Squarezero, I am really not sure why you are flipping off at various people here. I fail to see how you are just say it's not of financial reason that iPad apps are given priority now. Yes, not reviewing Warpgate or Mirrors Edge now matter little to their business, but that might allow more iPad apps to be approved to provide a good lineup at launch? Surely a business strategy to boast good apps for iPad now available as this can be a selling point. And my point about opinion. Yes most people out of a proportion would say Apple has great CS. But to the few like NBM05, the number matters not, because he has a personal experience to relate to. So can we not just make peace and not use that as a arguing point?
I've always had a good experience with Apple customer service. My parents are huge Apple fans, so I grew up in a home with only Mac computers. I use Windows now, mainly for gaming, but between my experiences with Apple growing up (having to call about a few things) and a couple items with my iPhone, they've always been good to work with. That is opposed to HP and Dell customer support, who are terrible, absolutely terrible. Back on the business plan thing, it just makes no sense for Apple to purposly screw over a market with a userbase of tens of millions. Sure they want to prop up the iPad and built another userbase of millions, but they do not come out ahead if they destroy the iPod Touch or iPhone in the process. Just the fact that they developed a developer kit that really streamlines the process for making games work on both platforms is a sign that the goal here is for both platforms to thrive. The only real worry for gamers should have is if developers decide to only focus on the iPad, which isn't likely at least for a long time.
I think I accepted NBM05's experience on my first post -- no argument there. Frankly, I don't think I'm flipping out. I just see that there's a serious case of device envy going around that is warping people's sense of proportion a bit. Trust me: I feel it too (particularly after watching that Real Racing video). The thing I don't disagree with the notion that Apple is prioritizing iPad submissions. There is a very obvious explanation for that (they're working against a deadline), that doesn't require uninformed speculation about Apple's business plan.
So you think the extension of app approval times (from 3 days to 10+ days) in the past 2 weeks and the imminent iPad launch is pure co-incidence? BTW a great gameplay video of Warpgate on the iPad: http://kotaku.com/5508538/warpgate-hd-+-epic-space-exploration-ipad-style Can't wait!
Wow, you guys talk like the easiest solution is for Apple to just hire more reviewers. Well, it's not quite that simple. An Apple app reviewer probably has to meet a few requirements: 1) Pass an extensive background check (ex-mil with active SEC or TS clearances are golden in the industry) 2) Have programming knowledge (as in "developer skill" of some sort) 3) Be able to keep their mouths frackin' shut about what they do and where they work (see #1 above, again ex-mil are golden but ex-mil devs with clearances are pretty much unobtanium) So it's not like they can just hire anyone off the street. And extensive background checks can take a looong time.
That's why a lot of us feels that the problem with prolonged approval is due to diversion of resources. Not saying there is an easy solution out there. The question is - can Apple have done it better?
Sorry, my bad. Cider and proofreading and posting on forum certainly is a bad combo for multitasking!
That's a good question. Considering that this problem is unprecedented, another question to ask is: could anyone else have done better? And more important: in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter at all? By the way, I meant previous, not precious. Sometimes I hate iPhone auto-correction!
I wouldn't be surprised if things were insane at Apple this past week. If there is one thing certain about big launches like this, it is that it never goes as smooth as you would want. It may look smooth to the consumers, but I doubt it was anything less than chaos. That might help add to why things are the way they are right now.
One thing that is funny is how expectations are tailored for each platform. Probably 90% of the games we see released are surprises. Unless its a huge game where the developer/publisher announced a date (ie. Plants vs Zombies) or the developer posts on the forums with a submission date for approval we have no clue when games are coming out. Then, when something is delayed for a few days or maybe a week or two, everyone goes nuts. On the console side, six month or one year delays are normal. Hell, I've been waiting for Alan Wake on the 360 since 2005/2006. Delays like that for an iPhone game and the forums may just crash.
I would hardly say delaying a game a few days is screwing over the iPhone user base or destroying the iPhone user base. I would say darn near 100% of the people who would buy warpgate today will still buy Warpgate next week or whenever it comes out. But delaying the game could drive app sales to the iPad and does put more focus on the iPad right now when people are judging to see what makes it worth buying. But it could also just be coincidence. Who knows. In truth, now that my initial frustration has died down, who cares? Personally, if Apple did make the decision to delay games for the iPhone, I wouldn't consider it nefarious or immoral at all. It would just be a smart business tactic to me. On the other hand, maybe I came across too harsh in my assessment of Apple's customer service -- I had two bad experiences with them. First, when I bought my first iPod, it had a bad battery and became essentially useless to me in less then six months (a full charge would get me about seventeen minutes of play time), and Apple thought offering me a fifty dollar trade in toward another iPod when I'd paid nearly three hundred dollars for the first was good enough. Second, I bought two first gen iPhones for full price from the Apple store less than a week before they announced the second gen iPhone, and Apple wouldn't do anything for me, wouldn't let me take them back or trade them in or anything. If I'd known a newer, better, cheaper version was going to be announced less than a week later, I would absolutely have waited, but Apple told me essentially "tough luck." I also had some issues when I bought my 3GS, but that was more the AT&T store than Apple. On the other hand, Apple has treated me well the couple times I've had issues with Apps I've purchased. Anyway, moving on. Warpgate will most likely be out soon, and I'll certainly be picking it up. For now, I'm going to see if I can find some reviews of the iPad version.
Conspiracy theories, business plans, and arguments aside I think we are all eagerly awaiting its release. Its been a long road, its shouldn't be much longer. I just hope that the game is everything they promised on the iPhone/Touch and not just a poster child for the iPad. Hippieman, I asked this earlier but the new gameplay video released this week, was that gameplay from the iPhone/Touch or iPad?
Considering there's no news - probably not. Some apps have been waiting for nearly 2 weeks, so we may be in for another week's wait.
Actually according to Hippieman here: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=974991&postcount=29 It's already been in submission for about 2 weeks.
No he hasn't. He submitted it on Friday a week past, 9 days ago. http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=958464&postcount=244
