This week’s Final Fantasy: Record Keeper (Free) event takes us back to the world of Final Fantasy VIII and the epic battle against the Sorceress Edea. Balamb Garden: The SeeDs of Conflict not only offers the opportunity to unlock two more heroes of the game but also their memory crystals (assuming you pass the Elite Dungeon tests). Before you go forth and recall the record of one of the world’s most emo heroes (…whatever), let’s take a closer look at the event, its bosses, and the heroes themselves.
Balamb Garden: The SeeDs of Conflict
Another Challenge Event, Balamb Garden has you jumping through about a dozen separate battles with progressively more difficult enemies and bosses. Irvine and Squall are obviously the big rewards in this event, but there are a few other rewards worth taking notice. From the Classic Dungeons, you won’t see much more than low level FF8 equipment, 2-3 star Orbs and Eggs and the occasional Mythril. A few levels do throw some abilities at you, such as Aero Strike and Magic Break.
As you get to the Elite Dungeons, the rewards get a bit more interesting. Orbs of 3 and 4 star rarities are met with a Barrier Ring and White Cape (the only cool accessories that can be earned). Of course, as you get towards the end of the battles, you can earn a few 5 star orbs and upgrade materials, but otherwise, there isn’t much here that you’ve already seen.
Boss Tips
The good news about this Challenge Event is that the vast majority of bosses don’t really have any secondary objectives other than to win without KOs (sometimes easier said than done on Elite). Still, each boss has its own vulnerabilities and we’ll run through those for each boss below.
Training Facility Entrance – Granaldo is vulnerable to Wind and Resistant to Poison. He also doesn’t have any attacks other than physical so just pile on the hurt and you’ll eventually take him down.
Secret Area – Archaeosaur’s attacks are physical damage to one, or physical damage to all. Otherwise, he’s vulnerable to ice and is strong against poison. On Elite he’s a bit tougher, so try and get intimidate or dark buster on him at the start to minimize his tough attacks.
MD Level – Level 3 – Oilboyle has one additional secondary objective to exploit his weakness to fire (he’s also resistant to Water). If you can land poison, sleep and silence then you’ll be in good shape to take him out (silence in particular as it neutralizes his counter).
Master Room – Norg is one tough boss, and it’s fitting since he’s the last one for the challenge. He’s made up of four parts: Norg himself (vulnerable to wind, resistant to poison), the Norg Pod (Resistant to Poison and Lightning), the Right Orb (Resistant to everything but Dark) and the Left Orb (Resistant to everything but dark as well). The way he works is the Left and Right orbs constantly change color. If one gets to red it’ll unleash a powerful magic attack. However, you can reset the colors by hitting it. So you’ll want to keep a few folks on color duty making sure they never get red. Meanwhile, you have to take out the Nord Pod before Nord himself shows up. Afterwards, it’s just a matter of doing damage while keeping the color pods in check. He has an insane amount of HP in Elite so just be patient and stick to a set plan.
Irvine and Squall at a Glance
Before we get started on abilities and equipment, let’s talk stats for a little bit. Squall is primarily a physical damage dealer as evidence by him being in the top of three of currently released characters in terms of Attack. He’s also pretty high up there in terms of HP. Meanwhile, his defense is pretty low while his Magic, Speed, Mind and Resistance are pretty middle of the road.
Irvine meanwhile isn’t so great in anything other than Mind (where he’s at least in the top ten). However his ability to wield guns is pretty unique, along with four total ability categories (Black Magic Level 1, White Magic Level 2, Combat Level 3 and Support Level 5). Otherwise, Irvine can wield a Dagger, Hat, Light Armor and Bracers. On the Soul Break front, Irvine’s is pretty cool, which fires successive shot attacks while his special Soul Break (which requires the Valiant) can fire ten shots in a row.
Squall wields similar equipment but replaces the Sword with the Gun and adds Helmet and regular Armor equipment on the defense side. He also boasts four different ability categories (Black Magic Level 2, White Magic Level 2, Spellblade Level 3, and Combat Level 5). His default Soul Break deals three attacks to random targets while his special Soul Break unleashes one strong attack against a single target.
In terms of use, I’d obviously keep Irvine in the back with a Gun and focus on support abilities while I’d take advantage of Squall’s high attack and Spellblade abilities. Of course, Squall’s Combat abilities will eventually be the end game if you’re at the point that you can create those. Regardless, Irvine is a decent Wakka replacement (although I’d still rather have him or Tidus on the back line) while Squall feels like a more powerful Celes (although she still has the advantage with Rarity 5 Spellblade abilities).
Balamb Garden is available for players through July 2nd so there’s plenty of time to get both Irvine and Squall (and their Record Crystals). If you’re looking for more tips on how to get through the later levels of Elite, check out our awesome forum thread. Meanwhile, we’ll be reporting soon on the major content update that accompanied this limited time event.
Hahaha "I'm pretty sure Clash of Clans would beg to differ"
I giggled so hard at this.
At this point, screw Nintendo.
I'd say screw mobile, really. 99% of iphone/android/Windows mobile games are garbage. Touch screen controls don't hold a candle to a real controller, and the shallow gameplay of most mobile games leaves a lot to be desired.
Sorry, my 3DS and Vita dominate over mobile platforms when it comes to quality games.
I much prefer pc gaming myself but your talking total garbage there I have to say...99%?? Lol
Yes, 99%. Have you seen the massive number of terrible developments?
Considering the amount of apps releasing on a weekly basis id say 1% still gives quite the array of choices !
Yeah, and 99% of that 1% is shallow. Fun, fair enough, but shallow.
If you feel so strongly that mobile games are "garbage" what are you doing spending time on a site dedicated to that platform? Let alone taking the time to comment on on if their articles...
Also consider that the public at large seems to disagree with you, as they vote with their wallets.
Apple alone is expected to bring in 4 billion dollars from the games sold through it's iTunes App Store. Compare that to Nintendo's 2.4 Billion in revenue last year, which is expected to be even less this year.
Yeah, if a whole 1% of games are good.. then yeah, there's no way I'd ever get through them all :)
And truth--PC gaming is BOSS.
