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The Rise of Casual and Mobile Gaming
HardcoreGamer writes "The New York Times has a lengthy article about the simple pleasures and growth of casual mobile gaming. Trends show that 'more and more people are playing simpler, quieter types of electronic games on the Web, cellphones and hand-helds.' The growth in lighter, less time- and resource-intensive games (like those by GameLoft, Jamdat, and WildTangent) is spurred by the ability to play anytime, anywhere, as much as the rising development costs and production times for a traditional game. A wireless game can cost $40,000 and take a few months to develop, while full-fledged PC and console games can cost $5 million to $10 million and take years to deliver."
Yeah I especially like what nintendo did with the GBA: They made it so you can play import games on your regular GBA with no mods. Great going nintendo!
Creative Demolition
Damn I was too busy playing Ms. Pacman on my phone to realize that I just missed first post.
Maybe next time.
I totally understand the move towards casual gaming. After working a long day I can't devote the hours to a time-intensive game (e.g. Resident Evil). Now I find myself playing retro shooters and suchlike, games that can be crammed in between work and endless bloody domestic chores.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
Just look at the popularity of Tetris.
I have friends that only play simple puzzle/breakout style games, flash ones generally.
They are perfect time killers, no in-depth tactics or plot to worry about. Beating a high score is about as deep as they get, and then you can just walkway from them when your bus arrives.
Personally, I relish games produced on constrictive hardware by a bunch of rowdy upstarts! I think that is where the PDA game market is right now too. The hardware isn't good enough to support elaborate studio style software, so they have to innovate with the gameplay instead of the video and audio. IMO, the best game designs have come from this model. Yeah, I like UT/Q3/GTA:VC as much as the next geek, but I'm just as enamored with Tetris, SameGame, and Bejeweled.
:+)
Can't wait to finally get a PDA+PCS cell phone device! I'm cooomming precious!
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
Maybe the games are so cheap to produce because they are ports of games from the PET, Trash 80 and Apple II et al.
This looks like paid propaganda. Americans won't touch anything beyond voice mail. That is a pretty well established trend. Why am I supposed to believe that they will drain their batteries on nonsense like mobile gaming?
Gameboy is a different story. But there's a crucial difference between Gameboy and mobile gaming:
Gameboy was designed for mobile entertainment.
Cell phones aren't.
Laws are for people with no friends.
Do they still arrest people for playing cell-phone games over there? Or did that crap stop after a few politicians were found hanging from the streetlights? Not that I had anything to do with that, I wasn't even in the counrty that weekend. Honest.
Lunch time comes around and you can hear the happy tones of popcap games in the hallowed halls of the business world.
Long live work-place recreation.
I just can't be bothered.
when you said simple and less intense games, i wasn't thinking of this. i was thinking like the stupid 1k games i have on my TI 82.
those games look like straight out NES/Atari 2600 game clones (i think the old prince of persia itself is in there somewhere), and back then those were as complex and big budget as they get. maybe what we are seeing here is another generation of video games. in 15 years the mobile generation gamers will be remeniscing about the good old nokia 7250 games they used to play.
And development of a TI-8x game can take several study halls to develop and cost six cans of mountain dew and a bag of skittles.
I am actually completing my first game for mobile devices and Nokia will be selling it in July :)
Don't Tread on OpenSource
I just finished playing an excellent game of Day of Defeat, and I can say that hardcore, intensive games aren't going away any time soon, and certainly not for me (I need my daily Nazi-killing fix =).
But for many other people, I can see how these casual games would be so appealing. Many are simple, easy to grasp concepts*, like Tetris or card games the users already know. I knew a girl who was incredibly hooked on Snake. Or Nibbles, whatever its called. Anyway, I'm rambling, so umm... err... GRENADE! Run! =)
* not that Nazi-killing is all that confusing of concept either
[SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
Just play games on your phone instead!
