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During my GDC 2011 networking (i.e. drinking and talking with people), I noticed an irrational hatred for mobile and social games. There was a small, but vocal, percentage of people I spoke with that hate this segment of gaming for no good reason. They were spread over a variety of jobs in the business too — developers, publishers, marketers, journalists, etc. After one fellow mentioned that he didn’t know why he hated mobile and social games, I replied, “So they’re like the X-Men? You hate and fear them for no reason?”
Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t like mobile and/or social games, that’s fine. The negative feelings I encountered were much more active than that — as if these kinds of games hurt the business or they weren’t “real” games. I really didn’t understand the sentiment. Why waste energy on actively hating mobile and social games? Isn’t it easier to focus on the games you like instead of expending negative energy? It seems silly to me.
Just to check myself, I wanted to get your thoughts on mobile and social gaming. Do you actively hate them? Do you not like them? Are you excited by the new and exciting things they bring to gaming? Or are they just kind of there and you ignore them? Share your feelings like a Care Bear and explain your stance (please)!
I can understand their angst. Maybe they feel it cheapens what they work very hard at making? I can somewhat share that sentiment with them. Whenever someone asks me why I can't do their taxes cheaper than H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt……
……maybe because I'm better?
If that's their angle I totally understand it. I linked BSU an article from Gizmodo yesterday evening about Nintendo and Apple competing these days. I think it's pretty relevant that Nintendo makes fun of Apple for the content available on its App Store when the Wii and DS have so many crapware titles available.
So yeah…if they feel that these quick and easy pieces of code cheapen the industry they work hard for I understand.
That's just making blanket assumptions about those games. Not all of them are "quick and easy" pieces of code. Certainly a lot of developers are in the market because they can make money with a small-budget game, but a lot of them are in it because of the creative freedom, being able to work in a small team (like in earlier days of development), and because it offers a new way to offer interactive experiences.
@Ray
The blanket assumption was relevant there. Quick easy pieces of code as compared to say….Gears of War. Something like Infinity Blade or Rage of course are the exception and not something like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. Both fun little games. Why the nitpick honestly? Whenever we mention mobile games or social platform gaming, in depth titles aren't what come to mind.
Yeah Carmack has mentioned the freedom aspect.
fyi… I own every game mentioned in this post.
There are more small budget titles on consoles than big budget ones. Where's the hatred there?
@Ray
Opinions I suppose. We all have them. Or boycotts.
I don't really care for either of them. I got hooked on Social Games for a bit, until one day I realized some things 1) They aren't really what I would call games, B) They are actually fun, iii) Micro transactions are ingenious at getting you to spend large amounts of money without realizing it.
So I quit 'playing' those.
I don't care for Mobile games, as far a cell phones go. I have never found a cell phone game that was really fun or good. I was playing Gun Bros. for a little while but the game is unfinished and got boring having everything locked.
I haven't found my PSP since I moved and haven't really cared to find it, so I guess I am out on that mobile gaming also.
Are there any games for Android that are any good or even worth purchasing???
There are a handful of Android games that are worth buying if you like RPGs or tower defense games. Dungeon Defenders and Game Dev Story are the two I've liked the best. I'm interested in Spectral Souls.
Btw, your ordered processed. Thanks again! I'm curious as to what you're doing with those RC helicopters. In my head you're building a squadron to attack all the Sizzler steakhouses in your area.
Currently I am BREAKING them. They are super durable (being metal helps). My current one has survived 2 ceiling fan attacks and my guy cat jumped and knocked out of the air. Then my 2 year old brother flew it into a pan of soapy water and it still works (has quite a bit of shudder to it now though).
I bought1 extra for when this one dies, the others are either reserves also or gift, but my friends are willing to pay me $40 per when I only paid $25.
The Syma S107 is a great mini helicopter (7.25" length). I have bought some at Wal-Mart and Fry's and these are 1000x better. They are 3Ch (forward & reverse, spin left & right, up & down), cheaper ones turn left and right go up and down but have a fixed forward pitch.
Basically in the end my goal is to get great at flying and buy a large one for several hundred dollars (on Amazon of course) and not be as afraid of crashing it.
Then after that… you can spend a couple tens of thousands of dollars on a real helicopter and not be afraid of crashing it.
I see your logic, and I approve.
Batman Arkham City has been confirmed for October 18, 2011 (10/18/11). I'm not going to give it its own story since WB only sent over three new screens that are kind of meh.
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I clicked on your link to see if they had any pre-order bonuses and it says it will be released 10/3?
hopefully someone gets this for me for my birthday.
i don't have issues with mobile games. Actually i'm playing fight night champion and i'm enjoying. I just can't figure out how to block or counter but i love the control scheme and it makes me wish i had an iPad so i can play it on a bigger screen. the best 4.99 i've spent this month.