PC gaming is where you go if you want the very best graphics (and can afford the specs, of course). But yes, the VAST majority of IOS, Android and windows mobile games are shit.
So wait, are you just here to troll? Can't see why you'd be here for a mere 1% of games, of which only 1% qualify as deep enough.
No telling involved. Merely a response to the dumbass notion that mobile games are in any way close to being an adequate replacement for Nintendo's portable games. Or Sony's, for that matter.
For hardcore gamers you are right, they can't replace handheld games. For 99.9999999999 percent of the rest of the world they do just fine. I love both. I have a metric F-Ton of excellent iOS and Android games which I play all the time in addition to my Nintendo 3DS games. Touch screen is fine for most of the games I like I even had no problem at all playing Bioshock on my iPhone 6+. But in general yes IDD, I would much rather play on a dedicated console if I had to pick one or the other.
If there is a billion apps on the App Store, that 1% is still ten million fun games. And if 1% of are that are the only deep, really fun games on the App Store, that is 100,000 amazing games. So I can see why he's here. Although PC is so much better.
If only that were true. Sadly, there's nowhere near 100,000 amazing games on any tablet's app store. A few dozen, perhaps.
I think most games in general aren't that good.. regardless of platform.
But I wonder if I console gamers see a bad mobile game, and just assume all mobile games are like that. They're entitled to, I suppose..
That's true, I agree. However, that percentage of bad games--hell, bad software *period*--is much higher on mobile platforms. There's enough good stuff to justify ownership, but not enough to replace dedicated portable games systems.
Fair enough, guess it's going to differ from person to person. I don't see any great need to game on the PS4 or X1, or on handhelds. Others will though.
And as much as I enjoy Nintendo, it's a shame such a weak handheld system leads the pack (well, out of the traditional handheld systems). Would have been nice to see the Vita do better.
As an owner of PS4 and Xbone, along with Wii U, I'll agree that for the moment, there's very little on XBO or PS4 to justify ownership. Had I not gotten ridiculously good deals, I'd really be annoyed at myself for having them. Though, in fairness, the XBO has turned out to be a killer media system.
However, I don't think it's at all accurate to call 3DS "weak", at least in any meaningful way. Yes, it's now 3 years old (though the new 3DS is a good deal more powerful and improves on almost everything about the original), but it offers a fixed set of hardware standards developers can rely upon. That's not the case with any mobile out there, from Apple or anyone else. They change every single year, often multiple times per year.
IMHO, the big takeaway from the success of 3DS is this: software matters above all else. It's more important than screen type or size, more important than storage capacity or RAM or online connectivity. If you don't have the games, your hardware is meaningless. And I say that as a frustrated Vita owner too, who feels pretty damn burned by Sony's rapid abandonment of Vita.
Fair enough. We've got differing views on the 3DS then.
I thought when the 3DS came out four years ago it was pretty weak then.. but now it's just.. yeah.. pretty amazing a system like that was current in the year 2014.
New 3DS was a bit of an improvement, for sure, but doesn't seem to be taking off - not many exclusive games for it.. just yet. It's still under a year old though.
I can see they might have used the New 3DS to keep the line going until their NX / mobile platform was ready. In any case, they've sold a lot of hardware units, which is good.
I think there's advantages in both short and long lifecycles - it is a trade off between having a set platform for years on one hand, and having antiquated hardware on the other. It's a difficult one.
Apple's platform is pretty steady -
You can be quite sure with an Apple device, if it's listed as compatible with a game, it'll run. Not quite as simple with Android and PC.
Nah, Apple devices age very poorly because IOS is such a bloated pig these days. If you own an iPad 1, 2 or mini 1, forget it, you're SOL for a lot of games and apps. I stopped buying Apple products precisely because of their tendency to intentionally ruin even slightly older devices with their bloat.
There are definitely tradeoffs between long and short lifecycles. In general, long is better for consumers, short is better for corporations. Look at 360 and PS3 for a fine example. 2004 era technology (older, really, given cell development started around 2002), and yet they're home to some of the most beautiful, deep games ever made. Over time, developers learn to really eke out everything the hardware has to offer, historically far more than you'd expect. First year and 8th year Xbox 360 and ps3 games, compared side by side, don't even seem like they'd be part of the same generation, let alone the identical hardware.
Yeah, the optimal lifecycle depends on what you want from your games, I guess..
I wouldn't expect a PC, or a tablet that's 5 years old (eg. the original iPad you mentioned) to run the latest games - developers are taking advantage of new hardware and software.
If it's more important to keep the same single piece of hardware and game on it for half a decade or more.. then yeah, console is the way to go, for sure.
What I want from games: solid gameplay and a well told story, packaged up in a release that isn't riddled with bugs that have to be patched before the game is playable. These days, that's getting hard to find on ANY platform, but the fact is that when developers can rely on hardware being the same for 5ish years, they can optimize the hell out of it and deliver something more complete. Not that they always do, of course--plenty spend years and still deliver garbage, but not all of them.
And really, these days, there's no reason you need to upgrade your gaming hardware every year or two anyway. Xbox 360 and PS3, now each using tech from over a decade ago, still have libraries full of games that are stunning (and which iPad, Android and Windows tablets still can't match). And although some are disappointed that Xbone and PS4 don't support 4K (which is silly), the fact is that those systems still are pretty damn powerful--way more powerful than any tablet you'll buy in the same price range, or any iPad or Android tablet *period*. :)
It's not just iOS though. Almost all mobile hardware companies are guilty of planned obsolescence, not to mention insane fragmentation.
Actually, that's not true. It IS just iOS. For the last 7 years, every single new version of Windows, for example, has been smaller, leaner and faster than its predecessor. Every. Single. One. Android has wobbled; sometimes it's leaner and faster, sometimes it's more bloated. It's never consistent.
But iOS, up through version 8, has been more bloated every single time. IOS 8 requires a MINIMUM of 4.6GB to install. That's more than the full version of Windows 8.1, which can install into just 3.9GB on modern tablets. And let's face it: iOS isn't *half* as functional as Windows 8.1, so where the hell is all the bloat justified?