Never underestimate the dark side of the Source
Personally, my iPaq got a lot more fun after I came across Pocket Nester, a Nintendo emulator licensed under the GPL. Now, whenever I am on the subway I can play Super Mario 3 and remember of simpler times.
you can't compare the developing costs of mobile games and PC/console games... mobile games have zero functionality compared to modern 3D PC games...
I built myself a nice 2ghz system - and bought myself a dell Axim - I find myself gaming more often with the free Missle command program than I do with all my other software.
;/
I DID spend a few hundred dollars when I was a kid playing the game - and this version is better than the atari's version of missle command.
I hadn't noticed I was doing so till this article got posted. Thanks for pointing out my 260.00 Axim is entertaining me more than my thousand dollar computer
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Pretty obvious story: People want mobile timekiller = turn to simple games on mobile devices.
I still don't see gaming becoming really big on cellphones, mostly because there aren't too many people who can afford to pay $299 for a cellphone that has pretty games. Give me Tetris and Snake and I'm good to go on my $40 cellphone.
From the wildtangent website when I try to play a game: "The Web Driver currently only supports Windows-based operating systems. If you would like to access our content," {sic} Woohoo fun. I can't play.
The game I like to play didn't cost anybody a dime to develop, has been passed down from generation to generation, and when finished, provides ample amounts of satisfaction.
It's called... Spank The Monkey
"Son! Don't do that, you'll go blind!"
"Dad...I'm over here..."
When things like JSR 184 "come of age". The "classic" games of 2006 could a quick game of network Quake while you wait for your bus.
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
Smaller scale games also provide a better platform for innovative games because they can be the product of a single person or a very close knit team. On huge budget games for PC's or Consoles, it's not uncommon for graphic artists and programmers to meet each other for the first time at the release party. On small budget games, a single person can closely watch over the game as it develops (or just do everything themselves) to make sure it turns out exactly like they wanted and not "Like Diablo, but in space!"
This is similar to the innovation that occured back in the first few years of gaming (Atari, Nintendo, etc...), where the systems were simple enough that one or two people could make a game with a fairly limited budget and still have it be really good.
i have watched kids (highschool) play games on phones during football games. i doubt that mobile gaming is making much money for anybody at the moment, but the market will emerge. hell, i downloaded asteroids and such, and was entertained for hours (pc not phone, but the phone would be better). certainly much cheaper than the buckets of quarters the game removed from my pocket as a youth!
Both forms of games- quick "coffee break" arcade-ish uncomplex games, and deep RPGs or involved, epic adventures- have their place, and neither is likely to go away.
I'm a "Wario Ware" addict. It's a Game Boy Advance collection of no fewer than 210 (actually more) little tiny games with little tiny five-second time limits. The goal is to see how many you can get through before you lose four times, as the games get faster and faster.
As you can imagine, they're not particularly complex. However, the fast pace of the game (a full set in Red Pig Mode only takes five minutes or so) and utter lack of depth make the game perfect for those little breaks between classes.
When I actually have time, however, I prefer the more complex games. Advance Wars is one of my favorites; Golden Sun is also up there. But they take a time dedication I don't usually have.
It's simple why the minigames are taking off: video games have become more accepted among the adult population. (Just ask my Dr. Mario addict mother.) But that adult population generally doesn't have time to get truly involved in a game- so the simple-but-still fun games, so perfect for coffee breaks, are getting played because that's what people have time for.
I prefer the more complex games, but I rarely have time to actually play them.
Warning: Poster of this comment is a nerd. Just like everybody else here.
some of the funniest and most fun stuff I've played recently have been hacks of old SNES ROMS or flash ditties that take modern gaming sensibilities and apply them to arcade classics.
This BREAKOUT clone is pretty funny. It's got a shot clock so if the game goes too slowly, weird things start happening.
I know a guy working on something he calls "Grand Theft Wagon: Oregon Trail" complete with squirrel killing side missions.
It's actually meant for kids, but everyone at my work is hooked on Spaced Penguin.
Mike van Lammeren
It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.
