I have a feeling that a lot of people thought that after Ravensword, Zenonia, another 3d RPG would be extremely successful on the App store - but the most successful one was Dungeon Hunter (and it was really the first and by Gameloft). With so many coming out - I think hopes of profiting now on an RPG will be extremely slim. I've read on other forums of devs trying to make a game 'like Ravensword'. Seems as if the only ones that will be profitable are ones from a popular franchise such as The Elder Scrolls or maybe Final Fantasy. Good news for gamers on the iPhone though - looks like there will be plenty of RPG variety this year.
Don't shortchange brand recognition: game sequels almost always do better than the original games because the audience grows over time. In any event, considering how slim the category is in the App Store, I don't think this is a zero-sum game quite yet. That's my happy thought for the day .
What about Pirate's Gold - as far as I know they have RPG elements in there (info approved by the beta tester)
Oh I wasn't talking about sequels - you are right - they 'usually' do better because of the name recognition. I was talking about first timers - with a slightly more crowded RPG section now. Its definitely good news for gamers for sure. I'm interested to see whats going to happen with RPG's on the iPad as well.
The RPG category certainly has one of higher barriers to entry for games. It's hard to make a worthwhile RPG in a few weeks of development time, while in other categories you can succeed with relatively short development efforts. It's both an advantage and a disadvantage, since there are fewer offerings in the category but the risk (time investment) is much higher to the developer. Hence, we are seeing a lot of ports from other platforms (i.e. the risk has already been compensated for . . .) There clearly is a market for these types of games, and I think the iPhone is very capable of delivering an impressive 3D RPG experience. (as Ravensword has proven). It will be interesting to see if some of the bigger franchises determine that an iPhone/iPad RPG is a worthwhile investment.
You are not an insider, you are a snot-nosed pimply faced little know-it-all with a list of PR email addresses.
All I ever see you doing is hating on poor old Tim, he's just trying to work up some hype for the game, what's so bad 'bout that? Whatever, can not wait for FF1/2 .
Yes, he's hyping this game by not mentioning it's name. He's most certainly not pimping http://www.snideandgay.com and trying to increase the readership to 3 people.
It's certainly true that the competition in the RPG genre has grown tougher during the last six months. One of the ideas we founded our company on about a year ago was that there was little competition but a huge potential in the iPhone RPG genre, and although we missed the first boat, at least games like Ravensword, Dungeon Hunter and Zenonia prove that we were right. Rimelands was already in production when I first heard of Ravensword and before the release of Dungeon Hunter, so it's not a "hey these sell well let's make an rpg" game. As a gamer I'm really happy that there are a number of good RPGs already in the Store, and I believe that Rimelands is distinctive enough to finds its place among the hearts of RPG fans (turn-based, not exactly run-of-the-mill fantasy). Of the upcoming iPhone RPGs, my interest is especially upon Galactic Keep. It looks really good and as an avid tabletop roleplayer the concept sounds awesome.
A good, detailed RPG takes a lot of effort to make, at at the current prices most people are willing to pay for an iPhone game, it's probably too cost prohibitive. Add to that the fact that RPGs are a "niche market" compared to casual games, especially on a mobile device, and I'm surprised that the current list is even as big as it is. On the other hand, given how few RPGs exist at the moment, and given how many iDevices exist in consumers' hands, it's probably a good market to test out a concept that might not be as well received on the PC market. If even half the RPGs listed in this thread are decent we should have a lot to be happy about for a while.