And if you think iOS 8 isn't bloated, I'll point out that even APPLE agrees with me, as evidenced by the fact that they recently announced that FINALLY, they'll be de-bloating the OS come version 9, trimming it by almost 60%. That doesn't happen unless your OS is incredibly bloated to begin with.
I never said it wasn't. No need to get so defensive.
I wasn't even talking about bloat, I was talking about planned obsolescence and fragmentation- other negative aspects to almost all mobile technology. So, Apple is more "bloated" Android is more fragmented and doesn't handle GUI as well. They all have downsides and they all also have intentional shortcomings to insure consumers feel compelled to upgrade. Bashing one or the other is absolutely pointless.
Nothing defensive about it, just facts. And no, the fact that later models will have additional features is not "planned obsolescence". PO is when a company builds its software in such a way as to overwhelm earlier hardware with the intent of making that hardware miserable to use, thus driving the consumer to upgrade. I experienced Apple doing that to my iPad, iPhone and Macbook Pro, year after year, until finally I'd had enough and jumped ship.
But software evolving, or later hardware getting new features the old model didn't have, is in no way PO. It's just the march of evolution, which pervades technology as much as it does living things.
Moreover, it's not about bashing: it's about seeing which companies are more prone to screwing you over, and taking your dollars out of their pockets until they change their ways. Look no further than the Windows Vista debacle to see how this works. Few people (relatively) upgraded to Vista when word got out that it was unbelievably bloated, slow and crash prone on anything but the very latest hardware. What happened next? Every single version of Windows afterward was faster, leaner and lighter, even while getting new capabilities and improving old ones.
That's why it's critical to call these companies out AND to take financial action against them. It's the only weapon we have. Use it.
It just sounded a tad angry to me, which is why I guess I interpreted it as bashing. Sorry. So many angry people on the internet.
I've experience at least some level of PO in almost every piece of tech I've ever owned. Holding back features that could have worked just as well on older models, intentionally not scaling back aspects that cause performance to suffer. There's definately been a decline as the pace of evolution levels off but it's still there.
Fragmentation is the other issue I mentioned. One that Windows and Android do suffer from. I love using PC but there are definately more issues that come with such a ubiquitous OS than one that operates on more standardized hardware.
I find it suits me to use multiple platforms for different tasks so I don't really see a need to criticize one over the other. Each has their place in my life and serve their purpose very well. PC, Android and iOS. No Mac though ;)
And iOS 9 has far smaller install requirements than iOS 8. Guess your pattern has been broken, eh?
As I already pointed out, nitwit. Try READING before you comment pointlessly.
Heh, "nitwit", says the guy whining like a 5 year old over a perceived affront to his precious console games...
It's a pretty big paradigm shift in gaming towards mobile.
Change is a hard thing.
But yeah, it doesn't excuse him from being rude though.
Gaming isn't moving towards mobile. Mobile is simply a new paradigm in gaming. It's not killing consoles or portables. It's not dominating in software quality nor even in sales. It's carving out its own profitable niche, and that's fine--nothing wrong with that at all.
But there's nothing rude about pointing out facts. The nitwit commented pointlessly about something I already addressed.
If mobile isn't killing dedicated handhelds, I'm curious as to your thoughts about what is? Last gen, PSP and DS combined for ~230 million units in hardware sales. The current handheld generation is winding down and the current sales are ~60 million for 3DS/Vita combined. Now, they've still got sales ahead of them, but probably not much more than 10 million, speaking optimistically. That means gen over gen the handheld market has dropped to ~33% of what it was. That's not a sign of a healthy market. So what do you think is the reason, assuming mobile had no effect?
I've generally preferred and followed japanese gaming over the years - but over the last few years, console sales (of both hardware and software) have been steadily dropping, and continue to drop.
In the West, it's a bit different.
Console sales are still well down on this time last gen, however it's great that the PS4 is keeping things afloat for the time being.
With the handhelds, Nintendo have managed to keep hardware floating along with the 'New 3DS' - which is a great effort, considering it has like 2 exclusive games. There was a big drop in handheld sales between 7th and 8th gen (as pointed out by Shaun below also), so it'll be interesting to see what Nintendo try with their next-generation handheld.
I don't think there's any need for name-calling, I think we can all be civil here.
Perhaps you need a dictionary. There is no whining, not is there any affront or threat whatsoever. Consoles will not be killed by phones and tablets, at all.
I think you need a dictionary. There's no whining, and no affront nor threat posed by mobile gaming. It's a new niche under the overall umbrella of gaming. It's not killing consoles, nor portables, and it's unlikely to do so. It doesn't replace, it only supplements.
Calm down, iOS 9 is required 1.3 GB. And they fixed iOS 8 update size already.
You think about your iPad in a wrong way. You'll be better with 3DS as portable gaming platform, it has excellent performance for all titles and backward compatibility.
iPad is not a console is is a computer — something to replace your laptop PC. You can't replace your laptop without true multitasking, file system, inner app communications - all this features are here because iOS updates every year.
My Playstation Vita is my favorite console next to my ps4, and I still have to admit, 1% of quality mobile games is more games than the vita probably has to offer :(
Vita doesnt have mich to offer tbh
In sheer numbers, true, but the odds of finding mobile games with the depth and quality of Vita or 3DS games is pretty low, and the odds of touch screen controls being as good as physical controls is nonexistent.
I would say it depends on the game. Dragon Quest plays great on my touch screen, and it offers great depth. I would venture to say that there are at least 100 games out on the app store that offer solid controls, great gameplay, and are fun. But, in the end, you are quite right about many points. Physical controls, powerful PCs and consoles are tough to beat.
It does depend on the game, that's true. But Dragon Quest isn't what I'd call a great example; you're talking about a port of a decades old game.
I don't hate all tablet games, and appreciate several for what they are: bite sized snacks. But they can't replace the "full meal" experience you get on a console or even a Nintendo or Sony handheld.
I find on-screen controls far superior to game pads. For some games mouse and keyboard is better still, but that's not portable.