Yeah, well, try writing one in RPN on your
HP-48gx. That'll take at least 24 Dr. Peppers/
Mountain Dews and 3 bags of Skittles. But, in
the end it is rewarding, because no one else can
play it and the best you can do is a stupid guess
the number game without killing yourself. So you
get bored and turn on the TV in the lecture hall
with your IR port. Oh, well.
lets hope they can make a profit with phones instead of abusing other peoples computers with popups,installing more spyware,stealing email,config etc
report on tangent here
can a leopard change its spots ? lets hope so
Portable gamming is going downhill because of its unhip-ness. Can you picture a 25-year-old pulling out a Game Boy while waiting in line for something? Oh yeah, buy the N-Gage instead. It's cool.
When is Duke Nukem Forever coming out again?
Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
I think you can compare this to non-interactive media, like TV and movies. Movies are expensive and time consuming to produce, but are long, in depth, and have generally have a polished look, while TV shows cost less time and money to produce, lack the polish of movies, and aren't as in depth.
Compare this to video games. Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 (will) have considerable polish, cost millions (i think), and are longer and in depth. Tetris is cheap to produce, lacks polish, but is short and fun anyway.
The point is, if TV and movies are any indication, complex and simple games will both become popular, just filling different niches.
Is that a variation of the punch the monkey banner ads? I had no idea those were passed down for generations! When will the monkey abuse stop...
--
Old programmers don't die, they're just cast into a void
That said, with the advances in PDA power, It isn't out of the question that online MMORPGs won't be available for the PDA market within the next 4 years. The technology will be there, but I doubt the market will be. Here's for hoping.
But I agree, MMORPGs are casual gaming to some extent, especially when sprawled out on the couch.
Needs to have at least a Super Nailgun to get me to try it..
I've been playing absurd amounts of this game lately. Its an old style shump with a new twist (no pun intended - for those who know the game).
It's recently been re-released on the gamecube and is yet another port from the dreamcast.
I wish more companies would produce new games with the old style gameplay. I want some new side scrolling platformers that are of good quality.
--
0x00
Screw that, you can only be cool when wearing a sweet du-rag on a skateboard, ripping it on an N-Gage in front of a Type-R!!! Totally X-treme!!!
Are there any chess applications available for mobile or pda/mobile combo that allow you to play a game of chess against someone on his or her own mobile? That is, with a visual representation of the current state of the game on an on-screen chess board, rather than just relaying the moves to one another.
Allow no time play to have a game go over the course of the day. The opponent is dialed up and sent the move you've decided to make (e.g. Nc3).
Allow a quick timed game to be played, for example, over break.
Allow an individual to keep several games going at once, that is, the state of several games at once which can be switched between on the on-screen chess board. Have three minutes? Tab through and make a move on each of the five games you have going.
If something like this isn't available, then it should be.
"The Rise of Casual and Mobile Gaming"
Oh yes... I play casual games all the time. I play lots of different games as they're all the same to me. I get everything I want out of one, "finishing" it, then I move on to the next. Sometimes I play a couple games at once over a certain period of time, trying to get a feel of which one I want to play more.
Not only that, but I just got into "group gaming," where I get to meet a bunch of other gamers like me and we play each other in groups of 3 or more. You should have seen this one time when we all played the same game, like 3 of us at once. We were logged in at different consoles but it was fun nonetheless.
If I ever find the right game, I want to try tantric gaming, so I can get more of a lasting and satisfying and "close" experience when I play. But that demands I find the right game that I can trust and stay with for a longer time than I'm used to. I just don't know if I have that kind of time and patience.
And to other casual gamers, make sure you are careful. Don't buy games that aren't shrink-wrapped or you might infect your system with a nasty virus!
I can completely relate to this. I don't have the time to play games at home. That time is reserved for homework and I know if i start playing a game I'm going to play a lot longer than 5 minutes. Plus I've never been a big fan of 3D shooters or roll playing games. But with my Zaurus I can play Super Mario Bros 3 to my hearts content any time I have to wait for something. I'd call Zfceu one of the killer apps for the Zaurus.
