Lets hope that the upcoming 2010 South Africa World Cup would be a lot better... i wouldn't mind if EA retains the control schemes like slide A-B-A for a some kind of a pass, or at least EA could provide options that would simplify controls for those who doesn't want that kind of tricks...
I agree. Wholeheartedly. It's a platform for games, a legit one, regardless of not being specifically a game system. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just being silly, IMHO. When people directly compare it to DS/PSP gaming, revealing that they want the same type of games or similar, though, they reveal a glaring flaw in outlook as to what type of gaming is on the device and for what reason. It's a mobile platform, and the type of gaming that really "speaks" to the mobile market is quite different from that which "fits" the portable game system market (which itself is different from PC, home console, and arcades respectively). I mean...SO WHAT if there aren't many "deeper" RPGs available on iPhone/touch like, say, the Personas of the world? That type of game doesn't really "fit" the platform as well as, say, the litany of tower defense games out there, or the quicker playing RPGs already available (and you'll note that on iPhone/touch most are action/RPGs. SO WHAT if a lot of the games err toward much quicker pick up and play action? That's what defines mobile gaming for the most part, the same way gaming on portable game systems tends to err to quicker gaming than home consoles. The markets are different, and suit different needs. Mobiles err toward "minute gaming" (there's a reason Digital Chocolate uses that as a tag line), whereas portables err toward longer play sessions, but still shorter than the home consoles, and home consoles themselves to games that are less "in depth" than PC games (although the PC game market is changing to far a more "browser gaming" paradigm, where slow, ease of use casual gaming is the order of the day). In essence, if someone wants to play a 500 hour RPG that takes an hour to really get into, mobile platforms aren't their thing. Hell, even portables wouldn't be their thing in that case, as the RPGs there tend to be "shorter play" than home console stuff.
You do realize that the DS is the major JRPG system this generation, more so than any of the home consoles. Portable or not, many of those JRPG's are still dozens of hours as you expect from a home console RPG. Therefore, your theory that portable gaming doesn't provide as "long" of an eperience as a home console is garbage. The DS is getting major JRPG's this gen because it's selling like crazy and much cheaper to develop for (very important as the Japanese gaming market is struggling compared to years past). None the less, just because its a portable or mobile device, why should should games be pigeon holed into casual "minute" gaming? Some of the top selling games on the app store are those long RPG's (and now with Pocket Legends out, an MMO, which can offer hundreds or thousands of hours in theory), so it's not that the demand isn't there for a meatier game experience.
Re-read what I wrote, more carefully this time, not just one or two words like "500 hours". You're focused on total length, when a key part of what I wrote was "takes an hour or so to get into". Most portable JRPGs (and, btw, JRPGs aren't the ONLY RPGs out there, you should know...WRPGs which are typically MUCH longer to get into are now dominant in the home console market) don't take an hour or so to really get into. They are quicker to "get into" than home console counterparts because of the very nature of portable gaming (on the go, not sitting in front of a TV set for hours at a time). But the games are not "long to get into" experiences ala home console JRPGs. Why? Because portable gaming errs to quicker play periods than home console gaming. Yeah, you may get that 100 hour long JRPG on a portable (rare even now, tbqh), but it doesn't take longer than a few minutes at most to really get into the thick of the action. Look at how they are designed, and pay attention while starting up a game, and you'll see that. Again, re-read what I wrote. I'm not stating ALL games on mobiles should be "pigeon-holed" to minute gaming, but rather that the majority of games fit that paradigm because that paradigm "fits" the market better. Those long RPGs you point out are, again, typically action/RPGs (which are quicker to get into than other types and more "quick blast" play), and are in the minority. Do they have an audience? Of course. I never stated they didn't. But their audience is smaller overall than the audience for "minute gaming" style games on mobile platforms, and looking at the positions on the charts bears that out. It's not that games the mobile market "SHOULD" be "minute gaming" style ALWAYS, but that they typically are because the market for mobile gaming supports that model more. For portable game systems, the gameplay paradigm errs to games that are more "in depth" than mobiles, and less "pick up and play", but still far more "pick up and play" than home console games, and typically less "in depth". Why? Because home console gaming is at home, for hours at a time, and battery life, travel, etc. is not an issue. For portables they are, hence quicker to pick up and play than home console gaming; for mobiles even more so than portables, and mobiles have a litany of other uses (phone calls, etc.) that impact it more, so the games are typically even more "pick up and play". They don't have to be in all cases (The Quest is an example of a longer form game on mobile, etc.), but they typically are because market forces and typical usage of the devices dictate that sort of thing.
Look at it this way: Would you rather buy one quality ds/psp game for $60, or forty-five to sixty quality iPhone gaming apps for $60? I for one enjoy the iPhone much more then the ds or psp. IPod touch 3g graphics are much better than psp or ds, same goes for the engine.
true true...but for every 30 quality apps you have, you have 3,000 (not an exact number) crap apps. plus, that $30 DS game can hold people in and make them want to play it. When you are offered 50,000 games at very low prices, would you really try nonstop to beat that level? probably not..but when you pay $30 dollars for it...of course i could be wrong
What? How does one 30 dollar PSP/DS game equal 45-60 iPhone apps? To answer your question, I'd rather have a awesome quality DS/PSP game such as TWEWY or GoW: CoO, than a bunch of not so high quality iPhone games. But of course that's just me, I'm not really into getting too many of those 99 cent mini games anymore. And the highest quality iphone games are usually 6.99 - 9.99,(12.99 for CR) which still don't match the quality of the best DS/PSP games. I'll give you that some iPhone games are better looking than DS games, but the PSP still has better graphics overall. Not sure why you think the iPhone has better graphics overall, it might be capable of it, but that doesn't matter if no dev. is willing to put in the time and money to bring them out.
I don't understand why there are a bunch of people on an IPHONE GAMING WEBSITE saying that the iphone is not a game platform. It sure seems like it is to me.Personally since I got my Iphone I almost don't even play my DS or PSP anymore. It's just so much cheaper and more convenient to play the Iphone. Sure I bought the new Persona game for DS, but that's about it in the past month. In that same span of time I've bought at least ten really good iphone games as well as gotten several fairly good ones for free.
The argument put forth earlier regarding RPGs is a bit misleading. The primary source of 'quality' hand held RPGs are the Japanese. Love 'em or hate 'em jrpgs are most of what we consider quality RPGs on a handheld platform. This is due to the fact the dominant handheld (ds) has a long history supporting its current position. The rpg situation on the psp last I heard is nothing to write home about either. How many good rpgs came out in its first year, seond year, etc. Untold legends for example was easily iPhone fare. I have long since given up on psp as an rpg platform. I'd rather wait for an ff7 remake for idevices and play it on ps3 in the meantime. It is only in the last year that iPhone has made significant inroads into the Japanese market. iPhone has 70+% share of the Japanese smart phone market (small portion overall). Cooincidently we have seen our first platform exclusive from Squeenix which is a huge milestone for our platform from a market and press perspective. The thing that really excites me about the idevices as a gaming platform is as a path for the return of pc gaming titles from the 90s. This has the potential to bring a richer and more sophisticated class of games than is possible on a psp or ds. The psps suffers from console control limitations and the ds will offering more in the ui dept it suffers in the graphics pixel count. We can see stuff like star craft, more Lucas arts adventures, baldurs gate, planescape tormet and super hero league of hobokan. Don't under estimate the potential of multiple touch to transform portable gaming. Comparing it to a console is, from a UI perspetive, aiming too low.
