Any interest in mobile Game Development?

[Marked 197]

Hi all,

 

I am wondering how much interest there is in developing games for mobile devices such as on the iPhone and Andriod platforms.

 

Please vote in the poll or comment below :)

[Moonpearl 32]

Since I use my mobile phone only for its primary purpose - that is, giving phone calls - definitely, no.

[Saltome 16]

Agreed, who the hell said that a phone is anything to play with?

I don't know whats this alleged fad with handheld games, I personally don't know anyone who plays phone games. They are bad, ugly overambitious and there is no real reason for a game that can be on a phone not to be on a computer, or heck, even a console.

I have heard an argument that people tend to play phone games in the metro, and all matter of such others while going to work. However if someone is that addicted to video games that they cant stop for fifteen damn minutes they probably spend more time with their console, computer or both.

[dolarmak 23]

Agreed, who the hell said that a phone is anything to play with?

I don't know whats this alleged fad with handheld games, I personally don't know anyone who plays phone games. They are bad, ugly overambitious and there is no real reason for a game that can be on a phone not to be on a computer, or heck, even a console.

I have heard an argument that people tend to play phone games in the metro, and all matter of such others while going to work. However if someone is that addicted to video games that they cant stop for fifteen damn minutes they probably spend more time with their console, computer or both.

 

To be honest I believe you're wrong. Consoles are a thing of the past. Right now they're trying to hard to become media centers and are losing the focus on games. Add on top of that the fact that TVs are gaining things like Twitter/Facebook and other programs and integrated systems, they will soon die off. Sure PCs are making a come back in that respect, but the fact that more and more people are on the run and have less time to stay home and portable gaming is on the rise.

And with the rising power of miniturization and how powerful mobile phones and tablets are becoming it's a perfect place for games. I personally use my Android phone for tons of games, not just those 'Angry Birds' casual kinda games either. My phone has emulators for my favorite NES, SNES, GBA, Sega Genisis, not to mention the new games that I believe people will love.

 

I'm for Mobile Gaming, and would like to see developers make more games for us 'hardcore' players. Sure there arn't many out there now, but with the increased demand they'll be following suit.

[madanchi 18]

To be honest I believe you're wrong. Consoles are a thing of the past. Right now they're trying to hard to become media centers and are losing the focus on games. Add on top of that the fact that TVs are gaining things like Twitter/Facebook and other programs and integrated systems, they will soon die off. Sure PCs are making a come back in that respect, but the fact that more and more people are on the run and have less time to stay home and portable gaming is on the rise.

And with the rising power of miniturization and how powerful mobile phones and tablets are becoming it's a perfect place for games. I personally use my Android phone for tons of games, not just those 'Angry Birds' casual kinda games either. My phone has emulators for my favorite NES, SNES, GBA, Sega Genisis, not to mention the new games that I believe people will love.

 

I'm for Mobile Gaming, and would like to see developers make more games for us 'hardcore' players. Sure there arn't many out there now, but with the increased demand they'll be following suit.

Pcs making a come back? When did they even leave?

 

Mobile gaming is a big market, mainly for casual which is still a huge audience. It's also a stable, could I say easy?, market to get your game known. 69p, people have proven they are willing to pay as it's very low, make the game easy to run and simple to control (simple story to follow could help and all the other usual casual aspects).

 

I've played a few high end games on Android, such as Order and Chaos which is a full on mmorpg, then there's full fps games like N.O.V.A 3 and then really good quality games like Lightopus, E. Warriors 2 and CS Portable (although CS Portable is really dificult to control).

 

Since I have Galaxy S3 my screen is pretty big and resolution is 1280x720 so I don't struggle for resolution, but I can imagine smaller sized screens would suffer.

 

All in all in my opinion and experience, mobile gaming is for games that you can play maybe 10- 30 mins with simple controls, so mini-games like.... Angry Birds, which I despise, really succeed, then puzzle games like Grablox also fit well into this area.

Edited October 4, 2012 by madanchi

[Marked 197]

Agreed, who the hell said that a phone is anything to play with?

I don't know whats this alleged fad with handheld games, I personally don't know anyone who plays phone games. They are bad, ugly overambitious and there is no real reason for a game that can be on a phone not to be on a computer, or heck, even a console.

The market for these games is massive... do you know how many millions angry birds has made?

 

I also think its a different market from console games and different types of games. When you say mobile games, no one ever thinks to compare it to a console game.

 

Furthermore, think about what it takes for a console game to succeed and a mobile game to succeed. A single developer can create a game that becomes very popular and could generate a decent amount of money (you can sell a free game with google ads on the play store for android), whereas console games generally have to be made by a team of developers will a big budget.

[Saltome 16]

Bottom line is, I don't like playing handheld games, I don't know how to make them and I'm not interested in either.

[Marked 197]

Fair enough :P

 

One of my favourite mobile games is field runners. I could waste a full hour on it at a time easy.