Too many buttons, it looks ugly as hell. The price tag is something like $299+ which is a deadly sin. If they want to take on the handheld market, they're going to have to offer it for under $100 bux .. The GameBoy SP is sexy as hell looking, and nearly everyone is buying them up. When you're sitting down outside over lunch people typically come up and oogle at them.
You shoot THROUGH your own shields, so that they are unable to hit you.
and 8MB of NES games :-)
Most NES games were 256 KB or smaller. (Super Mario Bros. 3 was 384 KB, but the original was only 40 KB.) This means your 8 MB of NES games equal at least 30 different games. Your parents must have been richer than mine in order to afford at least 30 NES carts ;-)
Will I retire or break 10K?
Okay, so the side scrollers aren't ALL new (Marios), but the Castlevanias and Metroids are! Those are worth it by themselves. If you like shooters like Ikaruga, check out Iridion 2 for the GBASP, its only $15 and is one of the best shooters next to Ikaruga i've played. Stay away from the first one, though.
it's all good.
And we get to shake our heads in amazement at the people with mod points.
mobile games have zero fun... compared to modern 3D PC games
I abbreviated "functionality" to "fun" because the concepts are equivalent, as the ultimate function of a game is to provide enjoyment. Play WarioWare for Game Boy Advance and tell me how 213 three-second games translates to "zero functionality".
You probably meant "mobile games have near zero complexity compared to modern 3D PC games." I'll grant you this, but most of this complexity lies in the graphic engine. Pretty much any game that has been done on the PC has been done on 8- or 16-bit consoles. Games where the player runs around and shoots monsters have been around since Contra, Zelda, and even the dreadful Ikari (called Ikari Warriors in some markets). They had the same basic design ideas as any FPS, only in an overhead view. The roots of Final Fantasy X can be found in (guess) Final Fantasy IV. So it's in a 3D view now... big whoop ;-)
Will I retire or break 10K?
Cellphone and PDA games are nice, but if you could play (insert favorite 3d game) on your handheld, wouldn't you? Of course people defer to simpler games on the go! It's not as if mobile phones have the computing power necessary to render Quake III, and most laptops do not come with top of the line video. At the current point in off-the-shelf technology, mobile devices simply aren't designed for demanding, 3d capable games. Maybe in the future. Who knows?
I think the subject says it all, but this damn thing won't let me keep this blank. ZEPPELIN RULES!!!
A friend of mine has an Alltel mobile account, and showed me a game called Whac-a-mole - like the arcade game.
Brainless fun! Kewl music. Everybody that sees it wants to try it.
Bummer is that even though I have a Verizon phone, (the same kind as my friend, so it isn't a handset thing) and Verizon usually gets games before Alltel (both are CDMA and play BREW games), THERE AIN'T NO WHAC-A-MOLE ON VZW.
I want the m-m-m-mole!
http://www.c64.com/detail.php?gameid=100207
5 1
Wizard, by S.A. Moore and Steven Luedders, and release (eventually) by EA in the mid 1980's is one of the best climbing games ever. It runs like a dream on my 300Mhz Axim with Pocket 64 from clickgamer.com. It's 171K in D64 format and the developers would probably -LOVE- getting a single dollar from this "property". In general C64 games run very well on modern mobile devices and fit the screen dimensions nicely too.
To be honest, I'd rather play a well crafted C64 game (like Wizard's Crown or the abovementioned Wizard, or any text adventure) on my Axim than even think about a modern game that'd use a great deal more memory and resources to battle nicely rendered gorillas...
It's just amazing, really, how much the C64 programmers got out of the hardware, and how effectively the emulator folk have translated that to the mobile market.
Druid:
http://www.c64.com/detail.php?gameid=10
Is a fantastic game.
Trust me, if you can find a C64 emulator for your platform then by all means explore some of the forgotten gems of the past.
-dameron
Not that portable gaming is of a lower quality, but the lower expectations can allow for some low-budget, innovative titles. Apart from the Activision Anthology for the PS2, my last dozen mainstream retail video games purchases were all for the GBA. (Additionally I've purchased three "new" -- previously unreleased prototypes of -- Atari 2600 games) This is mostly because the limited development environment (more or less) forces the designers to include decent gameplay, or they have nothing.
