I love that you would throw a microfit about a thread being in the wrong forum, but you’d pop into the iPhone gaming thread to point out that you don’t have any desire to play games on an iPhone.
A Lorini run board would be such a schizophrenic crapfactory.
Lorini
3042
Fuck off, you know you needed to hear that.
Lorini
3043
[deleted because it’s not worth the time for anyone to read it]
Tyjenks
3044
At one point, it seemed like Tom was going all iPhone games on Fidgit. ;)
I think there are a lot of interesting games for sure. It is time for my upgrade with AT&T and the main reason I want to go with iPhone is the games. Pick-up-and-play games are most of what I can squeeze in these days, so the platform would be great for me at this stage in my life. Of course, I thought something similar with the DS and PSP and my interest waned for each of them within 6 months to a year.
rei
3045
Some day I’ll play them all. As well as my 200+ Steam backlog. These are just the iPhone ones. There are at least a few dozen more iPad-only games. :/
Really, who cares about what platform a game is on anymore? As a gamer, I just go where the talent is. And you cannot dispute that there’s a lot of talent developing for the iPhone.
-Tom
mtkafka
3047
I talk to the bear all the time!
I know I know iphone games are big. just like facebook games etc
not saying the games are bad or that gaming on iphones are terrible… i think its good if it can give nintendo a run in the handheld market. It will be interesting to see where this all leads in the next 5 to 10 years.
though i am obviously biased against any handheld gaming… my eyes are terrible… im far sighted and things get blurry on the lil screens!
All the talent in the world won’t necessarily be able to compensate for fundamental hardware/interface limitations. I groan when a game I would normally be full on excited for comes out as a Wii exclusive, because there’s a 90% chance that I will hate the Wii controls for it. Similarly, although I think the iPhone is a reasonably capable gaming platform, I’ll be avoiding things like Gangstar because I find the touchscreen finicky and ill-suited to action games.
Well, yeah. But part of the point of talent is understanding those limitations. If you want to write off an entire platform with lots of enthusiastic support from creative, talented, driven developers, that’s certainly your prerogative. But there are plenty of fantastic action games available for the iPhone that play to its unique strengths, which include the interface.
-Tom
I was just going to buy this, but there are a worrying number of 1 star reviews in the app store all saying that the recent update has broken it, and it’s not connecting / updating games. I know the free version occasionally gets a bit laggy.
When I’m browsing Slide To Play and the game is labeled a “twin stick shooter” or something similar, I won’t even bother to read the review because I hate dealing with simulated joysticks on the Touch. Tilt-controlled games are even worse.
Jazar
3052
Spoken like a man who hasn’t played Uniwar.
Totally agreed.
I also avoid “tilt control” unless it’s a marble labyrinth game.
Played “Marine Sharpshooter” yesterday (well tried) and you have to tilt to put the crosshair over the bad guys and then press 2 “buttons” (keep breath for steady shot + fire) while being under a time limit.
Absolutely crap and headshots become a simply case of luck.
One of the great mysteries of iPhone games is why I don’t like Uniwar. I should. I prefer turn-based strategy over anything else, and the Battle Isle / Advance Wars type mechanics have always been something I enjoy. But not in Uniwar.
Uniwar only really works as a multiplayer game. Single player is really just a training course in the capabilities of the different units, and it teaches you little about multiplayer strategies. But one of the reasons it works in multiplayer is that it’s not weighed down with the baggage that often comes with “big” PC strategy games. It’s not trying to prove anything, or add layers of complexity because it has to meet the expectations of such a platform, it’s just a perfectly balanced asymmetrical strategy game with enough units and terrain types to allow all kinds of strategical possibilities without getting too complex. The fact that the multiplayer implementation is excellent doesn’t harm it.
If it’s only really good as multiplayer, that helps explain it. I’m not big on multiplayer even with games where I can sit down and devote a chunk of time to it. Portable games are a format where I definitely don’t want multiplayer, since portable gaming tends to be in little, unpredictable chunks. I don’t really want to fire it up and find out there’s nothing to do because my opponent hasn’t moved, or annoy the other player because I don’t make a move for a long period, since I haven’t been in a place where I could.
Jazar
3057
That’s what makes Uniwar online so brilliant. You’re notified when it’s your turn so there’s never a time where you log in wondering if you have anything to do. It’s also a very slow paced game so when we play no one is ever rushing you to take your turn. (Ask krayzkrok!) I’m the worst at setting up any kind of multi-player matches, but Uniwar is the only game that plays to my unpredictable schedule. I’ve always got my phone with me. Turns take about 5-10 mins at most. Finally the turn based nature of it means I can at any time stop playing and come back later.
I definitely agree with all the love for Uniwar. The asynchronous turns are a perfect fit for the nature of the phone and the gaming that you do on it.
I’d also think that games with simple controls work well on the phone. Warblade is one of those games that gets what made Galaga and Galaxian fun. It takes that old formula and adds tons of things to it, while keeping the core control workable on the touch screen. Left, Right and Fire button work fine without the trouble of the dual digital joysticks.
The talent in the world is making up for the iPhone’s limitations. Some developers try to shoehorn virtual d-pads onto the iPhone, and unless it’s done really really well most people reject it. Most of the games praised in threads like these are the ones that are well suited to the touch screen or tilt controls.
Clay
3060
Has anybody checked out the hybrid RPG / To-Do list application called Epic Win? Looks intriguing… but fun? Here’s the link:
