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Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

theguardian.com

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Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#131

Post by VRtual »

derFunk wrote: post #112

Game Dev CTO here, having worked with Spil already I'm curious with what he will come up. I totally agree that we need a change in mobile game design. I love the tech behind the games, designing backends which quickly have to serve millions of players. But I'm hardly actually playing mobile games, because they are repetitive, always the same pattern, hence boring. I love disruptive games which bring in new tech like…

> I love disruptive games which bring in new tech

Agreed! This is why I love the GearVR, pushing mobile gaming to new bounds.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#132

Post by ashad »

Goronmon wrote: post #19

Honestly, the lack of dedicated controls will never allow for mobile gaming to be anything more than a time diversion for most people. A touchscreen just isn't something that's comfortable to use for extended lengths of time, in my opinion at least.

I totally agreed with your point. Lack of precise control and having no physical feedback and limitations on touchscreen controls led game developers to compromise the quality of games to make them ready for touch controls. In addition, fingers are hiding a big chunk of the screen for them to use on-screen controls which again compromises both quality of control and game design. Although there are controllers in the market you can attach the phone to top of the controller but all are bulky and not good for a mobile user. We made http://www.flitch.io , a mobile and smart-toy controller in the form of a phone case. It has two intuitive Josyticks and two trigger buttons and all works with no battery! Buttons are pressure sensitive which means if you press harder you punch harder! check it out and share your thoughts. Thanks

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#133

Post by AceJohnny2 »

bigtunacan wrote: post #110
joezydeco wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm not on the bandwagon either. Bushnell has started more than twenty companies and is one of the founding fathers of the video game industry. Okay, sure. How many are still going, and how many didn't completely sink the money of the respective investors? I get that Bushnell is a smart game guy, but IMO Atari was a lightning strike he's been trying to replicate ever since.

First I think the original parent is spot on about this being an ad spot for Bushnell's newest venture. On the lighting only striking once though you are certainly off base. Chuck E Cheese was big in it's own right and I'm sure you have heard of at least one of the other companies he started; it's called Pixar.

The link between the Bushnell-founded Kadabrascope, sold to Lucas in 1984 in a fire sale to save Chuck E. Cheese, and the founding of Pixar in 1986 as a spin-off of Lucasfilm's Computer Division (which was founded in 1979) is hazy.

Yes, Bushnell created what probably became a part of Pixar, but calling him a founder is pushing it.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#134

Post by thirdsun »

hayao wrote: post #73
porsupah wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

THere's not going to be an exhaustive source, of course, but I've found TouchArcade's reviews to be of some value, as well as their forum. Their weekly roundup of new releases, including trailers for each, is another avenue for being able to quickly peek through what's out there - any that pique my interest, I'll open in a new tab, and see what further screenshots or user sentiments are to be found. http://toucharcad…

That website only covers videogames for iOS, do you have any other suggestion?

If you have any interest in PC games you can't get past Rock Paper Shotgun in my opinion. If you were expecting a site focused on Android gaming however, then I'm not of much help unfortunately.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#135

Post by Avernar »

howlingfantods wrote: post #5

I played Clash Royale for several days and the insistence on payments to progress was really off putting. The gameplay itself was quite addicting so I presume they're trying to avoid players burning out from binging. But the fact you either had to pay money or wait three hours to do anything of value was just too much to bear. The entire game design is genius in how it funneled you toward purchases.

My friends and I play Clash Royal, Clash of Clans and Boom Beach. Out of the three it's Clash Royal that has made us come this close to smashing our tablets in rage.

But it's not the IAP that's the cause. It's the skewed matchmaking and the mysterious loosing streaks that occur very frequently. You'd be playing and winning some and loosing some and then all of a sudden you hit a losing streak of 6-12 losses or more.

One thing for sure is my friends and I are not spending a penny on this game because of that regular frustration. We've spent a little on the other two games to get past a point of tedium but that gave us something concrete.

In Clash Royal spending money just gives you a chance to get the cards you need. No thank you. If the game mechanic wasn't so addictive we'd have stopped playing it long ago.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#136

Post by derFunk »

VRtual wrote: post #131
derFunk wrote: post #112

Game Dev CTO here, having worked with Spil already I'm curious with what he will come up. I totally agree that we need a change in mobile game design. I love the tech behind the games, designing backends which quickly have to serve millions of players. But I'm hardly actually playing mobile games, because they are repetitive, always the same pattern, hence boring. I love disruptive games which bring in new tech like…

> I love disruptive games which bring in new tech Agreed! This is why I love the GearVR, pushing mobile gaming to new bounds.

Yes, I preordered the PS4 VR, that's going to be awesome.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#137

Post by Tenhundfeld »

StuieK wrote: post #128
Tenhundfeld wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anybody's looking for a side project, I think there's a curation opportunity here. I'd subscribe to a newsletter focused on great, non-IAP-driven iOS games. It could be weekly or monthly, with a mix of new games and classic gems that maybe aren't so well known. I'd tolerate a fair amount of advertising or sponsored content in the newsletter as long as it was clearly labeled. The key thing for me is quality . I thi…

I built a crowdsourced version of that general idea: http://www.slant.co/topics/3480/~ios-games-without-in-app-pu...

Ah yeah, that's pretty cool, definitely along the same lines I'm thinking. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#138

Post by st3v3r »

djsumdog wrote: post #76
jwcooper wrote: post #14

If you can get past maybe the top 50 or 100 grossing games there are a lot of really good games out there that aren't looking to leech money from you. I have plenty of games that have been worth every penny I spent with a lot of depth and strategy required in order to master them. Letterpress, Spelltower, Hearthstone, Tiny Wings, Ticket to Ride, Strategery, GD Swarm, Ridiculous Fishing, Monument Valley...I could go o…

I really like Ridiculous Fishing. The guy who made Braid has similar talks, comparing mobile games, arcade games and 90s syndicated sitcoms. They only keep you entertained long enough to insert another coin or make it through a commercial break. The good mobile games, like you've mentioned, focus on creating a good engaging game without micro-transactions. They earn less. Games with micro-transactions have like a 70%…

The problem is, in most cases, you either do these kinds of things, or you don't make any money. Mobile users have been trained by the race to the bottom that games and apps should be free, and so they are highly reluctant to pay for stuff.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#139

Post by st3v3r »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #78
pavel_lishin wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can't jwcooper did > Mobile gaming doesn't have the tech press, steam-like reviews, etc other gaming has. I was going to say [citation needed], but then I just literally googled "mobile game reviews" and hit two matches at the very top: http://www.polygon.com/games/mobile/reviewed and http://toucharcade.com/ > This is like asking where the chess table at a casino is. Ballrooms A through C: http://www.vegaschess…

Exceptions don't disprove the general trend. Its pretty disingenious to find small exceptions and pretend they're the standard. The reality is that app store discoverability is terrible and p2w and other freemium games dominate sales. These types of sales demotivate devs and publishers from treating the mobile world like consoles or PC, where very good games exist and are easily found. This is a solved problem almost…

Those aren't exceptions, though. Those are easily available. You're just too lazy to look for Touch Arcade.

Re: Atari co-founder: mobile games make me want to throw my phone

#140

Post by ashad »

I think lack of having good controls and all the touchscreen limitations and low price games led game developers to compromise the quality. Touchscreen controls are not precise, you always lose the control and fingers are hiding a big chunk of a small screen!! But Smartphone could be more than. It is with us everywhere we want mobile gaming has to more fun that it is. I believe http://www.flitch.io (we are the creator) can solve these issues, what do you think?
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