The Industry Standard - Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone - Comments

I also want a controller

Constable Odo — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:23:11 -0700

I also want a controller pad. I like using my PSP and I'm not sure I'd really like tilting a display to move/control objects. I always try to keep my PSP as level as possible at all times. All that tilting seems like it would be tiring for muscles and harder on the eyes.

The iPhone/iPod has one

Hernan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:18:48 -0700

The iPhone/iPod has one weakness though. It is complicated to design a game when the user needs to cover half the screen with his hands. The accelerometer may be a solution, but I think a Bluetooth gamepad is essential for many games.

For iPod Touch owners (like myself) a controller pluged in the usb port would be enough. Also, if the controller somehow wraps the iPod, it would look like a PSP.

Why so many hackers? Why

whoami — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:09:39 -0700

Why so many hackers? Why can't people cough up ten dollars and just buy the games that are coming out on the iPhone? Is it worth voiding your warranty to get free games or wait a couple weeks and pay ten dollars for secure games approved by Apple that should quite a bit of fun? Personally I will wait and get the QUALITY games that are secure and more promising than hacked games and apps. I'm sure that there are some good hacks. but over all I would rather go with professionals who make games on the basis of making money than hackers who hate anyone who is trying to make a living.

Then you need to unlock your

moo — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:24:56 -0700

Then you need to unlock your iphone and check the available apps, especially in the Toys category. There are quite a few 'softsynth' apps like Pianist, Guitarist, Drummer, and others...theres youtube clips of people holding a concert with a bunch of iPhones. As for games, theres quite a few good ones actually, but only if you jailbreak your phones. Embrace the hacker in you, take a deep breath and void that warranty =)

I would like to see audio

Diogene — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:24:42 -0700

I would like to see audio app's designed on the iPhone .....not just Apples iTunes software ....something like a softsynth ...like what Korg did with Nintendo!

Games on mobile suck because

usfooD — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:58:21 -0700

Games on mobile suck because of the phone horsepower is poor. The platform doesn't support them well. That's why developers can do less thing on it. It has nothing to do with what language it's written by.

If it weren't for the

kikito — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:53:44 -0700

If it weren't for the price...

Many handsets will continue

Doofus — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:44:53 -0700

Many handsets will continue to support Java and casual Java gamers won't necessarily switch to the iPhone as their next handset. While the iPhone has the potential to become a successful platform for gaming in it's own right, there is no argument in this article that it will kill the Java games market. If anything it will force handset makers to step their Java support up a notch and include things like hardware accelerated M3G.

Independent gaming could flourish on the iPhone

Chris Tompkins — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:05:44 -0700

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 2.0 along with the app store, he surprised everyone by demonstrating a few small games along with it. Now, with WWDC and the launch of the App Store just next week, it will be interesting to see exactly how seriously developers will take the iPhone as a gaming platform.

It’s a capable machine, that’s for sure. Early prototypes of games made by independent developers rival the graphical complexity of a PSP or Nintendo DS. This is mostly thanks to the iPhone and iPod Touch’s use of Core Animation adapted for ARM processors, allowing for the advanced effects of OS X and now OpenGL accelerated 3D games.

Some are predicting this to be a boon for the mobile gaming industry, maybe even rivaling Nintendo’s DS. I predict a tamer response. Apple might finally put the lackluster java-based cell phone gaming market to death. While cell phones benefit from mobile stores for games and ubiquity, they suffer because they lack the graphical ability to run truly engaging games. Often they are designed poorly and only provide a minimal distraction at best. The PSP and Nintendo DS however, excel at developing and creating rich 3D games, but they lack an on demand store or constant internet connection. They do however, command a combined install base of nearly 84 million worldwide.

The iPhone hopes to sell 10 million units and it benefits from the best of both the cell phones and PSP’s strengths, without any of their weaknesses. It also happens to be an outstanding device already, which will be bought regardless of its gaming success. Developers can create games with the confidence that there will be a user base in existence for years to come. (Continued)

The one sore spot is the lack of physical controls, which will necessitate developers work creatively to build games around multi-touch and the accelerometer. Typical button mashing games (favorites of portable gaming) will never work without physical controls, and neither will most any other ports from other gaming systems. There are some genres that lend themselves to multi-touch though. For example, real-time strategy games like StarCraft, something developers never got right on portable platforms, could work perfectly with your fingers. Most of the staple puzzle games, which drive cell-phone gaming, will probably work flawlessly as well. When it comes to rich, in-depth gaming though, developers will be challenged to build an entirely new way to play with a multi-touch system. And as the Wii has proven, reinventing the controller can click with casual gamers, looking to kill between 15 minutes and an hour.

My recommendation to Apple, if they want to get serious about revolutionizing portable games through the iPhone; hire a small team of indie-game designers, like the famed Kenta Cho. Leave big developers to the major platforms and instead foster these independent designers like rock stars. (Cho’s retro rRootage has already been ported to the iPhone flawlessly.) Once they’ve created a few Apple branded games which show off the truly impressive abilities of gaming on a multi-touch platform, open up a set of tools for the thousands of other independent game designers and see what happens. We don’t want Grand Theft Auto IV, just something a little more engaging and colorful than Peggle, with a creative flair, to play while we rock out to our tunes on the subway ride home.

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