Yeah, it's interesting about on-screen controls. I grew up playing on GamePads, and I do prefer them (although I have nothing against on-screen, and it's a lot more practical when it comes to portability).
But more and more, the younger generation are using tablets and mobiles rather than dedicated GamePads - you can understand why they might prefer touch-screen over a GamePad.
I think a lot of it might be what you're used to.
I grew up playing on a ZX Spectrum keyboard. Then went through the Megadrive (Sega Genesis) to PC and mouse. Generally I've never really go on with game pads - but particularly the more modern game pads with ridiculous numbers of buttons all over the place where I spend half the game trying to remember which button does what.
Now that is interesting. Not at all what I was expecting.
Thanks for sharing.
Some, perhaps, but more often it's the kind of games they're playing. Shallow crap like flappy bird? Fine, touch screen works. An fps like call of duty? Not even close. A platformer? Nope. Maybe Tetris. Maybe.
Hmm.. okay, I can certainly see you prefer traditional GamePads. That's fair enough.
I haven't really run into those sort of issues with touchscreens, but I'm sure as mobile gaming continues to get more and more popular, they'll come up with new control schemes and ways around it.
Platformers work well. All you need is left right and jump, I don't see how touchscreen is bad for that?
On touch screens, platformers require level designers to take into account the shortcomings of the touch screen interface method and build designs that are easier and more forgiving. Fine for a casual player, anathema to anyone who actually enjoys the challenge of mastering tough, hardcore design.
I'm not the biggest platformer guy ever, but man, there are people who take that shit WAY seriously, and they're right: a touch screen hurts the design of certain kinds of games.
Sorry, but no. While keyboards and mice are great for certain kinds of games, the only thing a touch screen can do better is cheesy, cheap fair like Angry birds. They're physically incapable of offering the precision of predictability of a real controller.
Sorry, yes. Touch screens have plenty of precision. I know some people like game pads, but I can't imagine how someone could play an FPS type game with one, whereas I get on fine with them on my iPad with touch controls.
I don't deny that you find game pads easier, but it's not an absolute truth that they're better.
Capacitive touch screens do not tend to have precision at all (which is why most are incapable of using precision styluses, for example). And an FPS is MUCH more playable on a gamepad than a touch screen (and even more so on a keyboard and mouse).
I wouldn't suggest that any control mechanism is an absolutely universal superior method to all others in all situations; that's just silly. But for deep games, a pad is virtually always better than a touch screen. Touch screens are great for simple, facile games, and that's about it. Nothing wrong with that--I like a bit of bite-sized gaming here and there myself, but it's not satisfying in any kind of meaningful way.
Again, you're stating it as a fact. It's not. It's just your experience which doesn't match mine.
It does vary by game type, sure, but those are few and far between.
It kind of annoys me when people say stuff like this.
Vita has a huge library of indie, PS1 and PSP games available for it. Classic games like Final Fantasy from VI-X2, XenoGears, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, SOTN, Arc the Lad and literally hundreds of others. It would take me years to play through the backlog of games I have access to on Vita.
If you don't think it has many games, then you're not taking advantage of all it has to offer. I'd suggest going through the classics section on the store, I guarantee there are tons of great games you've never played before. There are also some great articles online that can offer suggestions.
Having a bunch of games from decades old systems is NOT adequate. The Vita is a well made, reasonably powerful piece of hardware with terrific controls, and the fact is that Sony has let it languish. It's basically shoved the system into the basement, inside a disused lavatory, locked in the bottom of a filing cabinet with a sign on it saying "Beware the leopard". (bonus points if you know the quote :) )
Love my Vita, HATE the way Sony's handled it. Their negligence has turned it into the ghetto of portable gaming, and that's just sad. It deserves better.
Well I absolutely love being able to play games I missed out on or never thought I'd get to play again. I specifically bought it for those reasons. Sony marketed it wrong right out of the gate, but doesn't make it a bad system and it doesn't make saying it has no games any more true. It's all about what the individual expects to get out of it. I got it well after the "console gaming on a handheld" hype train died down so I'm completely satisfied with it.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having those games, not at all. Nor am I saying the Vita is bad (I felt I made it pretty clear that it's a great system). What's bad is how Sony handles Vita. Yes, it started out of the gate, but it continues to this day. Look at E3 2015. Vita was so poorly represented that it barely made the news at all. It's a complete disaster, and as evidence of that, it's being outsold by 3DS at a ratio of about 6:1 worldwide. That's pretty terrible, especially considering 3DS got off to a really rough start.
My only real point originally was against the claim it had no games. Not how Sony handled it or anything. I guess I was just a little confused as to why you brought that into it. Agreed that Sony didn't handle it well but I don't care that much about it, really. When I play my Vita I think very little about the corporation behind it and I'm just happy to have it :-)
When you look at it from the totality of any game on the Vita I would agree. However, I do not qualify PSP or pS1 games as part of the criteria I was using to measure the Vita's library. I know it was my fault for not specifying that. That said, I agree, the Vita has an amazing back-log of games. Castlevania Dracula X chronicles being my favorite. It is too bad however that you have to mod the vita to install any PSP game. I would love to have games like Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep on my Vita to play, along with a few other PSP games I never have made time to get around to.
Overall I agree with you though; like I said, Vita is my favorite console for a reason ;)
There are actually a ton of PSP games you can download from the PSN Store. Any that were available for the PSP go can be played on Vita. I managed to catch up on the entirety of the Ys series thanks to this. I never had a PSP but was a huge Parasite Eve fan so getting to finally play the 3rd Birthday was a dream come true.
Games that are limited to physical editions (such as Birth by Sleep, which isn't digital because of a music licensing issue) require more "creative" solutions.
I also only had a PS1 near the tail end of its life for a short time so there are tons of classic games I missed out on that I now get to play. All things considered, I'm very happy with the Vita. I spend more time with it than my 3DS!
1% is being very generous. Maybe 0.00001%.
That would mean there's roughly an eighth of a good game on the App Store.
I'd argue it's more than 99%. I doubt toucharcade has even reviewed 1% of the games on the app store. If you think the only games on the app store are the ones reviewed on this site, you're deluding yourself. What we get from this site is the cream of the crop.
