At the recent iPhoneDevCamp 2 in San Francisco, Neil Young of ngmoco delivered his keynote presentation iPhone is Greater Than… in which he shared his thoughts on the significance of the iPhone platform in mobile gaming and his vision, from a development standpoint, for realizing the device’s potential.
Young is a former Electronic Arts executive who left the game giant after 11 years to form the iPhone-focused game company ngmoco. During the presentation Young likened the iPhone’s potential for revolutionizing the mobile games industry to the manner in which the famed British home computer, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, did just that for home gaming in the UK back in the early ’80s. Compared to the current mobile gaming kings, the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, the iPhone offers the gamer far more, Young indicated.
“This device is about as powerful as a Sony Playstation Portable but unlike a Sony PSP it has a whole host of other functions. You can deliver new types of gaming experiences–converged gaming experiences that use the surface of the device in different ways.
You have frictionless direct distribution–no more carriers to go through. And it’s a simpler device to address. If you’re making video game for a cell phone today, more than 60% of the cost of that is spent on porting and more than 90% of the man-hours are spent on porting. If you compare and contrast to the other mobile gaming platforms, the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, this device is connected. You have a direct relationship with a customer.
If you make a game today for the DS or PSP, you submit it to Sony, it’s manufactured, it goes into a warehouse, its shipped to a store, the customer goes to the store, they try to find it and they bring it home. Its [the iPhone] extendable. That software that you make for the PSP or Nintendo DS–once it’s done, it’s done. You’d have no opportunity to change it, you have no feedback loop with the customer. You can’t extend that software over time."
Young feels that developers should look to Nintendo and its extremely successful DS, which has trounced the more technically capable Sony PSP in the mobile gaming market, as a guide for how to build the right games with which to realize the iPhone’s full potential. He further expressed a belief that iPhone developers can tap into the PSP, DS, and cell phone game markets to create an $8 billion per year “uber market" for iPhone games.
During his presentation, Young announced the creation of nglabs, a program through which the company will fund the development of 10 free iPhone games that are progressive, social, and could only be done on the iPhone. Each accepted application will receive $10,000 in funding and ngmoco will work closely with the developers to help produce each idea to its fullest. Ngmoco will publish and promote the finished products and the developers will keep the intellectual property.
iPhoneDevCamp 2 was a not-for-profit gathering to develop applications for iPhone and iPod touch using both the native SDK and web standards. It was a follow-on to last year’s iPhoneDevCamp.
Another 'magic number' app: $10.
I think I'll wait for this one to drop to something reasonable.
yeah. To be honest, I'd have preferred it if it was an authentic replica of the old arcade original, like their Pac Man is, and some crappy 'modern' version.
Looking at the video, I was thinking of what old arcade this really reminded me of, and then it came to me:
This should be called "Final Lap Remix", as it's really more like that 80's arcade game (ironically, also from Namco).
Atari's original Pole Position and Pole Position II had a different look/feel.
But, I'm a sucker for old arcade-style driving games, so i'll still be buying this, lol, but only when/if it comes down in price.
Come on Sega/Taito, etc. We need old-skool OutRun, Power Drift, Super Hang-on and Chase HQ on the iPhone! :D
For $5 I would've bought this in a heartbeat. I think $10 is just too greedy. I'll be waiting for the price drop for this one.
chase hq please!
$10? You have got to be kidding! What is it with all these big name developers? Do they seriously think they can throw old crap like this our way and expect us to pay $10 each time? I hate how they think that whether it is an old game or new game that $10 justifies it. I don't care how much something is a "classic" - once it is old - they should provide a more reasonable price. Companies like NAMCO need to wake up. They seem intent on just selling everything they release at $10. I for one will vote with my wallet and say NO!
Glad I'm not the only one that thinks this is a rip-off at $10, and that developers who think their apps are automagically worth that much are lame.
Vote with your dollars, folks.
When I saw the graphics, I told myself "okay, I'll buy it if it's $2".
Imagine the shock I had when I saw they asked $10 for that!
sticking to my current rule: never pay more than 4.99 for an app. would have bought ya Pole Position, but you're breakin' the rule.
I agree, two bucks would've been reasonable (although i still wouldn't have bought it). Personally i think these lame old "retro" games makes the iPhone/iPod Touch look crappy. I'll stick to powerhouse games like X-plane and Real Football '09.
Forget the past and look to the future!
I don't like the idea that if your car touches another car it just self-destructs like that. Did the original version of Pole Position do that? I thought I had Pole Position on my Sega, but I might be wrong since it was such a long time ago. I really don't remember my car going up in flames like that. $10 is a bit steep for what is basically a graphics recode. I guess they figure if you can afford an iPhone, you can afford $10.
@Constable Odo: It did.
I'm also still scratching my head as to why these developers seem to think that these 30-year-old "mini" games should be marked at the highest tier of most games prices on any mobile device. Is the demand really that high for these games that only the upper echelon should be able to afford it? Are there too many people or licenses attached to these things that they need to tack it into the price? Most importantly, haven't they had enough of our quarters over the years? They have surely had a major headstart over every other game developer out there that they can easily mop the App Store floor in volume by charging at most $2.99 (average $1.99) for these games.
I like these mindless, quick games as much as the next person, but like the next person, $9.99 is highway robbery.
Well, I'm not really in the market for cheesy games like this, so my opinion isn't worth much, but $10?!? Are you freaking kidding me? If I WAS in the market for such a game, $2-3 is the upper limit on pricing for something of this entertainment value, simply due to the much better games you can get for that price on the App Store. I mean, CroMag Rally is only $2 right now, and that's 1000X the game this is. These guys are putting their app up against Asphault 4 Pro Elite Racing in price, and it obviously falls far short of being up to the challenge. "Retro" value will only get you so far when your gameplay has been surpassed by competing games by any reasonable judgment.
"Retro" is the new market segment for old timers, who are: A. too embarassed to be seen with portable consoles by their grand kids, or B. their arthritic fingers can no longer work the game consoles' D-pads, or C. they have lost their will to game, period, and finally D. something to kill time with while waiting for their Earl Grey to cool.
@Gregz0r
Pole Position and Pole Position II were originally developed by Namco, not Atari. Atari just licensed/distributed the game from Namco.
In any event, Namco Networks sucks. Why are they even bothering to port this tired old tripe to the iPhone? The original game wasn't so hot in the first place. How about an original game for a change? Jeez, I'd be even happy with a port of Katamari?
The iPhone hardware is capable of pulling off 3D, so port Ridge Racer for chrissakes. Please give Pole Position a proper burial and stop ripping off consumers.
It's a shame PP was Namco and not Atari, or they could've used the Atari ad as the title sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
That might make it worth $10.. :)