Hey, that's great. But the title needs a little work. It sounds a little violent.
Because now you can quit your game and continue it later. Not a novel feature I admit, but it's just downright diabolical for this game.
Enjoy!
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
Great news! I am currently developing a Tetris game with all new colors! That's right, folks...Tetris lives on.
A wireless game can cost $40,000 and take a few months to develop, while full-fledged PC and console games can cost $5 million to $10 million and take years to deliver.
That is why a game for your PC cost about 50 dollars while the mobile game cost 5 to 10 dollars.
Maybe the games are so cheap to produce because they are ports of games from the PET, Trash 80 and Apple II et al.
What I want to know is, what do they spend that $40k on?? I could write snake in about 30 minutes. Hell, I have made games about that complex in about that time.
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
These guys ported Space Invaders to mobile phones - www.wirelessgames.com. Played it, but you can't kick your mobile phone as hard as you can kick the arcade machine.
I am just fine with the games that come with KDE. Not only can they entertain you, they may also build some intelligence. They should make a Mahjongg and Sokoban game for mobile gaming (if they haven't already done so).
Here in Japan, games on cell phones have been around since before the first Java enabled phones came out two years ago, but they've really exploded since then. It used to be that before, when you saw a high school kid on the train mashing the buttons on their phone, they were entering a mail with their super fast thumb-typing . Now, it's more likely that their playing a game of Tetris. It never occurred to me that it would catch on in North America though, cos the average Tokyoite spends 2 hours a day on the train, sleeping or staring off into space, but Americans mostly commute by car, which requires both eyes and at least one hand to do safely. I think it'd be interesting to see how usage patterns differ between North Americans, Japanese, and Europeans.
Masturbation.
Certainly a possibility, however in 2006 I will not be needing public transportation, as I will have converted myself to a mass of pure energy. (Which, by that time, will be the latest variation of those "physical enhancement" emails)
Either that or I'll just drive my hover-Ferrari wherever I need to go.
I think, we have some goods ideas for games here, but lack a designer for a the graphics. Any folks with experience here? Or does anyone know a good place where to find one?
TIA, Andreas
I'm not sure how saying that could be construed as 'bashing' the US, though?
my password really is 'stinkypants'
At this rate, I guess we'll be able to play Duke Nukem 3D on cell phone before DN4E comes out ...
>White House
You are standing in a forest clearing, the center of which is occupied by a white house. The windows appear to be boared up. Outside the house is a mailbox.
>Open box
Inside the mailbox you see a magazine.
>Read
(magazine)
(Taken)
"***TOP STORY*** Low-powered graphic games make comeback on handheld devices. Dungeon Masters, Wizards, and Adventures everywhere rush to their local lantern and Grue repellent dealers, cell phones in hand, to plunder once again the treasures of early computer gaming. 'It's great' one enthusiast said, 'I can even wirelessly search for hints during my commute!"
For those who want more depth than Alchemy. IF has been a portable genra for years. Bet its hard to map on a subway though.
Is there really a multiplayer Tetris for mobile phones yet? Where is it available? Are there other multiplayer games for mobile phones? Links would be appreciated, thanks!
Here is the registration free Google-link.
While we're (sorta) on the subject, can anyone recommend a place to download old fashioned scrolling shoot-'em ups for the PC? Just to fly a spacecraft and pick up powerups to blast waves of aliens - that's what I crave!
TIA!
The reason the games are cheap is that the space is limited so the complexity is reduced. This will not last for long. 12 months ago the max size was 30kb, its already 64kb and rising. With the addition of elements like SMS, Bluetooth ontop of network availability games will become more complex and therefore cost more to develop. 3D games will be on devices soon (they already are in Japan) and that brings more complexity.
This is the biggest challenge to the Gameboy market as it represents real volume of users. Come a couple of years your TV will interact with the phone via Bluetooth or some other mechanism so you can play full screen if you like.