 

Here's a site by an old member who used to run RPG Maker Manager, a site that closed down a while back but now he's started to publish mobile games: http://www.rpgm.org/

[rgangsta 43]

Mobile phone games don't interest me much.

I've only had a couple of mobile games that I liked. MotoGP, Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and, my most favorite, Holy Wars. If I could make games similar to those, I would but I think that people have gone past the 2D games. It's more 3D and FB based games. The only game I have on my Android now is Dead Space and I don't even play it. What a waste of a dollar.

[dolarmak 23]

but I think that people have gone past the 2D games. It's more 3D and FB based games.

 

I think you're wrong about that, seeing as the mobile game market makes millions on the simple 2D games. The market is now for complex games with simple applications that are easy to learn but hard to master. Its all about how fun these games are. Once you forget that you're supposed to be a hardcore gamer (As I am) these games become fun and addictive.

 

I believe we as a gamer culture shun these games cause we're afraid that they will destroy the progress we have made over the last 30 years, but getting a larger audience actually helps bring things foreward. You don't see the film industry shying back from the B movies and silly childrens stuff simply cause the hardcore Movie Enthusiest doesn't think they're worth the effort. These things help bring out the gamer in every one and it's necessary for the "Hardcore" gaming comunity to embrase them cause the next wave of games will be for them.

 

Also FB games are trending out. Games like FarmVille and Cityville are dieing, as it shows on the company's sales records. Add to the fact that they're getting sued doesn't help but thats a different problem.

 

Pcs making a come back? When did they even leave?

Over the last 10 years sales for PC games has dropped over 50% in light of the powerful new consoles. You may not realize it but that shut down a lot of developers, as well as stopping them from porting games that were put on consoles. This is just looking at the numbers and big developers don't want to make PC games cause they are a risk. This is killing the PC game market. Add the pirating issues and people complaing about always online single player modes to prevent theft(ex. Diable 3), people arn't buying as many PC games. Big name developers like Microsoft arn't seeing any reason to make games for PCs anymore.

 

This has be rising over the last 2 years, but not really enough for the big guys to change their minds on the risk PC games have.

[Chief 30]

I'm gonna have to say that Mobile gaming is indeed a fad. I installed angry birds once it was free, played it for about a month on my breaks at work, and got bored of it. Mobile games seem to pop in and out of counciousness every once in a while, but eventually fade back into lameness.

 

Take gaming on phones, pre-smartphones. There were things like monopoly, and even some action-like games like ninja turtles, but as soon as internet on phones became more prevelant, the focus went to social networking. Who has time to play a mobile game?

 

I am constantly checking emails and my facebook between my classes. I havent even played an actual video game in about 6 months or so. I envy those of you who get to play them daily.

 

So, I guess this also really depends on the market. If you want to market to high-schoolers, then by all means! They would totally play this. But the moment you get thrust into adulthood, who has time?

 

Don't get me wrong though. I'm not so busy that I don't have fun, but I find my fun in being more productive now that I actually have to. I think more and more the focus of gaming will be HTML5 and browser-based, with mobile capability.

 

I just don't think mobile as the main focus is a good idea. Supporting it is essential, but I would definitely not make it the focal point.

[Marked 197]

So, I guess this also really depends on the market. If you want to market to high-schoolers, then by all means! They would totally play this. But the moment you get thrust into adulthood, who has time?

 

Don't get me wrong though. I'm not so busy that I don't have fun, but I find my fun in being more productive now that I actually have to.

Same :/ Even as a student I'm like this, but I've been employed for more than a year. In my spare time, since its so scarce, I would much prefer to do something productive then sit around and just stare at a screen for "entertainment" (as in watching youtube). I actually pity the people I know who go to work and in their spare time they just watch tv, or watch episodes of shows on youtube. That's not a life, it'll all be over soon, could be over tomorrow if you're unlucky so off your ass... Yeah. Ok i admit it, it annoys me.

 

Have we every really cared who plays our games? I'm not convinced it's a fad. They've gotten more popular with little signs slowing down, right? There's no doubting the market is huge whether or not young or old.

[ShinGamix 1]

I totally disagree with 80% of the replies.

 

*Consoles are certainly NOT dead. They are still a billion dollar industry still. They just seem to be evolving into more than just consoles in this generation of software. (The snes is still better)

 

*Mobile games have carved out a nice little market. If not they wouldn't be making a profit.

 

*Interested in development for mobile devices...umm maybe curious and no I will not check yes just cause the survey says too.

 

*I would type more but I have to go to work now.

[Marked 197]

no I will not check yes just cause the survey says too.

 

The reason I included that middle option is because the question asks if you have any interest whatsoever. It's there to recognize the fact that "yes" includes even negligible amounts of interest, in case its exclusion would lead the "not really" people to check "No".