This is spot on mobile gaming is just crap unless your taking a crap and need to waste 5 mins
I hope these people are trolling. Either that or they don't own a smartphone or tablet or simply are too lazy to check the apps laid out all in the forums.
Nope. I own tablets with all major OS's, and not one of them can match the depth and breadth of console games. The closest any of them comes is full blown Windows, and that's in some part because you can get full PC games and use an Xbox or PlayStation controller.
I own an iPad right now, and that is currently the only reason I come to this site. So I don't have to dig through crap. I have also experienced android and windows tablets, and quite agree with Jason.
Exaggerate much? If you hate IOS games that much, you really shouldn't even bother with a site like Touch Arcade. Unless you're trolling of course, then it makes sense. Personally, I can't stand console games. There's way too much of an investment of time and money required to enjoy games that way. When I was in High School, sure. But now? There's way too many quality IOS games available at the fraction of the cost, which I can also play on a device that does more then just game, to waste precious time and money on console gaming.
Translation: You prefer cheap, shallow,facile games rather than rich, deep experiences that tell a story requiring an investment of time and thought.
Exactly what one expects from iSheep.
Nah, I have no idea where you picked that up from in his post, seriously.
That's what he picked up, because that is what was said. The guy clearly stated he prefers games that require no investment of time. That is a clear translation to preferring shallow games when we talk about shallow-deep games, we're talking about how invested you can get in them (generally referring to story or specifics mechanics like in an RPG). A game that only require 5 mins for you to experience its entire breadth of gameplay mechanics might be fun, but it is the very opposite of 'deep'. And unfortunately most games on iOS offer this kind of 5 minute fun. The ones that are deep and engaging are either ports of console games or imitate console games (meaning the controls suffer since they're imitating a physical controller). Their are a rare few games that are deep, rich and rewarding and ALSO have great touch screen controls, but these a very few and far between.
This is where these comparisons come from. Some people (like the author of the article) seem to think that mobile is something that can replace the same experiences that you find on console/PC, when really both platforms should be appreciated side by side because both offer different experiences to be experienced at different times (play mobile on the bus/loo, play console/PC when I get home and have an hour or so to myself).
No, he said 'there's way too much of an investment of time and money required' in console games, not that he didn't want to invest any time.
Therefore he prefers cheap, shallow games and he's an 'iSheep'..?
I agree that there are certainly different experiences available on different platforms, ones that can really be appreciated.
Not everyone will have the means, or the desire to do that though.
Erm... He said 'personally' that he couldn't stand them because of the investment of money and time. That certainly seems like a statement of preference to me.
Yeah, I agree, he has his preferences, but that's different from what you claimed that he said, that he preferred 'games that require no investment of time'.
Stating that there's way too much of an investment of time required in console games MEANS that he's not interested in investing time. That's not ambiguous at all. Yes, he's saying he prefers shallow games instead of deep experiences. That's EXACTLY what he's saying.
Nah,. I'm just reading again what he says, he says that he finds there's too much of an investment of time and money required in console games.
Nope. Wrong. That's not exactly what I was saying. That's your extreme interpretation of what I said. Not wanting to spend the whole day gaming, and not wanting to spend hundreds on a dedicated system for games, is not me saying that I prefer cheap and shallow games. It's simply me saying that I don't have the extra time or disposable income to spend on hardcore gaming any longer. But I still love games. So for me, with it's many ports and incredible indie's, IOS is a godsend.
Where the hell did you get that from my post? I never said that I like 5 min games, and games that require no investment of time. Not wanting, or being able, to spend ALL of my time gaming doesn't translate into that. Believe it or not there is a middle ground between a hardcore 50 hr game and a casual 5 minute game. And for the record: I don't like the 5 min casual games.
Oh here we go with the iSheep insults *yawn*... Wake me when you've grown up and can converse without getting all in your emotions...
That's the reality, kiddo. As a former Apple devotee, I can attest to the mindlessness of the Cult of Apple. In general, they appeal to facile, image-conscious people who think having the right logos makes them special. Pro tip: it doesn't. It makes you a tool.
Dude, don't spoil it. I agree with absolutely everything you've said up to this point. But my mobile of choice is an Apple, and not because I'm a tool. I simply find them to be the best for my specific wants and needs.
Like I say though; I completely agree with your comments about the majority of iOS gaming.
Well Jason, at least you had the intelligence to keep those hate biases under wraps up to this point. Then you dropped into puerile ad hominem and in one sentence negated your entire argument. Better luck next time kiddo!
Nothing purile or ad hominem about it. Pure, simple observation.
Or......trollism?
I own iPad, iPhone and New 3DS. I prefer to play on my Nintendo. But this does not make iOS bad system, I use it for everything else.
It's fine for light weight apps. It's useless for real productivity, and iPad is massively overpriced for what Apple delivers.
iPad is full powered computing device. It starts from $499 when people expected it to start from $999. Everything I can do on my laptop I can do on iPad too and it is much more easier and better experience than laptop. I am making movies, editing photos, writing, reading and editing PDFs, using on the lectures and building mind maps. There's also many non productivity activities such as reading comics which is better on iPad than on laptop.
For example read this about how easy picture-in-picture on iPad and how complicated it on desktop http://www.macstories.net/l...
So baldurs gate and Star wars: knights of the old republic is shallow games, better tell bioware that, im sure They didn't know that.
They are ports though. They didn't start their life on the mobile platform. Not sure if ports should be considered true mobile IPs, esp in comparison to games like Oceanhorn and Chaos Rings, etc, that are true mobile IPs.
Almost every multi-platform game comes out on one platform first. I don't think it's that relevant
Most multiplats don't wait 10-15 years after the fact to arrive with a half assed port, either.
Except Duke Nukem Forever, of course.
Congratulations. You got ports of games the rest of us played 10-15 years ago with better controls. Victory is yours! If what you wanted was to prove yourself a tool, that is.
And we played X-Com with better controls. It goes both ways.
I think you need to dig a little harder there bucks. Yes there is an abundance of shovel ware games but if you look hard enough there is some absolutely fantastic games on mobile! And a lot of them are suited to touch controls just fine. I'm not saying stop gaming on consoles/PC I'm just saying that mobile gaming can be great too.