Mobility represents a huge challange and cost in future, games can become aware not just of who is playing the game, what time it is but also where the player is in real time. Welcome to a virtual world running along side our own.
This will not cost $40,000 to develop, but it will make someone loads of money.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Hopefully the return of simpler games will cause companies to think about making simpler ones for consoles and home computers - perhaps at a budget price to reflect the fraction of the production costs involved. I'd like to see the return of scrolling beatemups, and shootemups - both genres that have been virtually dead for some years now (even counting the limited japanese arcade releases).
There's a growing number of people including myself who now collect arcade machines and the game boards, simply because the games are more fun. Come home from a long day at the office to play some relaxing starcraft or sprawling RPG? No thanks, I'd rather just shoot a bunch of aliens in a fast scrolling arcade game and not have to think.
--
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!
I remember a while ago someone ported doom to a phone. I think this would be the besst. Imagine sitting on a train/bus playing multiplayer doom with random people. Your phone could send out a broadcast via bluetooth or somesuch, asking people if they wanna play. Then wooshka fragging that guy in the pinstripe suit. Can't wait.
-- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
Speaking as someone who has had to rebuild lots of PCs because they've been broken by spyware, I can't wait for the first court-cases accusing companies like Wild Tangent of installing illegal phone-taps.
Input error. Replace user and press any key to continue.
Does this mean I shouldn't hold my breath for the day when I can play "Duke Nukem Forever" on my mobile phone?
Read my sig if you like, but I'll never see yours, thanks to Discussions, Viewing, Disable sigs...
I agree that this phenomenon of simple gaming is increasing but I think it is only because of the constraints of the technology. The only games available on the bus are the ones in my phone (or previously in my Pilot PDA) and both are just timewasters because there is nothing better. I don't want to carry a book around with me all the time and I do not yet have a suitable "book" presence in my phone and so I can't read (which would probably be my preference) so I play a few minutes of tetris or the qix clone on my T68 (and is not that just a sucky phone) for the 15 minutes that my night bus home takes.
If I had a non intrusive way of playing quake I would certainly rather be doing that, but the technology is not yet there. When it is then the story will be "People miss more and more bus stops as immersive games go on the commute" or the like.
"The first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is stop digging."
Here's how to save 40000$: get a C64 emulator to run on a phone. TONS of games that way, and get your phone to ring to Crazy Comets or Sanxion and watch the faces of 30-somethings light up everywhere.
The big fat PC games of today haven't the same sense the old games of eighties and early nineties.
These take the place of hobbies by themselves, like stamp collecting. You need to devote a lot of time to practice them. And you even have your club of fellows (CS clans).
OTOH, simpler arcade-like games that persists in mobile devices are those that drives most of the interest in gaming in the first place.
Adventures, of course, are a different breed, and do not invalidate the idea.
This is where all those classics will show up in the next two or three years. This is good and bad news. Good news: you may actually be able to find your old favorites and play them for a quarter on your cell phone. Bad news: these games are ecnimically viable again so there is no way you can make an argument that those ROMS you downloaded are for "historical preservation purposes". Worse yet, if comanies start making real money on these cell phone arcades with retro games, you can expect a crackdown on all those ROM sites.
A lot more people care that he died than will care when a useless piece of shit like you dies. Why don't you kill yourself, so we can test this theory.
Maybe that's what 3D Realms is aiming for with DNF?
With excpetion of Video editing and dvd creation type jobs, the only thign about 95 percent of people do that even comes close to pushing the CPU on a modern machine is 3D Gaming types of games. Beyond that, you don't need much to get the job done (ok, almost forgot....complex program compiling needs a bit of power too....but if you don't have it, it just takes longer). Simple games run on a wider range of hardware and you don't have to have the 400 dollar Video Accellerator in order to get acceptable frame rates. So it stands to reason that people would like these types of games. They also tend to be way cheaper....ranging from free to under 10 bucks. Also, make no mistake, gameplay comes into play. Take Roller Coaster Tycoon...still a VERY popular game and it's not even 3d accellerated! Same thing goes for the Sims and Sim City. Simpler games alot of times have a shorter time frame, but not always. Just look at RCT! Some games take a LONG time. Sometimes people people will leave RCT, the Sims and others running while they do housework or while they work. This may seem like a mistake but sometimes it's the best thing to let the game take over a bit of time. Micro managing things sometimes in these games can kill you (like answering the publics every whim in Sim City). In either event, I long for the days where games were addicting, yet all you ever did was compete for a high score instead of BEATING the game.
