I've heard of them, but I've never played them. I did play the Ape Escape minigame in MGS3, though, but it was really fun. And I think the issue with today's games is the focus on graphics. Sure, it's really cool when you have really detailed graphics and huge explosions, but it seems like lately it's coming at the cost of originality. Every game seems to be "Run through, shoot everyone, complete few objectives", with a few exceptions, like Fallout 3, Bioshock, and Borderlands, but as far as the shooter genre's concerned, it's just been OVERDONE. Luckily, there's a few great games that aren't shooters, like Skate, Dead Rising, Assassin's Creed, and Lost Odyssey, which turned out to be some of my favorites on the platform. I wish they'd go back to what made gaming so fun back in the SNES-PS2 eras: more of a focus on original gameplay and less of a focus on graphics, which led to some really great games of all genres, not just shooters. Just take a look at most of the classics: Final Fantasy VII, Earthbound, Castlevania, Metal Gear, Super Mario Bros, and many others. Most aren't shooters. Most aren't shooters, and the few that are are really original, or added something, like Call of Duty 4, Doom, or Bioshock.\
I could care less if there is many clones of games and such being released. I care about quality. If the clones are quality games there an A in my book.
I did end up getting Hector: Badge of Carnage. I'll have to say, my initial impression wasn't so appreciative, but when I actually bought it and played it through, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it is a game that I'd like to say gives me hope for the future of the app store's gaming enterprise. It was unique, and absolutely brilliant in a drunken stupor sort of way. Just thought I'd let you know since you asked a while back!
If it helps Zombie Invasion was the first Zombie game on the App store. There's tons now I know. But the fact is they sell well and there is still demand for them. Someone is buying them and enjoying them.
I think the gaming industry has always had developers that make unoriginal stuff AND developers that make unique, original games. I don't really know why, but a lot of devs are quite content to just make "rip-offs". In some ways, I think there are almost 3 categories of devs: A - Devs who make games with brand new game mechanics: Flight Control B - Devs who take an existing game mechanic, but do some great twists on it: Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, etc. C - Devs who rip-off EVERYTHING about existing games ie. Doodle Jumper or Pocket Devil: http://krapps.com/2010/03/19/doodle-jump-jumper-iphone-app/ Don't get me wrong, both A and B are great, it's just C that I have a problem with. There is a lot of skill in being a "Blizzard" style developer, taking existing mechanics and polishing them till they're amazing. Now of course FireMint makes Real Racing(a category B game) and Flight Control, so it's not like one developer always makes the same type of game, but very rarely will you see a category C developer make a category A game. For me personally, I have a really hard time making anything that isn't almost completely unique. As an example, a couple weeks ago I was prototyping a puzzle game with some mechanics that were really cool. A couple days later, I accidentally discovered a Japanese game(Yosumin) with the exact same mechanics. I instantly canned my original idea. For some reason, knowing that it wasn't unique - even though I conceived the idea in isolation - was a deal-breaker for me. Oh and a shameless plug, to the OP, if you like Cogs and that sort of game, you'll probably really like my game Trainyard
i myself cant stop playing edge,soosiz, madden, omino, DJ and SQH......some of these games (like omino) are based on other games, however they do have their own take.
To me this is the problem, you list a lot of ports, and old concepts. And you are complaining that there are no original ideas? Here if you haven't tried any of these: Jet Car Stunts, Eliss, Squareball, Hook Champ, Spider, Fargoal, Zen Bound Toki Tori, Warblade, Qwak, Above, Space Miner, 180, Space Station, Banzai Rabbit, Paracute, Sword and Poker, Earth vs Moon, Samurai Way of the Warrior, Trees of Doom, Defender Chronicles, the Horrible Vikings, Solomon's Keep, Labyrinth 2, Cubed Rally Racer, Gemmed, Fruit Ninja, Pix'n Love Rush, Angry Birds, Hungry Shark, the Deep, Super Quick Hook, Alchemize, Mr. Aaaah, Spirit, Tilt to Live, Space Ninja, Wheelers Treasure. You probably have tried many of them, or have heard of them, I just wanted to make a point. Your bored of gaming because you like boring old style games. The gaming scene is in no way stale, it is thriving and growing, especially with all the new download based distribution models allowing for indie devs to actually thrive.
I couldn't agree more. It isn't about originality it's about how you present your game. People are always taking others ideas and improving upon them. Take Dieter Rams. He is the German industrial designer who inspired Johnny Ives to create the products we hold in our hands today. Johnny took Dieters designs and improved upon them, basically he used both A & B (more towards B, though). He did the exact same thing most if not all developers try to do everyday, take a concept and craft it into something of either their liking or of their own originality.
You get what you pay for, or what you are willing to pay for. Or, at the very least, what the dev scene percieves that you are willing to pay for. Perception has become reality. Devs are not going to "Step it up" just so that a bunch of cheap, spoiled, bratty, self-entitled customers can continue to under-cut and under-value their product. If want better games, then reach into your pockets and put your money where your mouth is. If all you want is to pay .99 an app, or 1.99 an app, then what you see is what you are going to get. Creativity an ingenunity don't come cheap. At least not as dirt cheap as many people around here seem to want it. Who wants to invest months upon months upon months of their precious time building from the ground up a truly innovative title, only to have to turn around and sell the damn thing for .99? Especially when you can make a mindless zombie-this or doodle-that clone, take a couple of days to produce it, and charge the same .99 for it. As soon as people start buying deserving titles at consistantly premium prices, which will NEVER happen, then the appstore gaming scene will improve. As long as people continue to decide that they would rather wait for a sale, so that they can get a 9.99 game for 6.99, or a 6.99 game for 4.99, or 4.99 game for 2.99, then not much is going to change. In short, it ain't changing. I seriously suggest looking into the 3DS market.