You are a confused gamer that doesn't pay attention to what is going on in the gaming market. People are dropping millions of dollars on FTP games on a daily basis. I haven't touched my PS4 or Vita in weeks, yet I log in and play quick pick up FTP games on my phone on a daily basis, and spend cash on them(within reason). You know why?? Because its convenient to do, and my phone is there when I have a spate few minutes throughout my day. Console and handhelds can not and will not ever provide that. Bottom line --- convenient entertainment = $$$ these days, and until Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony figures that out, they lose.
No, I actually study the gaming market rather intently. And as I said before, it's clear some people, you obviously included, based on your comments, prefer shallow, simple games rather than deep experiences. That's fine. Enjoy the kiddie pool.
Incidentally, however: portable systems ARE there when you need them. That's why they're (GASP) PORTABLE. I have my 3DS or Vita with me any time I'm out, loaded with tons of great games that have great controls, deep gameplay and, often, deep stories. Those kinds of games are few and far between on mobile.
And yes, I'm sure the $22,000,000,000 the console and portable games makers earned last year has them crying giant buckets full of tears. EA ALONE sold as much as King Digital, Zynga and Supercell *combined*.
I would say that mobile is flooded with "garbage." However, there is no denying that mobile some amazing games. Touch controls are great for games that are "made for mobile." There are great gaming experiences that would not exist of not for touch/mobile platform. I hate how powerful F2P is. I understand it in terms of business, but it makes no sense as a consumer. Anyway, sift through the crap & you will find some fantastic games!
There are some decent games, but I have yet to see a single "amazing" game on mobile.
So what about console ports? You consider that "not a console experience" because saying a console port doesn't give you a console experience is contradictive.
Yeah I feel like they're old news, I've been bored of nintendos gimmicks for a while now, and even though the 3ds made me pause for thought, albeit for a whole nanosecond, I just don't find their ips interesting anymore, even Zelda's become a tad stale! Now Zelda on ios...drool...
I don't understand that, Zelda is stale but if you got to play it on a different platform you'd want that?
You do realize you just completely contradicted yourself, right?
Hey, I love mobile gaming, guys, and I love how this site champions the original and deep content, but there are types of games that people want to play sitting at a couch with a controller in their hand or with a full keyboard and mouse and mobile just isn't there yet. It's awesome but it's not a great match for mainline Nintendo games.
He wasn't really that wrong was he? I mean where is the big money being made?
That doesn't mean there aren't great examples of original content that even works best on mobile. I think Nintendo will be able to contribute to that eventually.
I own a Wii U and am enjoying the hyper addictive intensity of Splatoon. A game that could NOT work with a touch screen in a satisfying way to me. But, I'm also on my third run through of You Must Build a Boat. ;)
Just think of Nintendo's biggest hits with touchscreen interfaces. Fun in a pinch, but the worst way to play if you have options. I will say that Pokemon would work great on mobile, however, along with Fire Emblem for that matter.
It's Reggie's job to say that. Pretty sure in reality he knows better... or maybe not.
Reggie is paid to say that is the bottom line. What he knows or thinks is irrelevant.
Yeah, he's probably spent thousands on Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga.
Nonsense. Reggie is not a marketing agent, he's a president of a company. His job is to make decisions about where to invest time and energy to maximize his company's profits in the gaming world, and for many years he and Iwata have done an exemplary job. Right now they're having a down moment; Sony's having an "up" moment. It happens.
Nintendo not thinking too highly of the mobile world... They should watch their words when for some years now they've been making their consoles more "mobile" each time...
Well, it's because the only thing good they want to say about is their own selves. They have a rubbish mindset. So, again--good riddance to them, they can stay off this platform because they're not planning on adding anything truly beneficial to it. Pride before the fall..
Nintendo are stuck in their own world, lets be honest though they are a lot like apple in that regard.
That maybe, but Nintendo has never made nor will they ever make the amount of cash Apple has. Apple isn't even trying to compete in the gaming market per say. They make phones that have a platform that is far superior to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo combined. Apple has changed gaming without even putting any real effort or $$ into it and is making money hand over fist with the App store. This wont change for the foreseeable future.
Thats is absolutely right, but i didnt mean it this way... I was just meaning nintendo werent the only ones that wanted things to stay "their way".
Well, it's the American side making these comments, not the Japanese side.
I guess I don't care what platform the core stuff comes on as long as it's good. I love my 3DS tho.
Love my 3ds as well, even though i spend more time on iOS, i wouldnt sacrifice Smash and those RPG gems and zelda and... Well theres a lot to enjoy !
??? Americans???
What makes this American?
Fils-Aime is the president of Nintendo of America and this story is based on his comments.
Thanks for pointing that out. I wonder what the Japanese head of the company thinks, if he feels the same way as the American guy. Either way, I have to say I love all my consoles and platforms. I love my 3DS, my Vita, my PS4, my PC, my iPad, etc. I guess I feel kind of spoiled at this point.
Yeah, I do wonder what Nintendo HQ in Japan think of the comments he's made...
Haha! Look at you getting all ready to be racially defensive...
He's not wrong is he? When I think of quality gaming the first thing that doesn't come to my mind is mobile games. Sure they are fun but do most of them have long lasting appeal, no. Cheap games on app stores is not doing gaming development any good when it comes to high quality gaming experiences like Nintendo provides. Will be interesting to see what mobile games they make, I know they have said they will be very different from their console games. I like their big push for indie games on their consoles lately and they are supporting smaller developers of the likes we find on the App Store. Small developers that make good games need a chance to survive unlike the App Store market where it's incredibly hard to do so with the low price points and crowded space. Their next console NX seems to try to include these guys even more, we shall see how Nintendo mixes these two markets up.
Totally agree.
Cannot wait for the first release. The thought of mario kart or zelda for mobile brings warmth to my heart.
Did you read the story?
Yeah, it's pretty exciting to see what they'll come out with.