my heart goes out to my brothers in japan
I used to be in favor of mobile gaming, I thought it would be pretty cool to be able to play some games on my phone my freshman year during class when I didn't feel like paying attention and my laptop was dead. Then I actually purchased some of the games…that changed my mind REALLY quick. I got Doom RPG and a family guy game, tetris, some other random games. I loved Doom RPG, mostly because I loved Doom and Wolfenstein. Tetris was fine because I love tetris, and everyone else was crap. Then I got a new phone and couldn't transfer anything, and also decided to get my first DS Lite a little after Pokemon Diamond/Pearl came out. I lost like $20-$30 in games, and I also decided that they were a waste of time originally because they weren't that good compared to my new DS Lite, my old GBA SP, or my laptop, etc. Mobile gaming has ever since been viewed as a waste to me. Anything that I could buy on my phone would be better quality almost anywhere else, and most of the stuff was crap in the first place. Sure there is crapware that I could get for my DSi now but, without actual stats, I would say that it is easier to find quality titles. I think there are more of them out there, and if you are comparing iOS apps there are so few quality games out there in comparison to the total number of apps. If you can find 100 great titles out of the 200,000+ apps that are out there, that is only .005% quality games. If there are 100 great titles for my DSi out of the approximately 1700 I think are out there (I don't remember the exact numbers from when I've seen comparisons so I am trying to make this estimate on the higher end just to be safe) then that is .058% quality games. .0005% compared to .058% is a pretty big difference there. In addition to that there are some assumptions that I would make about a "quality" game on either system, using iOS and Nintendo for this example. I expect to get a lot of hours out of a Nintendo title, iOS is much more casual and something I would play on and off. I play Words with Friends, Chess with Friends, Link 4, and my favorite Swords and Poker on and off all the time, but I sink hundreds of hours into my DSi. To me that is a big difference.
I do still wish that there wasn't as much crapware put out on the DSi, or even other consoles, but I think it is easier to sort through the good and bad titles on the main consoles rather than iOS. Sure I absolutely love Swords and Poker and think it is a great game (I love card games of all kinds), but even though it looks really good and I have fun with it I still do not think it can be called high quality when compared to a Nintendo DSi title. I played the Assassins Creed game for my DS a long time ago and it wasn't great, but I got a lot more time out of that one crappy game than I did out of an iOS or other mobile game and had more fun with it too.
I would say I am pretty down on mobile and social gaming because like SlickyFats said they don't always feel like real games to me, I have expectations that they do not meet. If someone else wants to play them that is fine, but I feel that when they draw as much attention to the industry as they do it might be good in the short term and there are plenty of devs out there making a living off of social games right now—but I fear and believe that in the long run they will water down the industry and pull the entire industry in the wrong direction.
@slicky
Baby Steps
Man I love that movie
@Ray
Perhaps they put out product on those consoles and are playing nice PR?
Yeah the crap ware on consoles is pretty ludicrous. Whenever you go to Walgreens and see a rack of $10 games….you just know that’s bad. Reference H&R Block
In some cases that explanation makes sense. In others — powerful people that are free to look down in whatever — it doesn't.
Pehaps a negative impact?
http://arstechnica.com/#!/gaming/news/2011/03/for…
Banned from the forums is fine. The DRM preventing him from playing is just bad.
I would agree, completely negative side of DRM. Just another thing to add to the reasons why I don't like DRM.
Yeah if I were him I know 2 companies I would not support any more.
Apparently I won an Xperia Play for showing up to Qualcomm's GDC party. That's quite interesting. I hope they follow up.
Gratz
I was actually annoyed that the phone wasn't at the party. This more than makes up for it.
What the heck did Sunny do to deserve to be in the WWE Hall of Fame?
@RROD
she had nice curves.
It's very much a token thing, but I'm happy for her. She's been through a lot: husband died, severe depression, drastic weight gain, etc.
A Hall of Fame entry should be based on merits, not sympathy. This goes for all Halls of Fame, and not just the WWE.
-M
We're talking about a hall of fame that inducted Koko B. Ware because of a videogame tie-in.
Furthermore, I said nothing about her getting in because of sympathy. You added that together in your own.
Nn, you did not say that. However, your first sentence and second sentence led me to believe that the second sentence had something to do with the first sentence. I have no idea who Sunny is. By reading your two sentences on the matter, I am led to believe that those sad things that you mentioned in your second sentence have something to do with the hall of fame nomination in the first sentence.
If you wanted the average dumb person (like me) to not be led to believe one thing is responsible for the other, then you would need some kind of buffer sentence in between your two like: "She was a dynamic wrestler and had a great stage presence."
Just trying to help. After all, if we don't keep you on your toes, who will?
-M
Sunny was the beginning of the end of the women's division.
I could say the same for Vickie Guerrero.
Here's a great reason to learn how to fly a helicopter:
http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2011/110307…
Guess what I'm getting when I win the lottery. Well, this and a large donation to RPad.tv, of course. Ah, what the hell; I'll put a huge RPad.tv decal on the side of this bad boy and menacingly hover around the G4TV offices with the weapons hot.
-M
@Iceman
LOL. Please youtube or live stream it.
I have a hard enough time seeing games on the screens that the PSP's and DS's have. Like I need to try and see shit on my 2" cell phone screen…..
Just snapped some freelance pics at two Apple Stores in LA. Both lines were cut off due to a lack of product. It's a shame Apple didn't do pre-orders. I saw a bunch of pissed off people at 3:30 — 90 minutes before sale time.
i wonder if buzz and woody ever met andy's mom's toys…
i mean they prolly had the same names
LOL!!! Where did that come from? Are these typically your random thoughts?
-M
yes mike….sadly, they are
That is not a sad thing at all…that's a great random thought to have!!! hahaha
Question:
Since the NFLPA has decertified or will….does that mean pre-existing contracts are void now? I'm curious because the NFLPA is the 2nd party in the exclusive NFL rights for EA.
so what you are saying is that we may finally get a sequel to "joe montana's sportstalk football"?
its 3rd and 28 and i cant believe it
ill tell you what ive been doing all morning
i went out and got a copy of nfl2k5…for 99cents, which by the way, is still better than madden 11.
I then went to nfl2k5rosters.com and downloaded the current rosters, which are updated every week during the season. I now never have to buy madden again…EA sucks
heres a demo
Oh sweet. I still have 2k5
actually dude, theres also a way to import current rosters (and teams) into backbreaker as well