lot of great points to consider if you decide to put Achievements in. - Quickdraw
OpenFeint achievements + leaderboard are absurdly easy to add to your game. We're talking a day, maybe two at most, to add. On that timescale it's a no-brainer.