Does this annoy anyone else: "IOS games are just time wasters"

Very much, yes. IOS games get a bad rap, but many people seem to only see the freemium games and causal games and not the quality polished experiences like Incoboto, Hero of Many, Out There, etc.

 

Yes.. Iv gotten annoyed enough to block a few people on twitter just cause they where pissing me off about this stuff. :\ Haters will always hate sadly.

 

I've converted quite a few friends who used to think iOS was full of fart apps and angry bird clones. I do feel we've gone a few steps back with flappy bird and it's terrible clones though which is frustrating.

But I still show fiends some great games in iOS and often they don't seem to realise what a great platform it is with so many great games

The iPad has great games like baldurs gate and of course now kotor is now universal. It's a great platform but it's a shame when some of the great games get ignored by simple rubbish

Again I love my iPhone. So much I can do on it, retro games, new original games and so much more. For me personally the last month I've hardly bought any games which I find worrying. I normally buy loads

 

Well... I mean, they have a point. Games designed solely for mobile gaming will forever be synonymous with timewasting insignificant games, whereas games developed for dedicated gaming consoles and handhelds will always be considered superior.

There are some great games on iOS, but touch controls will never ever reach the precision heights of physical controls. The fact that you need iOS controllers for a completely tactile experience, and people buy them in droves, shows that the iPhone shouldn't be taken seriously as a gaming handheld. It is an app bonanza for the most part but that doesn't mean solely games.

The kinds of games most people play on iDevices and their other cell phones are things like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Flappy Bird, etc. While Cut the Rope -and to an extent Angry Birds as well- has some strategic thinking behind the gameplay, most consumers don't play it deeply enough to get to that point in their mindset. To them, these are tiny bitesize experiences that are perfect for on-the-go.

Touch Arcade and other iDevice enthusiast forums are in the extreme minority of people that want the iOS ecosystem to be taken seriously as gaming handhelds.

Do developers work hard on their games? Yes, of course. Saying the iOS world is not a dedicated gaming world doesn't minimize their achievements. But I will never ever take iDevices seriously as dedicated handheld gaming devices, so long as I live.

I don't agree with the use of "casual gamers" anymore. I think calling people casual gamers is a big slap in the face to their interests. Casual gaming exists, but when "hardcore gamers" start calling who they deem inferior "casual," that's when things get out of hand and offensive. It's okay to play Angry Birds and Cut the Rope (god I was obsessed with that for a while). But as far as significant and meaningful gaming experiences that reward you for extended playtime, I don't think many iOS games come close to matching those of the 3DS, DS, PSP, and Vita ilk. The focus on 90% of the successful games n the App Store is on being accessible to the average consumer, not a game with extreme replay value and depth.

There's nothing wrong with lacking depth, but I think that is what will continue to hold back iOS from being taken seriously as a gaming platform. Infinity Blade series? Yeah, it has pretty graphics but the gameplay is shallow as hell. Grand Theft Auto games? Okay, it's a blockbuster series established a long time ago, so of course it will do well on iOS, but those controls? Terrible.

You might argue that people will get used to the controls, and that's true, but that doesn't make them any easier to take seriously as primary control inputs. Grand Theft Auto, especially, is a game series that has so many commands mapped to different buttons. If you're not thrown off by the interface, you'll be thrown off by the controls. Again, iOS controllers alleviate this issue, but also again, how can a platform be taken seriously when a lot of people now prefer to play using third-party peripherals as opposed to the native input method?

 

Doesn't bother me in the least.

This phenomena has been prevalent in gaming since the start. You should have seen the Blizzard forums when the PC Diablo III community got wind that they were porting the game to consoles. I've never seen so much hate slung at a platform lol, and people who tried to defend them got shit on.

Most people will pick a favorite and hate on everything else. Same thing happens with PS3 and XBOX 360 fans. It's ridiculous. And if they're favorite dev/publisher works on anything OTHER than their favorite platform, they insult it or make stupid remarks or insult the fans of the platform.

I just move on, it's all pointless.

 

I think you're selling IOS and touch controls short. There are numerous games that I could easily see on PSN and XBLA - Penumbear, Icoboto, Bug Heroes 2 to name a few- and for some genres, I find the instanteous 1:1 response of touch more responsive and intuitive than when I played the same game on PC (Stealth Inc, Incredipede).

Games like Warhammer, Hunter, Out There, and many others are proof that replayability and depth is more than possible on the platform. What developers need to do more is embrace IOS' uniqueness and strengths. Games like Device 6 and Monument Valley wouldn't work on other platfoms, at least not have the same immersive effect.