It just makes me think little of Nintendo reading that, also it makes me believe whatever they do out out on iOS it won't be that great because if it were you wouldn't want to pick it up on their systems instead.
Sure but it's just what Reggie thinks, he probably could block releases but generally he's still going to do what HQ tells him so it won't matter if he has no faith in it.
I don't know about this "late to the program" talk. Wasn't the Gameboy kind of the O.G. of mobile devices?
I know what you mean here, but still, Nintendo has been selling mobile hardware and software for a long time.
The issue is really that they have been subsidizing sales of their mobile hardware by developing their own exclusive, high-quality software. And I can understand their hesitance to share those games, because it may mean giving up on the hardware side of the business which they've been in from the beginning.
It'll be interesting to see if he changes his tune after their first title or two releases on mobile.. heh.
if MFI controller support in games becomes easier to implement and controllers become more affordable, Nintendo handhelds will have problems.
Well said, and I think they already do, with the proliferation of mobile gaming in their home country.
Nintendo are really going to have be on their game to succeed with this.
You do realise that Nintendo recently posted profits- as in made more money than before? How does that translate to them already being in trouble?
I'll say what I've said a hundred times before; The success of one product does not equal failure for an alternative product. If both products are profitable then both are successful.
Nintendo posted profits recently, that's good to hear.
Their shareholders will be happy about that; but they'll also be wondering why other businesses are moving towards mobile and getting even better profits, and wondering why they aren't doing that (and therefore losing money and/or market share to competitors).
If two products / markets are both profitable, then they'd prefer to be in both of them, making as much money as they can.
I feel they are late to the mobile market - and shouldn't assume they'll have success just because they've been successful in the past.
That's the point though. They aren't losing money or market share. It's increasing. Hence the profits. Just because mobile gaming reaches the same people or a bigger group of people doesn't mean that Nintendo have lost business to them. It just means more people are enjoying either a diversity in gaming platforms or an untapped audience (smartphone/tablet users) is now relevant. As for Nintendo being 'late to the game'... do you remember Game & Watch? Gameboy? Nintendo practically invented mobile gaming. Again, they're doing well, with profits posted, they've nothing to worry about, and now they're looking to expand profits by releasing iOS/Android apps (probably match-3 F2P tripe like Pokemon Shuffle) and tapping that new audience mentioned above.
Nintendo may not think too much of mobile now but once they start making cash (cause they will) they'll start talking like as tho they wanted to join mobile long time ago and start comparing "mobile" to their handhelds.
A lot of these companies start tasting ass once the money comes in.
Feels like your bashing nintendo a bit for what they said but truth is mobile gaming sucks compared to consoles. And yeh clash of clans may pull more money but at the same time I think we can compare games like that to poker machines. Where as splatoon or mario kart are something that you can get more from
Honestly, while mobile does offer some great gems, such as Dragon Quest, YMBAB, etc, it's definitely not a super strong platform yet. Is it numerous? Oh yes. But, not strong. Just a lot of stuff to choose from. Nintendo = Mario/Zelda/Metroid/Mario Kart/Smash. Xbox=Halo, Sony = (Insert Game Here) Sorry, I'm not as well versed in those systems! Anyway mobile = ....Candy Crush? Bejeweled? What's someone going to automatically imagine when someone says "iPhone?" The iDevice as hardware is amazing, but it doesn't have the foothold in gaming that the big 3 have attained, yet. Yes, it's a money maker, but in the end games are more than just big money. Right now it feels like iOS serves a more niche crowd, with the occasional super huge success, like Flappy Bird, or Crossy Road or Clash of Clans. But, for the most part iOS is definitely the king of shovelware. Is it all bad? Not by a longshot. I love being able to boot up any Dragon Quest game on my iPhone. You get the idea....end rant :)
There's really is nothing like sitting at a console or PC and getting lost into a world a beauty. Depth, fun, and incredibly atmosphere. Destiny, bloodborne, witcher, Diablo, Tera, cod, skyrim, assassins creed, fallout, far cry, DMC, infamous, sunset overdrive, halo, wolfenstein. I could go on. You cannot match that with mobile. Mobile is all about sitting on a couch for 3-5 minutes before work and having some fun. Playing some neat mini games. Simplistic children games. Clash, match 3, card games, ect. 1 out of a million apps have more than just the " play while on the pot " mentality. Ocean Horn, wayward, infinity blade to name a few. Guess what. Those are premium. But yeah. The mobile market will only ever be so much. F2p has destroyed any seriousness that was in the iOS market. Who knows what the future holds. What I do know is within the next month, 10,000 games will be released that allow you to enjoy the game if you drop thousands of dollars. Maybe only 10 out of those 10,000 will allow you to play without having to charge you the price of taking care of a small child for 5 years.
Sorry I'd rather pay 40$ for a quality 3DS/Vita game than play 99.9% of this free to play garbage thats designed to siphon more eyes from users via shady mechanics and timers. Aka smurfberries.
Games like xcom, bastion, transistor, Implosion, walking dead are games I can get into on ios.
That's the point though. Games like X-Com and Bastion etc are in iOS in fairly high quantities. No amount of freemium crap with timers is going to take that away. You just have to use a site like TouchArcade to find the good ones.
How come people only name F2P games on iOS? It's as though they are trying to ignore the great titles: Ocean Horn, Horn, GTA Sans Adreas, Implosion...I could go on! Truth is, mobile gaming is unique in its way.
Comparing it with PC or Console is futile because it goes beyond that.
Can't you see? Mobile can handle anything! Big screen? No problem you
can mirror it! Depth? How come those ports work so well? You can do more on mobile that you'll ever do on console!
Nintendo Are arrogant as s**t, and thats why people should stop buying there games and hardware, just for a while, to give them a lesson in simple mannors, mannors that 5 year old daugter knows, Nintendo should be ashamed. No honor point to Nintendo.
Arrogant or proud? I'd argue the latter. They're being careful. They don't want to tarnish their reputation by rushing into the current smartphone/mobile market.