Gorkman
First casual gaming... ...then casual drinking... ...then casual sex...
What's this world coming to!?!?!
So, what's your point?
I much prefer smaller games that I can sit down and play, as opposed to extravagant time wasters in which most of the "play" time is spent wandering around a huge level and trying to figure what to do next (good examples are just about anything recent from Nintendo: Metroid, Star Fox Adventures, Mario Sunshine, Zelda). But just because large, modern games have failed in a number of ways isn't an excuse to rewind to the stale games of yesteryear.
Go to shockwave.com or popcap.com or any of these kind of sites and what do you see: worm eats things and gets longer games, click on the colored objects and have the items above them fall down games, retro scrolling shooters with the same batch of power-ups. Are we doomed to forever play endless rehashes of these same concepts?
In short, there's a big gap between these uninspired retreads and the hardcore gamers' games, and that gap is largely empty and unexplored.
if there are some of you doubting them, go over to www.wgamer.com -- they have a list of about every single game out now and reviews/previews of all most of them. There is a couple things about the Ngage there - which totally rocks - that should be an amazing phone and Tony Hawk looks amazing
What I want to know is, what do they spend that $40k on?? I could write snake in about 30 minutes. Hell, I have made games about that complex in about that time.
Shut up doofus! You'll ruin it for all of us!
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Scorched Earth was my favorite DOS game
Scorched Earth Site
Classic Gaming Site
A bunch of Arcade Linux Games including a Scorched Earth-esque game (about 8 from the top)
I never had a console when I was growing up due to being poor (we didn't even have a tv, so even if I for some reason did have a console, it wouldn't matter much).
I would always go to my friends' houses and want to play their consoles, but for a game like Zelda, it is hard to just play for a bit and get good at it - so as a result, I never had the full Nintendo experience.
As a late 20 something now, I have a PS2 and a gameboy advance sp. I have had dreamcast and a nintendo 64 as well.
The GameBoy Advance SP is just frickin amazing - I can now play all the old games like Mario whatever and now Zelda as well and relive my missed youth!
Here in Bermuda the GBA SP goes for about $160 and each game is about $50, but even at the higher costs and lower selection, I am still having an absolute blast.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
More directly related... in Magicosm we're planning to integrate with other services so we can be an MMORPG that allows casual play.
/tells over ICQ/AIM/MSN/etc, get in-game letters as email, queue up crafting & merchanting over a web interface, etc. Much of this won't be available at release time due to limited resources, but some will, and it should all come quickly after we start making some money.
:) We are not in that nebulous "we kinda thought it would be cool to build a game" stage but rather in the "we have a fully working client & server and now we need to get enough content & stability to be fun to play" stage, so we should be a sound investment.
For example, we will run an IRC server that you can contact to log into your guild or town chat group, let you accept
By the way, if you know investors who might be interested, please email me at bobbymartinSPAM@FREEpobox.com (after making the obvious change
Back in the days of ATARI, most games were constructed by a single person, or a very small team in a few months.
The fact that nearly all of these games are ports of some nature only makes it easier, as most of the brainstorming portion of the project is unnecessary.
Of course, most of ATARI's -HITS- grossed millions of dollars. That's what you get for being first.
* Please note something folks. A lot of you talk about the appeal of "retro" gaming, but take a good look at what you're referring to.
15 years ago, a gameboy was considered quite an acceptable gaming platform, even with it's miserable early-80s quality grayscale graphics.
