Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, your body conveniently holding up until the last day of a conference, Sam Kennedy’s immediate plans for 1Up.com, or being unable to say no to tequila shots with legendary Japanese game designers, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
As an avid Android user and a gamer, I’ve been greatly interested in learning more about Android game developer issues. As mosts of you know, Apple iOS is way, way ahead of Google Android in the games department. While I expect the quality of quantity of games in the Android Market to improve, I don’t think it will ever come close to iOS gaming. What I’ve learned from various Google panels and conversations with people that create games for Android and/or iOS has me ready to give up on Android gaming.
On the iOS platform, developers have to worry two screen sizes, three resolutions, and a relatively homogeneous CPU/GPU family. On Android, developers have to worry numerous screens sizes, numerous (and sometimes non-standard) resolutions, CPUs from different manufacturers, GPUs from different manufacturers, differences in accelerometer speeds, and more. From what I’ve learned in the last year, Android game developers just have a lot more to worry about than iOS game developers when it comes to crafting code. What often ends up happening is that Android games are coded for the lowest common denominator and the results aren’t as impressive as they could be.
Developers would love to take advantage of Android’s rapid growth and the open experience of the Android Market, but some feel that the coding challenges aren’t worth it. Google has done a great job at reaching out and trying to support game developers, but I’m not sure it’s enough. Some of the developers I spoke with said that it’s just too difficult.
Game Developers Conference 2011 left me down on the state of Android gaming. I’m almost ready to give up my dream of a robust Android gaming market that rivals iOS gaming, but one hope remains. That, however, is another story.
Would that hope be WP7 gaming?
Nope. There's a potentially great stopgap measure for Android. That's another article with video I'm working on.
Hmm, interesting. Sounds like virtualization or a settings menu lol.
Min requirements lol.
Not surprisingly, you're onto something.
I'm not big on mobile gaming so this news doesn't really effect me.
If there were a ton of better games available, I think you'd play some. As it is, there are probably a handful of games on Android that hardcore gamers would dig.
im looking for a phone that lets me access playstation home
*snicker
This might be the most awesome game trailer I've seen in a long time:
http://www.gameseyeview.com/2011/03/04/call-of-du…
@nightshade
i thought it was pretty awesome too. I never knew who sang that song but now i'm going to go download it.
really? thats the scorpions! lol
i must be getting old
I'm out for the weekend. Going to go to NOLA for Mardi Gras stuff. I have a ball to attend tonight and Endymion tomorrow.
Cheers! Have a hurricane for me.
I don't play games on my phone anymore. I did when I got it, but when I started flashing new ROMs every few days it got tiresome trying to redo everything again. Never played through much of Angry Birds because of this. Got far in Homerun Battle 3D but again wiped my phone.
I refuse to even try out most games. The price for then is a bit crazy. I can't really comment on the quality of most titles because there isn't a trial for the 'better' games out there.
Been stuck on the tarmac for more than an hour because some idiot rammed the truck that holds baggage into the airplane.
Meh. After more than an hour on the tarmac, it's an airplane switch. I should land in LA in time for rush hour traffic. Yay.
Decided to take a 7:20 flight to avoid rush hour and get $400 in travel vouchers.
seems like a good choice! lol. thats pretty good pay for 2 hours of waiting.
My body is so not happy with me. Knees, left ear, and throat are way sore. I never really recovered from Orlando and GDC added to everything. Hopefully I can bounce back for another trip soon.
Or be ready for Pokemon Black/White coming out tomorrow. I definitely am really excited for it right now!! Planning on spending all day tomorrow playing and collecting as many new pokemon as I can.
Yes get healthy my friend.
Got my copy of Pokemon Black, already over an hour into it. Love it so far. Caught a Patrat and a Lillipup already. Headed to the first gym soon! Trying to take it a little slow and enjoy the actual storyline while it lasts, but I can't stop myself from thinking what the EV yields are each time I go into a battle.
A friend is loaning me his blk version until my wht version comes in the mail. Did my reasearch and already picked out my elite four team too. I have to breed a Sewaddle for it's higher lvl moves so that I can pass them on to its third form.
I haven't thought that far out yet. I'm trying to take it one step at a time, but I do already know a couple pokemon that would be nice to have later on. I want to take it all slow because I know that once the main story is over that's pretty much it, but I keep wanting stuff to be unlocked now (and be able to put more than one pokemon in the daycare at a time would be nice).