What can apple do to improve gaming?

[quote name='MSI Magus']Two major differences.

1. Mouse and Keyboard is really only ideal for 2 or 3 different gameplay types. To most people a controller can do almost anything. Meanwhile touch controls can only do a few styles of games REALLY well and the rest either average or poor.

2. Not all of us look at IOS devices as handheld only. Personally my Ipad is used more in the home then out of it. The Ipad can also be hooked up to a TV now meaning that with the addition of a controlled it could essentially function as a home console....something as this topic shows quite a few of us really would love to see.

So yes there are games like game dev story or Osmos which are pick up and play kind of games and I want the touch screen for them. However there are more and more games like Mega Man and Hero of Sparta that a controller would make 10x better. It would also encourage developers to port/make more games like Dead Space and give big $10+ games a better outlet.[/QUOTE]

Keyboard/mouse controls are ideal for all sorts of genres: FPSes, RTSes, turn-based strategy games, adventure games, 4X games, Western RPGs, MMOs, and pretty much anything else that requires, or functions leagues better with, a keyboard and/or pointer controls. Playing any of the above with a controller feels sluggish at best, and unplayable at worst.

Meanwhile, controllers are better suited for 3D action/adventure games, platformers, fighting games, and JRPGs.

Again, different controls for different markets. Nobody complains that the 360 can't handle RTSes or 4X games well because all of the people interested in those games bought a PC instead. Similarly, few if any PC gamers care about the lack of PC JRPGs or fighting games because the people interested in those games have bought consoles.

Now apply that to iOS. The touchscreen/gyroscope interface pairs well with strategy games, puzzle games, tower defense, twin-"stick" shooters, RPGs, board games, racing games, adventure games, social-media games, and anything else built around the touch interface that doesn't just slap console-style virtual buttons on the screen. The 3DS and PSP, meanwhile, handle the standard console-style stuff (action/adventure, platformer, fighting games, and so forth) better.

See what I'm getting at? Different markets, different hardware, different games.
 
Sigh......you just cant reason with some people on certain points. This is the last thing I will say before dropping this becaues I can see it will go nowhere.

1. You put genres in the better on PC like FPSer and Western RPG that others would disagree strongly with. They may function better to you(or even in general)but they are far from sluggish or unplayable with a controller.

2. Just because a platform is best suited to a certain type of game does not mean it should not ever aspire to break beyond those boundaries. Platformers are not great on the Wii in general....but Nintendo proved with SMG it could be done. Strategy games are not great on consoles but Civ Rev proved it could be done. The 360 controller being used as much as it is on the PC shows that there was a market for controller based games on the PC. Now this topic is proving yet again that while IOS devices may not be built for a controller there is a serious demand for there to be one. Different people have different visions of the future and different visions of how things should be...the companies that win out are the companies that come up with smart business plans that focus on their core strengths while branching out to meet the various demands of different markets. I think you are missing that.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Sigh......you just cant reason with some people on certain points. This is the last thing I will say before dropping this becaues I can see it will go nowhere.

1. You put genres in the better on PC like FPSer and Western RPG that others would disagree strongly with. They may function better to you(or even in general)but they are far from sluggish or unplayable with a controller.

2. Just because a platform is best suited to a certain type of game does not mean it should not ever aspire to break beyond those boundaries. Platformers are not great on the Wii in general....but Nintendo proved with SMG it could be done. Strategy games are not great on consoles but Civ Rev proved it could be done. The 360 controller being used as much as it is on the PC shows that there was a market for controller based games on the PC. Now this topic is proving yet again that while IOS devices may not be built for a controller there is a serious demand for there to be one. Different people have different visions of the future and different visions of how things should be...the companies that win out are the companies that come up with smart business plans that focus on their core strengths while branching out to meet the various demands of different markets. I think you are missing that.[/QUOTE]

Remember that Shadowrun game from 2007? The one that had cross-platform 360/PC online play? The developers had to give the 360 players all sorts of aim-assists and sticky reticule tracking to get them to even stand a chance against the PC players.

