In response to the OP, Probably because sh*t like this can make it to number one on the paid charts. Edit: link did not copy right, but I meant temple jump
Thinking about it more than I did in my original post in this thread I don't think it will ever happen. I'm thinking Apple's cut probably takes to much of the possble profitability away for a developer to really invest in a console quality title. I think quick ports are probably the best we will see and they'll never be as good as the originals.
Hey, at least we still get games like Reckless Racing 2. I played Ghost Trick (haven't bought the full game yet) and it's cool and all, but given how they got here, RR2 gets my pick any day. It's a shame that it wasn't the AppStore GOTW. I still can't get over how good it is!
From what I understand, devs get a much higher share when selling on Appstore or, for that matter, Steam, which takes the same 30% or maybe even a bit more, than when selling through retail. Retail carries high up-front costs too, besides development itself. No, IMHO, (lack of) proper long-term marketing opportunities for high-quality, higher-budget games on iTunes is the problem. The interesting thing about Steam, for instance, is that apart from the sales times, their charts aren't dominated by the cheapest stuff possible (and even then more expensive discounted stuff is often more popular than the ultimate budget titles), but by AAA games that cost 50-60 Euros. Yet, indies have a chance to be successful too. iTunes Appstore is just doing it wrong...
iTunes vs developers' "fault" Hi, I have a different perspective to this discussion. I feel Appstore's marketing opportunities is less the issue than the developers' point of view. I would argue that the developers are the ones who are treating iOS as "less serious/potential for profit". After all, great PC games like Diablo, World of Warcraft and other genres all became popular more because of their own inherent qualities, and less because of their "marketing". I might even argue that because of the lack of inherent quality, some developers see the need for excessive marketing to overcome it - as some might argue if one takes a look at the recent allegation of developers resorting to bot companies to promote their product to within the top 50 or whatever, as viewed on TA forums. It seems to me that devs look upon iOS as an avenue for some "quick buck" and so resort to "fire-and-forget" methods in their decision-making. e.g. Consider the prevalence of "clones" in the iOS gaming industry. Not only does this include ports from older/other platforms that have proven a success in their respective times, but also copy-cats from their fellow rivals. Think the recent Tiny Tower issue as covered on TA, or the many ports by Square Enix, as well as the various FPS games by companies like Gameloft, just to list a few. I might even go so far as to suggest one reason for this "not-so-serious" view of the iOS platform might stem from the fact that it is "relatively new" (compared to the history of console gaming or PC) and the worry that iOS gaming industry might crash should Apple's fortunes take a dip one day (though this certainly does not seem the case anytime soon). After all, mobile gaming is still a relatively recent phenomenon. Hence budding mobile gaming companies are still at a "testing" stage. If one takes a look at the MMORPG genre for mobile gaming for example (since previous posts have mostly dealt with single player games), one notices that there have actually been very few ventures, let alone really successful ones. (I define mmorpg games as WoW-like, and do not include the Haypi Kingdom/Kingdoms at War genre here) e.g. a few contenders in this category include STS' Pocket Legends/Star Legends (which seem to have done pretty well), Com2US's World of Magic, Gameloft's Order and Chaos Online (which may I add failed miserably despite the huge potential it displayed at the beginning. Yet another example of this "fire-and-forget" attitude, or blind pursuit of solely money and lack of interest in attempting to provide players with a viable long-term playing experience with say, raids or PVP battlegrounds, etc. I mean Order and Chaos hint at two opposing factions, and the in game story hints at such a plot. So where is the PVP action?) Is it a case of the lack of processing power on the tablet in question, an unwillingness to commit due to the "lack of marketing opportunities on the AppStore" (which I may argue is irrelevant here because I believe there are many out there who would instantly jump at/will definitely hear about a good MMORPG available on mobile devices) or simply the lack of ambition (from a game design point of view) to create something truly more permanent for players, and instead a predominant profit motive (oh let's just create something that players will jump in, spend money on, and quit after a few months)? For example, an upcoming game, World of Midgard, seems to be led by a small team with a big ambition. While it remains to be seen as to whether they will eventually make it big (closed beta phase only just ended), one cannot deny the fact they have shown commitment despite the "lack of marketing opportunities" on the Appstore. Hence, I would like to argue once again my main point - that is, the ball is in the developers' court. Ownership of mobile gaming devices have clearly been rising in recent years, and will only continue to do so. Question is, when will developers (in general I mean. I recognize there are some serious teams out there right now.) acknowledge this and take a committed plunge, rather than their present wait-and-see attitude/"this is just a sideline job. Our main focus is still on insert-platform-here) Thanks for reading this wall of text. The above only represents my highly biased perspective and I by no means require the reader to wholly agree with me on any particular issue. In fact, I welcome differing opinions of any kind. Cheers
I definitely take it seriously! It's my only gaming platform now, and I've had every console ever made except the Neo Geo. Some more than once. Same with handhelds. Could've probably bought another house with the thousands I've spent on video games. Been playing since 1972 straight through. Very, very happy with IOS gaming presently. Until the next incredible unit comes down the pipe! I can't be stopped!!!! A kid forever!
