OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

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Sut
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OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby Sut » May 17th, 2015, 5:21 pm

I've been a strong advocate of mobile gaming for some time. The touch screen interface suits RPG's, Point and click adventures and FMV perfectly and if you stick to games that suit the control scheme there is plenty of fun to be had. And that still holds true.

HOWEVER !
I've just tried to play some of my 'older' iOS games, Brain Dead 13, Aftermath and one of my favourites Alive 4-Ever.
None of these work on the latest iOS and haven't been updated for years so they are unlikely to ever be adapted to work on my latest iPhone (this is my third iPhone).

This just sucks I like to keep games. I'm especially concerned as over the last couple of years I've purchased Final Fantasy 1-6 at a significant cost. So when Apple inevitably update its iOS and I move onto the next phone will these also be obsolete, not runnable and not supported ?

The only option I see is to keep my old phones with the games on and don't update them. But smartphones get heavy use and generally need updating every 2-3 years so that's not really a solution.

Perhaps it's time to go back to my Game Boy and Game Gear !

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ptdebate
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby ptdebate » May 17th, 2015, 5:42 pm

Yeah, this aspect of mobile gaming totally sucks. I keep around a gen-1 iPad for this purpose though. Those can be found for about $60-$80 and will play everything up to and including FFV. You can pay a little more and get an iPad 2 that will play everything.

eneuman96
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby eneuman96 » May 17th, 2015, 5:54 pm

Mobile gaming is one of those things that developers misuse all the time on account of the fact that everyone and their mother (literally) has games on their phones and tablets. Mobile gaming is good for games that were created with touch controls in mind. But it gets really frustrating when developers try to bring console games to mobile platforms with virtual interfaces that try to simulate a controller but wind up controlling like complete crap instead.

One previously non-mobile game that absolutely excels on the iPad is FTL: Faster Than Light. This game was originally exclusive to computers, but it only ever used mouse/touchpad controls (if I recall correctly), and so the game translated beautifully to touch controls because they were a logical step from using a cursor, and debatably worked even better.

On the other hand, you have games like Modern Combat. I'm fairly certain I don't even have to tell you what franchise it's copying, and it's clearly a poor man's FPS churned out to cater to mobile gamers with an absolutely abysmal interface that tries to give you the touchscreen equivalent of using physical controls but instead winds up making it unplayable.

Long story short: Mobile gaming doesn't always suck, but developers tend to lack an understanding of which games work for it and which ones don't. Updates are a major pain on their own, though.

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scotland
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby scotland » May 17th, 2015, 5:57 pm

Its like PC gaming when Windows updates every few years. No one wanted to keep an old Win 95 computer around to just play their old games, and so we lost the ability to play them. Maybe someone else will notice the issue and create an app like iOS Box, like DOS Box is for Windows. Alternatively, companies like GOG that (supposedly) updates those games for modern operating systems could also do that on mobile. Neither of those are perfect solutions, I bet. Very popular games, like Final Fantasy, will hopefully continue to get updates. As for having to replace a mobile phone, I understand, as the rechargeable batteries do seem to have a shelf life where the older portables (Like my SP) just keep charging on. However, even portables will likely reach a point of no recharge, no return. I don't trade my older mobile devices in, for gaming and movie playing, and this is another reason to keep them.

eneuman96
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby eneuman96 » May 17th, 2015, 6:18 pm

I forgot to mention that microtransactions tend to be overused to all hell, but again, there are plenty of good mobile games that don't use them or use them extremely sparingly and not in a greedy manner.

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ptdebate
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby ptdebate » May 17th, 2015, 6:29 pm

scotland wrote:Its like PC gaming when Windows updates every few years. No one wanted to keep an old Win 95 computer around to just play their old games, and so we lost the ability to play them. Maybe someone else will notice the issue and create an app like iOS Box, like DOS Box is for Windows. Alternatively, companies like GOG that (supposedly) updates those games for modern operating systems could also do that on mobile. Neither of those are perfect solutions, I bet. Very popular games, like Final Fantasy, will hopefully continue to get updates. As for having to replace a mobile phone, I understand, as the rechargeable batteries do seem to have a shelf life where the older portables (Like my SP) just keep charging on. However, even portables will likely reach a point of no recharge, no return. I don't trade my older mobile devices in, for gaming and movie playing, and this is another reason to keep them.


That's actually a really good idea. iOS and OS X share a similar kernel, so a clever hacker should theoretically be able to emulate iOS within the parent OS.

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Rev
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby Rev » May 17th, 2015, 9:32 pm

Yeah... I try to hold the mentality that anything i buy on my phone is pretty much dead to me once I get another one. I rarely buy games on the phone and if I ever do it is something like Uno or Wheel of Fortune, or something else that fits in a "disposable" category to me. One thing I actually like about mobile games is you can download quite a few popular ones for free if you can deal with ads. At least if I don't want to play my 3DS I can play some "free" game while it tries to sell me things... That is about the only use I can find for mobile gaming although I know a lot of people really like downloading titles onto these things.

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scotland
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby scotland » June 1st, 2015, 2:22 pm

Sut wrote:I've been a strong advocate of mobile gaming for some time. The touch screen interface suits RPG's, Point and click adventures and FMV perfectly and if you stick to games that suit the control scheme there is plenty of fun to be had. And that still holds true.

HOWEVER !


I am in a similiar boat. I have enjoyed lots of mobile games but have had some bad experiences of late.

The first is from a little physics time waster game. Simple but fun game based on richochet angles and items on the playfield. They updated it and while its the same game, they changed the look, added in distracting backgrounds, and now have added in frequent video commercials. What?

The second was buying a game to find out it only works on my most recent devices, as the operating systems change more rapidly than on other devices.

Third, I bought a classic game 'remastered' on mobile. Its a 90s game and I could have gotten an old console version or a PC version from GOG or something, but this one looked better with improved textures and there is a reason people want to game on mobile....because we are mobile. The game looks fine...controls horribly. To the point where its best to move on, or risk having a scarred opinion of the game based on a port. Even adding translucent control pads did no good. Just a waste.

So, does mobile gaming suck? No, but there are limits and issues to bear in mind.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby VideoGameCritic » June 4th, 2015, 6:09 pm

A larger question is, does mobile gaming pose a threat to the livelihood of the console market? I vote no.

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ptdebate
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Re: OK I admit it mobile gaming sucks

Postby ptdebate » June 4th, 2015, 10:06 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:A larger question is, does mobile gaming pose a threat to the livelihood of the console market? I vote no.


I agree. They're totally separate markets. There will always be a stable group of consumers who want to sit in front of their TV and play games with a controller rather than on a small touch screen. The latter offers portability but closes off too many gameplay possibilities to be a replacement for the former.


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