Do you have any interest in creating games for mobile devices

[dolarmak 23]

*Consoles are certainly NOT dead. They are still a billion dollar industry still. They just seem to be evolving into more than just consoles in this generation of software. (The snes is still better)

 

I'm not saying consoles are dead, I'm saying that they are starting to dig their own graves. They'll still have a few good years on top, but their focus as Media centres rather than game platforms was a bad choice. I'm not the only one out there that sees it, predictions from the top agencies world wide have told Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo that it was a bad choice to focus on the media centre thing when the TVs their connected to have all the social apps the consoles do, Why buy a console when your tv does the same thing? Though Nintendo will probably have an edge on the others cause their focus isn't entirely on that and still very much on games, which is why they'll probably last longest.

 

I think I really got off topic tho.

 

Don't get me wrong though. I'm not so busy that I don't have fun, but I find my fun in being more productive now that I actually have to. I think more and more the focus of gaming will be HTML5 and browser-based, with mobile capability.

 

I just don't think mobile as the main focus is a good idea. Supporting it is essential, but I would definitely not make it the focal point.

 

Thats actually an interesting thing, cause I think you'll be right about the HTML5 based games. But the fact that you'll be able to play them on your phone/portable device is huge. And with the fact that TVs can now browse the net, this will once again be a big blow to consoles. Again, why buy a console when your TV and Phone can do it and more?

[ShinkuAura 15]

I don't really like playing mobile games. they're not very fun and just plain boring.

i vote yes.

 

it's not for the money i want to learn new stuff that can help me in the future. Andriod uses a lot of Java and i would like to learn Java for gaming.

 

i may make a game for the phone but it's mostly to test out the quality of my programming.

 

the phone is just for emergancy calls notthing more.

[Chief 30]

dolarmak, you may not be aware, but Valve/Steam is coming out with a console soon. It will have all their games, plus all of their current modding capabilities. Its truly a revolution in both gaming and game consoles. This will definitely revive the console wars and kick the competitors in the butt in order for them ro start producing game changing devices.

[ShinkuAura 15]

dolarmak, you may not be aware, but Valve/Steam is coming out with a console soon. It will have all their games, plus all of their current modding capabilities. Its truly a revolution in both gaming and game consoles. This will definitely revive the console wars and kick the competitors in the butt in order for them ro start producing game changing devices.

 

I LOVE GABE.

 

I hope half-life episode 3 comes out, with the new Steam console it would be epic.

besides the Source engine 2 is conformed and i am having high specs for the last episode.

 

unless those idiots at EA release their own console(Steam vs Origin)....which i doubt but i don`t really think so.

Imagine how big the game industry would be with that console.

[Chief 30]

You like Gabe? Gabe is a fool. I can't stand him for not making an HL3, but I suspect that because of Source2, HL3 may become a reality. If not, then I will boycott Valve.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Chief

[ShinGamix 1]

who cares about gabe... back to topic.

 

Are you planning on adding mobile development to the forum?

I might be interested in that now.

 

Edit-I broke the tie in the voting btw!

Edited October 6, 2012 by ShinGamix

[Marked 197]

Well nothing is off the table. I'm not really thinking about it at the moment but inevitably we're going to expand on the enterbrain series. The aim is to provide a site for all game developers and mobile comes into that, but there doesn't seem to be too much interest from the current pool of members. Furthermore, to play mobile games you need a specific type of phone, whereas to play any RM game you just need a PC, which most of us are going to have.

 

As everyone here has said, the mobile games are more so "cheap entertainment" than what our RM games are meant to be. Perhaps mobile gaming should be left to those trying to make a quick buck. No one thus far has expressed a desire to actually create a game for mobile (except that one members name I can't spell who made a topic the other day, but even he wanted a full RM game).

 

But I will say that just because the current members don't show an interest doesn't mean we won't attempt to diversify into currently unpopular areas, because the whole point of diversification is to enter different markets (of people). That said, the site is a place for all game development and when I say diversify I simply mean what engines we are going to have to expressly support (and by support I mean things have forums for that engine, etc.) some engines. Does that make sense?

[Daniel Tom 1]

It does interest me very much.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Daniel Tom

[Saltome 16]

Well the poll is split right down the middle, so i think its safe to say there is as much interest in mobile games as computer and console games.

[Chief 30]

I would really suggest HTML5 over mobile, but they may as well be the same, except that when I do get back to game development, and I will be using HTML5, I won;t focus on mobile, but rather just support it. My main focus will still be larger screens.

[ShinGamix 1]

Chief are you gonna support HTML5 on the forum then? cause I know zero about it.

[Marked 197]

By Chief do you mean Marked? :P

[ShinGamix 1]

Well I was asking chief if he would be involved in the HTML5 since he thought it would be better than mobile.

[Chief 30]

Once I get into it myself, Sure, I'd Help support it. As of right now, though, I am incapable. I lack the time & the knowledge.

 

For the most part, Mobile falls under HTML5 these days, unless you are using Objective-C and are developing strictly for iOS.