It's not a matter of opinion, keyboard/mouse is simply better for FPS games. Ditto for pretty much all Western RPGs - both the old isometric Fallout/BG-style ones (I can't even imagine playing those without some type of pointer control) and the modern ones like Oblivion and Mass Effect that are basically FPSes.

My only non-handheld gaming machine is a PC, and I follow the PC game scene pretty closely. We get maybe a small handful of console ports each year that are better on a gamepad, and pretty much nothing PC-exclusive that's developed with gamepads in mind. And those console ports are often pretty shoddy. If you think that a handful of half-hearted 360 ports has expanded the PC's market at all, then you're simply mistaken.

And I hardly think that a few posters in an Internet thread constitutes a "huge demand" for an iOS device controller. On the contrary, the tens of millions of iOS gamers who are perfectly happy with the iOS user interface prove that there isn't a significant demand - or else someone would have already made one.
 
As I said, people feel the need to think their way is not only superior but the only way period....no point in me even trying.
 
i would just like the option. i keep my iphone in my pocket most of the time too. but with games like mega man, sonic the hedgehog, street fighter 4, etc a controller would be nice. i find the touch screen dpad largely unplayable. particularly with platformers. besides, apple could release an "icontroller" and charge $60 bucks for it, people will pay and i would would bitch about the price but id buy one too.

it doesnt have to be anything thats required and it doesnt have to be built into the iphone. just something that can plug into it. there are tons of designs and such out there on the web, just do a google search and youll see. no reason why it couldnt work.
 
Yeah, I won't bother with games with a simulated d-pad/joystick and buttons. If it's not a pure touch screen game, it's not worth bothering with IMO.

I don't care enough about gaming on the go to want an external controller though. I hardly touch my DS as is. I'm personally fine with just simple touch screen games on the iPad or smartphone as I never play them beyond beying stuck in a waiting room or board on a flight etc. And even then I'm more likely to read my Kindle or in the Kindle app if I don't have the Kindle with me.
 
I've been a "core" gamer all of my life. I define that as someone who stays very current with industry news and rumors via sites, forums and podcasts, spends at least an hour a day strictly gaming, and cares about the health of the industry.

My Ipod Touch has become my primary gaming device. To me, nothing is finer than laying in bed half the night listening to podcasts while playing 100 Rogues or Battleheart or being able to game at work during slow periods. It really has been a life changer for me.

I've always been pretty interested in portable gaming, and I think Apple has it's finger on the pulse of the future.

The major things Apple needs to do is make Ipod Music functionality a standard feature in all games. I can't tell you the number of times I've found a good game which has decreased my ability to enjoy it by not offering Ipod Music as an option. It isn't about disrespecting the hard work of a game's music staff, as some games I refuse to disable the music, such as Dead Space or Sword & Sworcery.

I also think Game Center is far from being what it needs to be. In my mind, the only thing it has over Open Feint is that it is official. This is no small thing, but Apple shouldn't rest on it's laurels.

Game Center NEEDS to support offline achievements soon. It is ridiculous that Ipod Touch and Ipad Wifi owners can't get this basic, important functionality unless they have a wifi network around. I understand that, as for the foreseeable future, the Iphone is the focus at Apple, but if they didn't want to cater to people requiring Wifi they very easily could have just never created the Ipod Touch line and never made a strictly Wifi version of the Ipad an option.

Since these two lines are important to their bottom lines (Though admittedly less so than Iphone, I'm sure) they should consider those products' users when developing Game Center in the future.

Also, it would be AWESOME to be able to message people from within Game Center. Unless this functionality is somehow already in there and I missed it. As I said, I'm a Touch owner so unless I'm in Wifi range I'm more of an Open Feint kinda guy though I'd much rather use the official option.
 
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