 

Wait... aren't ALL games, by definition, insignificant "time wasters"? Otherwise they'd be called "work" or result in some productive contribution to humanity. Maybe console/PC gamers need to quit obsessing over the fetish and find something affirming and real to do with their life. We definitely cannot afford to become confused with life priorities, take other's opinions over trivial matters personally, or let reqlity pass us by. Do something crazy and fun today before it's too late.

 

The problem is that people just don't look for good ones. I used to hate mobile games and think of them as crap... Then I got an iphone and suddenly I'm buying a lot of them. Some aren't to my taste, but some, like the room, are freaking amazing. People just need to try them,

 

No, it doesn't annoy me and it shouldn't annoy any of you guys either. They're just games, nothing to get mad over, just simply laugh at their stupidity and have fun with your games, no need to get mad over anything.

 

Well, it's not a true gaming device is it? It's a smartphone with the ability to play games as an added bonus. Perfect for casual gamers... Not so much for dedicated core gamers. It can be.. But don't expect perfect bug-free gameplay; that can't happen.
Because a smartphone is designed to operate the whole system executing different tasks. BUT... I wouldn't say iOS gaming is a waste of time. But then again... You play games to waste time right? Well that only makes sense for casual gamers.

 

Well i wouldnt say it annoys any of us, i dont sit at home in a mood because i'm upset people dont take iOS gaming seriously. I think the original poster just meant that some people dont realise how good mobile gaming is nowadays.

Its come a long way in a short time, before iOS there were a lot of dire games on mobile, some 'okay' ones but most people didnt seem too bothered about gaming on their phone. Then iOS arrived and it really really took off. Again i love iOS gaming as theres soooo many different types, a huge RPG like Ravensword, to a simple old skool platformer. And like the other poster said a classic puzzle game like the Room.

I mean the first time i played Aralon and then realised what a huge expansive world it was to explore, an amazing feeling, just come a long way from Snake on the old Nokia !

Just frustrating when someone spends a lot of money on the latest iphone (just to have the latest one) and spends most of their time laughing at a fart app or playing flappy bird. Theres a great wide range of games out there

 

Actually, a touchscreen gives you possibilities that a controller can't (and of course the other way round).

Cut the Rope is a very good example of how a touchscreen interface can be better than buttons, and I say that game wouldn't have been possible with a controller.

It's a matter of making use of the advantages a touchscreen offers.


But I have to agree that there are also plenty of games (espcially ports) which favor their original control scheme (controller or mouse and keyboard), and it's not easy to get it right all the time.

 

Obviously with everything practice makes perfect. I'm discussing with someone on another forum who obviously doesnt like touchscreen gaming, he thinks you cant control games well, i think you can.

The first time i used a touchscreen i wasnt great, but now i'm loving platformers on iOS, so easy to control (when done right !), same for epic RPG's and shoot em ups (relative touch)

I regularly complete platformers now or complete lots of old favourites (Gameboy).

Again it took a while to get used to it but with a bit of practice its so easy to play a wide range of games

 

It doesnt help that all games at the top of the charts are Flappy Bird clones.

 

not JUST... its also a money drain LOLOL

 

I spend a lot of time on Giantbomb and Patrick Klepek, their news editor, had an interesting opinion on this. He thinks that the reason people get worked up about "different" games is because they are scared the type of games they love will be forgotten. What they forget, or never realized, is that games have different markets. Just because people download all those garbage mobile games doesn't mean you won't see another Call of Duty.

I'd echo the main sentiment most people were making here and add that a lot of the internet is just people lashing out trying to find their voice. Anger is a very powerful motivator and these people probably see themselves as defending their traditions.

Goalless games, most of NimbleBit's catalog, are what I see most of gaming people I follow lash out about. Again, I don't see them as a problem, but as serving different consumers.

 

Some games are just time wasters on iOS. It is a big market.

But I think there will always be people to complain. You just need to tune it out.

 

Well IMO I think IOS and other phone based games fit in better with pople as consoles are usually looked at as kids things but phones are more for everyone.

I'm not saying that consoles are kids only but anyone born before like 1960 ish or later has never even touched a game controller.

And if someone says they're time wasters then couldn't the same be said for anything? We fill our time with stuff we want to do etc... I dunno

 

You seem to assume anyone under the age of 20 never played on a console! There were consoles before the xbox etc ! I'm sure people born around that year were some if the first to play on consoles like the old TV Sports consoles and the classic Atari 2600

If they were born around 1960 they were probably into the first home computers as well. They probably have great gaming knowledge and have a far larger interest in games than just angry birds/flappy birds !

Some kids here seem to assume there were no games or consoles before the year 2000!