Most people won't play games with atari-style graphics anymore, but if you take the SAME GAME and add large, detailed sprites, and colorful, detailed backgrounds, smooth scrolling, etc., you've got an audience.
The standard now is SNES / NEO-GEO quality 2D graphics. Try to tell me you'd enjoy your favorite "simple" game as much if you reduced the resolution and limited the pallette to 16 colors or grayscales.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
How did you get "bash US" out of "Americans don't like features beyond voice and voice mail?"
Despite what your imaginary friends do, most Americans don't use text messaging or cellular Internet or video on their phones.
I'll try one more generalization: Americans don't get offended when other Americans criticize useless products.
Take your consumerism elsewhere.
Laws are for people with no friends.
Everytime I go to the post office and jump in the always long lines I'm glad I have my cell phone. I play solitare, blackjack and Commanche (2D). It helps pass the routine 30 minute wait.
To say nothing of how long the damn things take to complete. Console RPGs especially got so bad back around 2000-2001 that I just dropped them altogether. I think it was Dragon Quest VII for the PSX that heralded 'Over 60 hours of gameplay !' on the cover. Over 60 hours. Outside of being just an absurd amount of time (how many slimes do I really want to kill ?), this pattern, not limited to any specific genre of game, does nothing to establish fanbases for games outside of everyone's favorite old chesnuts : high school boys and people with no lives.
For some reason, I seem to keep ending up working at "tech jobs" where my co-workers aren't even into "geeking out" in the least bit.
I usually got attacked for doing such things as reading Slashdot or ArsTechnica, and certainly poked fun at for ever attending a LAN party.
Maybe part of it's just being stuck here in the rather drab midwest, but I still don't really see people playing any interesting computer games in the workplace. The secretaries still click away on Solitaire once in a while, but most haven't even discovered the joy of Pop-Cap games.
Sigh....
50Mips CPU ( & a 100 Mips DSP ) 16Mb of Flash Memory Can store up to 12 games internally. Color LCD screen USB 2.0 Infrared C++ development libararies $500 ( development system )
Certainly a lot lower point of entry cost than GBA or any other of the consoles out there...
I'm irked that the NYT didn't realize that only users of phones running BREW have to Pay $$$ for their games. Phones that use JAVA instead have plenty of free games.
I'm also irked that Verizon (my carrier) chose BREW rather than JAVA for its phones. Right now I use a Palm Pilot/phone, so there is open source and freeware for my particular solution now, but this might now always be the case. Apparently, developers have to pay to have their software "signed" before it will run on BREW, and the payments can be hefty. JAVA, of course, will run on anything.
Just another reason open source is better than closed.
I dont understand why people has this desperate need to suddenly fill 5 minutes of their life at some very random instant.
Whats the problem with just staring at the wall and reflecting or daydreaming about boinking the secretary?
And who exactly is in that gap? You've got your hardcore gamers who want the dope graphics and complex gameplay, and you've got the casual people who get hooked on Tetris and Bejeweled and don't really want anything more than that. Game companies aren't going to sell to a market that doesn't exist. If anything, individual programmers with new ideas may try to cultivate the market, but they probably won't make a living at it for a while...
Personally, I'll be happy enough with MAME for PalmOS. If I could play a few arcade originals on a Palm phone, I'd probably go buy one.
Visit me on the web at Permanent4.com.
here
/// About fifty years ago designers of office furniture discovered a problem which produced a sudden unexplained psychotic episode. Cubicles and 'Systems Furniture' are designed with 'Cubicle Level Protection' due to this fifty year old discovery.
The use of mobile games will be in unprotected workspace by the very definition of their use. Normally battery operated devices cannot run long enough to cause this injury. Exposure can be cumulative from several workstations.
Read VisionAndPsychosis.Net, a project in psychology to understand the phenomenon.
The Everquest Connection page uses the suicide of Shawn Woolley in 2001 to explain the psychology involved. Mysterious Disappearances theorizes the operation of the phenomenon in society.
If you know a designer or engineer who works for one of the companies listed on the site leave a message on site or email the webmaster.