Time for 2nd gen devices to be left behind?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by diffusion8r, Apr 24, 2011.

  1. diffusion8r

    diffusion8r Well-Known Member

    Dec 21, 2008
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    Over the past year, there has been understandable outrage within the 2nd Gen fanbase on that many games are leaving them behind. If you were cut off from a vast selection of many of the best games, you too would feel incensed?

    But why should developers be pinned back to what they can achieve when people with 2+ year old devices are demanding the newest tech to be available to them? The gradual evolution of the app store and the quality of the games, both graphically and gameplay wise is being halted by these people.

    You could argue that there is indeed an audience, but there is a much larger audience with newer devices. You could also argue why should people spend however much to upgrade and play the newest games? This is like trying to play Crysis 2 on a 2008 PC - it's not going to happen. When the 5th Generation iPod Touch and iPhone are released, I believe it is time for those clinging onto ancient technology to have to accept that the latest games cannot and should not be made to run on their iPod.

    If there are games that can, then fair enough. But if you want to complain about not having an unlimited budget and unlimited funds to buy a relatively cheap device when you probably spent it's price tag on apps in the last year, then don't complain about not being able to play UE3 games, and the rest will not when their device expires.
     
  2. superzarop

    superzarop Well-Known Member

    Apr 15, 2011
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    No.
    The oldest 3rd gen device, the iPhone 4 only came out a year ago, and now all good games should be adapted to that? You selfish f*ck.
     
  3. diffusion8r

    diffusion8r Well-Known Member

    Dec 21, 2008
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    iPhone 4/iPod Touch 4G = 4th Generation
    iPhone 3GS/iPod Touch 3G = 3rd Generation

    Anything below that should, when the 5th generation devices are released, be gradually dropped, because balancing 4 dramatically varying devices has no benefit for the evolution of iOS as a gaming platform. Try to actually argue sensibly and without expletives or just come off as arrogant.
     
  4. crex

    crex Doctor of Game of the Week-ology

    Oct 18, 2010
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    There is something REALLY wrong with that sentence. You say it like 2 years is 2 million years. :rolleyes:
     
  5. iNexus

    iNexus Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2010
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    the iphone 4 is fourth generation actually n hes not being selfish he has a 1st gen ipod which means he wont be able to play new games either. Also is it not also selfish if older gen owner hold back the true potential of iphone gaming just because they cant/wont upgrade to a new device?
     
  6. superzarop

    superzarop Well-Known Member

    Apr 15, 2011
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    Oh right I thought that iPhone 3GS is also 2nd gen.
    Since iphone 4 has a ram of 512 mb and 3gs a ram of 256 mb, do the 2ng gen devices have 128 mb? Then I'll totally agree with you guys, because I am a selfish prick that only cares being able to play the games on my 3rd gen devices :(
     
  7. crex

    crex Doctor of Game of the Week-ology

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    Are you an idiot? Why the hell would he post this if he has a 1st gen? He joined over 2 years ago and he hasn't updated that part yet. :rolleyes:

    Is that why Real Racing 2 can't run on a 2g? :rolleyes:
     
  8. diffusion8r

    diffusion8r Well-Known Member

    Dec 21, 2008
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    In technology terms it is.

    It entirely depends on the market. It's why companies such as Nintendo don't make different handhelds with different specs in one generation - because you can't go telling some people they can play and some that can't. Apple, quite rightly constantly develop their products, thus why iOS has caught up so quickly - but to get even further these 3 year old devices will have to be eventually dropped. In my opinion, 3 years is old enough.

    @Crex it's why 2G can't run the biggest graphical step - Unreal Engine. Developers won't and aren't using the engine in abundance, partially due to its high costs but also due to fear of closing off the older devices market.
     
  9. Takiyah

    Takiyah Member

    Apr 22, 2011
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    This is very trust, especially since some engines aren't supporting older devices. For example I believe UDK for iOS doesn't support anything below the 3GS.

    And as you aptly pointed out, it's not good for iOS gaming. One of the strongest advantages iOS has for developers is the small number of devices that have to be considered when developing, whereas Android (et others) have only, oh I dunno, a kajillion devices to keep in mind.
     
  10. Takiyah

    Takiyah Member

    Apr 22, 2011
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    haha, I thought the same thing.

    What has happened to us as a people? :/
     
  11. diffusion8r

    diffusion8r Well-Known Member

    Dec 21, 2008
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    Lol, you're helping me out a lot today, and again you are spot on.

    One reason you could argue is that there is still a market of 2nd gen devices. But with every successive upgrade, this market gets smaller. After 2 years, there is still a market and not a massive technological gap between the highest and lowest devices. But when it comes to three these gaps are smaller and larger respectively to make older device owners either upgrade, or stick to the millions of games that are currently available to them.
     
  12. Paradiso

    Paradiso Well-Known Member

    Developers will eventually phase out the older tech, whether we think they should or not. It's just a matter of having the right device to make the leap with. Second gen support from major developers will probably be rare within the next two generations of devices. At the rate Apple is going at now, if you want to run the best games, you need the latest firmware, which is best run on the latest hardware.
     
  13. backtothis

    backtothis im in ur base killin ur d00dz
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    Technology happened, the fastest evolving/growing market in the world.

    Developers know when it'll be time to completely drop support for the lower generations. These days, you really don't see THAT many games that require the 3rd generation and up quite yet. With the introduction of the A5 in 5th generation devices, that may very well change. However, it won't be instantaneous or anything, but will be a gradual process since most developers are limited in resources, so I think older device users will still be fine for the most part for a while after this September.

    Unless there's a sudden jump in the use of new and improved graphics engines and the introduction of more big players in the video game industry, I don't see anything revolutionary happening until many months after the fifth generation has settled down. I mean, really, Dead Space runs perfectly fine when I experimented with it on my old second generation that I had owned for nearly two years. I'm hoping for graphics and game engines that match what we see on the PSP and DS, yes, and I believe that it's going to happen, but I don't think 2011 is that year. 2012, more likely than not, will be.
     
  14. spidey

    spidey Well-Known Member

    Jun 24, 2010
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    What is everyone arguing about? It's a choice that developers have to make. If they think the time and effort they spend on optimizing games to run on alll devices is worth the extra bucks they will get, they will do it. If they think otherwise, they won't. Too bad for older devices. They certainly come out taking polls. This is quite a pointless argument to be addressed to "gamers", because 1. Their opinion will be biased, and 2. They really have no say. It's a simple cost-benefit analysis to be done by devs.
     

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