I've seen lots of pretty good points.. I didn't read every page of this thread, but here's my 2 cents: I'm not totally sure the "big studios" know exactly what to do with touchscreen/ iOS devices in terms of creating content that really shines on the platform. In the larger games industry, the top grossing games are the Halos and CODs - dual-stick shooters - the results of a long running legacy of controller gaming. I wouldn't be too surprised if they just weren't 100% sure what they should be doing to make a lot of money on iOS. It's such a casual platform - the iPhone in particular is a phone first, a tool or maybe in some cases music player second, and maybe a gaming console 3rd (or more) - just at a personal guess. And the thing about casual gaming is that one simple idea paired with a polished but modest execution, can easily skyrocket to the top and utterly dominate. It's a platform in which an indie developer has absolutely viable potential to rival the success of an enormous team with a massive budget, and that's probably a very cautionary thing for big-production investment.
Agree about this. This is probably the core of the problem. The underlying essence of all my and others complaints. Trust me, big companies know how to make games for the iOS. The problem is that they will probably lose money trying. Here's a quote of myself from the grassroots thread and my thoughts on a social hub and spending big bucks for games. I gave a more detailed reason in this thread, but it's buried in here somewhere.
maybe, because the ios games market is, at the moment, a major sellers market. a market saturated in sellers. i play a couple hours every day and i rarely stick with a single game long enough to actually experience its full experience/potential. i bet a lot of other people in this forum are just like this. since a lot of us just move so quickly from game to game, i think we kinda have less respect to each individual game that we play over the platform. this would not have been the case with platforms that have a slower game stream and that require more investment in each game mostly PSP and the likes. with that said, i believe that a lot of the iOS games, the premium ones, do not fall in quality with those of dedicated devices. it's just the circumstances. UPDATE also, a lot of the games are released "half baked". the acronym for it is MLCS: "more levels coming soon".
Ummm....what? Gameloft is the reason why iOS is so good (NOVA, Modern Combat, etc.) of course turning freemium is stupid, but you have to be an idiot to think that the maker of some of the best iOS games is the reason why iOS isn't been taking seriously. Its not being taking seriously because while iPhones & iPads are great for gaming, that's not their purpose, but it sort has become another reason to buy them. Every person who has an iOS device has games on them. If Apple really wanted to go into gaming it would, but since their not really interested in it, I wouldnt be surprised to see iOS gaming not on the level of what most people want it to be.
My take as a player : On iOS I find myself liking casual, less immersive games much more than console-quality titles. That's mostly because I play on the go, in short time spans. That said, here is my take as an iOS (and former console) dev: Game companies DO take iOS gaming pretty seriously. But for a game company, this means "building a profitable business", not necessarily "make console-quality games". With the current Appstore economics, building a profitable business is better achieved with lower budget titles : - At 79c per download, you'd need to sell about 40 millions downloads to recoup console-like development costs (avg 20M$). That's taking into account Apple's 30% cut. Impossible. - Perhaps someday a publisher will come and manage to sell 2M units at 15$ and recoup its dev costs, but I doubt many games could achieve this. - The freemium model is much more profitable for game companies, so perhaps it could someday allow for large budget titles. But this model is not mature enough yet that a publisher would feel confident investing tens of millions USD into an iOS freemium - Efficient marketing channels on the Appstore have very much yet to be invented, with a few exceptions. The platforms makes it very difficult and random to market a game.
The weird thing with people's psychology toward pricing is that they'd turn their nose up at £20 game, but would happily spend £59.99 on IAPs of 'coins'. Games came first, and set the bar pricing. Then came IAP, when devs felt they weren't making much money, so set that bar a lot higher. As £59.99 was a price from the very start of IAP, people accepted it. Had developers priced games at £15-£20 in the beginning, I reckon things would be very different now.
It's more of a chicken & egg situation IMO : price drives demand, demand drives price, etc. Also people paying for 60quids IAPs are a super-tiny minority, in the region of 0.05% of users.
You just asked the same question as me man. # I want to see an Mortal Kombat on here. The Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It wasn't a real Mortal Kombat game. I didn't enjoy. I hope the developers get enlightened by what these devices can do. Great question! ##
Well, we are seeing a great deal of great games. I think the two biggest problems are the touch screen and the price. $7 is not that much for a game, and so many "hardcore" games don't work well on a touchscreen and require some compromises or creative controls. I think that when and if apple releases a controller that will be the day that iOS is taken seriously. And when people stop balking at a $10 price tag on games.
I disagree. Have you played resident evil 4 on here. Oh my god! It plays exactly like any system, or what about Call of Duty Bkack Ops Zombies. Exactly like Xbox360 or PS3. My point? Not all are bad. Just most. ##
I'm not saying IOS gaming is better or worse than console gaming, but I can honestly say that haven't touched my PS3 or Xbox-360 since I started playing games on my Iphone. Graphics are now comparable to consoles, and much better than the latest portable gimmick Nintendo has out. Not to mention updates and games that cost a dollar that would cost $30 on the 3DS.
It is actually funny you say this, because I felt the same way.So much so that my husband, brother and I are trying to develop a real, monster catching RPG with a deep story line and complete lack of gimmicks. I think the iOS will be the new portable game playing device, but most games aren't living up to that challenge. Maybe iOS games will never be on par with large console games, but they could try to shoot for DS and PSP quality. I really hope that a new trend appears where we can play real, engaging games on iPads and iPhones. (P.S. Even though I only mentioned three of us, we actually are a team of 6 and working hard to make a beautiful game. We have to put it on Kickstarter though to raise funds. It should be interesting to see the response!)