Yeah, it seems a bit of an odd comment for Nintendo. Will be interesting to see if he still thinks that in 12 months time :)
Woah ignorant much? Clash of Clans is one of thousands released each day. It is the exception, not the rule. Like Miyamoto has said before, mobile is a market in which games have an extremely low value (most customers don't want to pay a cent for them, specially in the android market space, with more customers willing to pay for games on iOS and Windows Phone, but still being a small fraction overall) and releasing their core games there would just devalue them. It's a matter of doing what's right for the platform, not just mindlessly releasing a poorly designed skinner box cash grab like almost every mobile game out there.
Time and time again it has been shown that games can and generally do better on a dedicated games platform than they do elsewhere. Gunman Clive is a perfect example, with the 3DS version vastly outselling the mobile version by a wide margin.
There is no reason to take offence at this if you love you vita and 3ds, they are great devices, and trust me if nintendo had the amount of games available on app store most of them would be garbage. So you get the picture? Your comparing a much bigger gaming base to a much smaller one like nintendo, so yes there would be a lot of crap. Ios is also waaaay more diverse for its games catering to so many including young children, to casual gamers to premium gamers, so your bound to get this grey area of " there is so much crap on the ios store" and you know if we got the whole back catalogue for station 1 2 and xbox, and xbox 360, ( as we already have many ports) nintendo would have a very hard time using the app store to their ultimate end of bringing focus back to their software, and i dont doubt that in the next 2 years we will more then triple the ports coming over. Yes they might have started on consoles, but the point is the ios app store would be a force to be reckoned with if that happens.
If we add the google market then Nintendo will do what Sega is doing now . They will start pulling more than adding more .
Defo, i can see that happening, and your remark about devs such as gameloft making premium experiences when they started really make me miss the early days. Ive been gaming since 2009 on ios and been reading ta since then, and become a forum member in 2012 and it seems times move so quickly in this mobile gaming world, its hard to believe how much f2p has enveloped mobile gaming. Makes me appreciate the premium games so much more and its why i pretty much buy most when i can. Its also so disheartning to see how few ratings some of the best games get on the app store, man i wished their was some sort of premium revolution where we got devs beleiving in that again 😔
Yes I agree hopefully indie mobile gaming will bring back the premium goodness .
I remember back in the day Gameloft and some other Devs entered the market with premium titles like Hero of Sparta and modern combat , Which were fun to play . Today it has all turned upside down with freemium companies like kabam using the Gatcha system in games like Contest of Champions . Nintendo will vanish even before they step in the arena .
Their not devaluing it. They just don't know. It's someone that gets upset that their friends all got new consoles and they bash them for it until they get it too, then they finally about face and I'm sure they'll begin to love the market. I'm just waiting for them to come to grips with how much money they'll make, then they'll hold press conferences about how they need new iPs for the mobile platform.
Tldr: they just don't know what they got on their hands
Nintendo is making a huge mistake.... Just like Virtual Boy. Except this one is worse
I guess I can kind of see the argument where it feels like Nintendo is being pushed into mobile, they are one of the top console sellers.
Nintendo has been around the longest among video game companies. People should respect their business intuition. And I agree, most people play iOS games very briefly - and 90% of iOS games are probably not very profitable at all.
Can't wait for these Nintendo mobile games! Side scrolling Super Mario and Mario kart games will work wonderfully on touchscreens and if they add online multiplayer too them they will be incredible!
I've played more hours of games on my iPhones in the past years than my Nintendo consoles growing up. Why? Because iOS does offer deep gaming experiences. Shoot, if I could only play Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, KOTOR, Lego, and Football Manager Handheld games, I'd be thoroughly satisfied with my collections. But, as it is, I have 65 iOS games on my iPhone as well as a bunch of emulators. No Nintendo hardware with multiple buttons or screens could entice me away from that. I hope after entering mobile, they'll realize they could viably make money in this arena from core gamers who view iOS as a gaming platform of choice.
Nintendo is a proud company, but they're stubborn. And they're unwilling to change their ways. The waves are crashing on the shore but they're getting swallowed into the ocean, because they don't know how to swim in these waters. That's why they need DeNa and they can't just do it themselves. That's why they probably don't know what makes a mobile game popular and why people enjoy things such as Clash of Clans, and so they have little respect for the platform. The Wii (and the DS) worked because they were perfect for their time, and they were innovative. But nobody wants to pay $40 for a game anymore. It sounds ridiculous compared to $5 or even $10 games of the same quality. Nintendo is just lost now, their recent ads / lack of marketing, falling behind, and doing nothing innovative recently are all proof of this. They're gonna need a lot of 1-Ups if they don't do something game- changing or at least adapt to the current world.
Good ol' Reggie Fils-Aime, the single most out-of-touch-with-the-public human being in the entire gaming industry. It's like this man doesn't have access to the internet or gaming news outlets of any kind.
The best part about all these "which platform will ______ come out for?" debates and discussions is just having every platform out there and not caring at all because you're getting it no matter what, the answer is always "my platform" :)
Nintendo could and should use this only as a gateway to games on their hardware. Giving up exclusivity is the last thing they should do, but games like Nintendogs could bring in a boatload of cash for them if done properly on iOS.
Personally, I'd love to see them bring their own phone to market. I don't know if I'd buy it, seeing as they always leave their hardware underpowered, but I'd definitely consider it for a while.
That's an old red Nintendo logo. It is grey now.
I get the feeling Nintendo doesn't think highly of anything that is not on their own hardware.
I really like the idea, but would it be modern IP's?
The problem here is that Nintendo is failing to apply their brilliance here.
Yes, the vast majority of games on iOS are crap. I love the gems we've found over the years, but I think few could successfully argue that the number of quality games comes anywhere close to the amount of shallow gaming experiences that are available.
The iOS gaming market is dominated, or perhaps "plagued" is the better word, by a single F2P business mindset. Everybody plays the same business game, which means players end up stuck with the same shallow experiences.
This market is desperate for a premium developer to prove that F2P isn't the only way to go, and Nintendo has the capability to do that. They have the brains, the muscle, and the cash to change the tide in mobile gaming by setting new standards for how to keep players engaged and willing to open their wallets.
It's a shame their perspective is too clouded to see this. Rest assured, this is a bad move for all parties involved.