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, Verve’s Ethiopia Worka, the prospect of Steve Nash playing for the Miami Heat, or cute desserts with a super-cute girl, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
At GDC 2012, I was pestering several people about thatgamecompany. I love those guys and want to see them do well, but I’m not convinced that PlayStation Network is the optimal platform for TGC. With a little bit of tweaking, TGC’s games would kill on iOS. I have no doubt about this. Flower, in particular, would be brilliant on the iPad, though I can easily see people digging Journey and flOw too. iOS seems perfect for thatgamecompany and I’d love to see millions of iPhone/iPad gamers loving TGC games.
With all of that in mind, at GDC I playfully teased several people at Sony for holding thatgamecompany back. I also bugged TGC’s agent from UTA, asking him, “When the hell are your clients moving to iOS?!?” (And yes, alcohol was probably involved in all of these conversations.) While TGC’s sales figures are closely guarded by Sony, most pundits believe them to be in the six-figure range. I’m certain that the company has a better chance of breaking one-million on iOS than it does on PSN. Hell, I’m positive that an “enhanced” version of Flower for iOS would easily eclipse the game’s sales on PSN. It just seems like TGC is on the wrong platform.
Are there any developers you feel are creating for the wrong platform? Share the companies you think of and the platforms you wish they were making games for in the comments section (please!).
It feels like it should be on something more casual, but really. Don't all systems need games like this? Think about it. If the iPod / iPad don't get this, will anybody feel bad? I bet you that at least 80% of strictly casual gamers don't even know what these games are. They certainly won't miss them. But what about us? We need good casual stuff too!
Sure, but I want TGC to make more money so that it can make more games.
Of course, more money = more games, but that doesn't mean it should be an iPod game only!
iPod? It's 2012. iPhone and iPad are the driving device for iOS. A game like Flower, which was critically acclaimed but had modest sales, would have done exponentially better on iOS. PSN held it back.
I refuse to buy PSN stuff. So TGC will never get my money. Now if they were on iOS…..
That's funny. I refuse to buy apps for my iPhone, but I'll buy a bunch of random games and add-ons from XBL. It's due mostly to the fact that I have an iPhone 3G that is running pre-iOS4 software. This severely limits the games I can play on my phone without having it crash all the time… which they do.
-M
Haha I'm more forgiving with iTunes in general due to the fact that I have their phone, an iPad and an iMac. Also now with the new AppleTV I don't feel encumbered while using their digital store.
And to be fair, Apple's usage policy is much more lenient than Microsoft's and Sony's.
Yep.
Aside from my personal issues with PSN speeds I dislike being tied down to one machine. I buy things too often for that. The same applies for xbla unless I've been gifted points. Then I don't care.Sent from my iPhone 4