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EA removes a bunch of games from mobile app stores (Android/iOS)

epmode

Member
The difference between console and mobile is also that you don't have to worry about physical media not functioning..

..Or you could just buy digital.

The difference between old consoles and something with a mobile OS is that you can get a refund on non-functioning games

It's nice that Apple and Google are more open about refunds but this issue is still something that just doesn't happen on consoles, and very rarely on PC. Refunds are a pretty shitty consolation when I just want to play the best version of Ghost Trick.

I don't understand why you're defending such a shitty practice. It only benefits Google and Apple. It hurts developers, publishers and consumers.
 

greg400

Banned
..Or you could just buy digital.
Brb guys, buying digital on my N64 and GameCube

It's nice that Apple/Google is more open about refunds but this issue is still something that just doesn't happen on consoles. Refunds are a pretty shitty comsolation when I just want to play the best version of Ghost Trick.

I don't understand why you're defending such a shitty practice. It only benefits Google and Apple. It hurts developers, publishers and consumers.
Refunds are one solution, the other is don't update the OS if you need to play something that badly. Just like you don't sell an old console.

And there's nothing shitty about making sure an OS is modern and not bogged down by old technology. Most apps from smaller studios have no issues, this is primarily just a problem with big name publishers because of reasons I already mentioned here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=178356143&postcount=45
 
This problem is compounded by the amount of iOS devices that always jump to the latest OS version quickly. I haven't written any iOS software before but can any dev explain what is it in each update that breaks existing compatibility?

Typically Apple/Google will start deprecating API in every release. Usually that's a warning sign - hey everybody, they're going to nuke support for this in two years! Stop using it! Part of me suspects they do this on purpose to keep mobile fresh and nimble. Sometimes there's simply no reason to kill support that hard. Apple does it for optimization and forcing app developers to code well (something they try to enforce as much as possible - it really is the goal of the App Store).

However, usually a single iOS version upgrade won't affect your app much. It's really compounded by four years of iOS upgrades that will hit you over time, which is why the legacy software is hit the hardest.

This is compounded by iOS only hitting maturity only recently, and Android arguably not hitting maturity at all yet in large portions of their API. Depends on your definition of maturity I suppose. I think it's a side effect of how we don't really know what a "full" mobile OS needs yet, and its definition continues to change.

Blame EA for being too cheap to support their consumers.

Depending on the code EA was looking at, they would have been taking on the job equivalent to porting the whole game over to a new OS. No profit in that.

These mobile OS's are not designed for long term support. I hope mobile gaming companies have a strategy in place for dealing with that.
 

greg400

Banned
I can't roll my eyes hard enough. It's not worth discussing this with you.

I've been on GAF for a while but I'm still surprised that we have a broken app defense force.
Right, because you have no response to that.

I prefer the term modern OS defense force actually, thanks.
 

Henrar

Member
Brb guys, buying digital on my N64 and GameCube

Apples to oranges. Those platforms never had digital stores and never will.

And as far as GC goes - you could play those games on Wii. That gave you more years of being able to play them than you have with mobile games.

Plus, with newer generation of consoles, usually there are changes to hardware architecture that break compatibility. With mobile phones, it's usually OS update that break things, not new hardware.
 

greg400

Banned
Apples to oranges. Those platforms never had digital stores and never will.

And as far as GC goes - you could play those games on Wii. That gave you more years of being able to play them than you have with mobile games.

Plus, with newer generation of consoles, usually there are changes to hardware architecture that break compatibility. With mobile phones, it's usually OS update that break things, not new hardware.

It is not apples to oranges, it's the same underlying concept. If people are willing to keep their old N64's to play all of their games then they should be willing to keep their old iOS devices to play their old games if that is of major concern to them (which for most consumers, it isn't).
 

Henrar

Member
It is not apples to oranges, it's the same underlying concept. If people are willing to keep their old N64's to play all of their games then they should be willing to keep their old iOS devices to play their old games if that is of major concern to them (which for most consumers, it isn't).
No it's not. New firmware releases didn't break older games released for PS3. Same goes for Xbox 360. Same goes for newer consoles. In terms of PC most of the applications are compatible even when the OS changes quite considerably (XP to Vista jump for example). And on PC (and Android) you can fix compatibility issues by yourself, whereas on iOS its only developer that can do that (or you can Jailbreak).

Nintendo 64 was incomatible with GC because of data storage for games and not because software update. I can play the game fine on older version of the OS but I can't on newer even on the same HW. It is that simple. Someone fucked up and it's both Apple and EA's fault.
 
It is not apples to oranges, it's the same underlying concept. If people are willing to keep their old N64's to play all of their games then they should be willing to keep their old iOS devices to play their old games if that is of major concern to them (which for most consumers, it isn't).

The nature of iOS upgrades will make that extremely difficult in the next few years. You'd have to keep a device for each version of iOS, plus save the games on the hardware because you can't download them anymore. Additionally, it will become harder to find, say, an iPad 2 without iOS 8+ in the coming years, because Apple pushes updates hard (and has plans to push them harder). So actually getting the hardware with the software, if you haven't made a contingency plan for it, gets extremely difficult.

Even if someone cares a lot about hardware preservation, there's a lot standing their way. It's unfortunate.

It's also frustrating because the hardware itself hasn't changed. There's nothing about the new iPhones that couldn't play those EA games (unlike an N64 or Gamecube). It's just the codebase, and its software environment that has changed so drastically, so quickly that the code is effectively useless. That doesn't bolster confidence in me, as an app developer.
 

greg400

Banned
No it's not. New firmware releases didn't break older games released for PS3. Same goes for Xbox 360. Same goes for newer consoles. In terms of PC most of the applications are compatible even when the OS changes quite considerably (XP to Vista jump for example). And on PC (and Android) you can fix compatibility issues by yourself, whereas on iOS its only developer that can do that (or you can Jailbreak).

Nintendo 64 was incomatible with GC because of data storage for games and not because software update. I can play the game fine on older version of the OS but I can't on newer even on the same HW. It is that simple. Someone fucked up and it's both Apple and EA's fault.

Yes, it is the same concept, how they get there (through hardware deprecation or software deprecation) is entirely irrelevant to the person trying to consume content (which is why your N64 -> GC argument is pointless). You keep trying to argue that it's different but it isn't, at the end of the day you as a consumer will have to keep old hardware to play old games.

The nature of iOS upgrades will make that extremely difficult in the next few years. You'd have to keep a device for each version of iOS, plus save the games on the hardware because you can't download them anymore. Additionally, it will become harder to find, say, an iPad 2 without iOS 8+ in the coming years, because Apple pushes updates hard (and has plans to push them harder). So actually getting the hardware with the software, if you haven't made a contingency plan for it, gets extremely difficult.

Even if someone cares a lot about hardware preservation, there's a lot standing their way. It's unfortunate.

It's also frustrating because the hardware itself hasn't changed. There's nothing about the new iPhones that couldn't play those EA games (unlike an N64 or Gamecube). It's just the codebase, and its software environment that has changed so drastically, so quickly that the code is effectively useless. That doesn't bolster confidence in me, as an app developer.

You can download every game you've ever purchased on iOS again regardless of whether it's on the App Store, downgrading will always have a work-around solution for those that care, and by in large every game you had on your old hardware will work because as you yourself pointed out most API problems start happening after 4 years.
 
Lots of Apple hate for a problem that occurs on android as well.

That being said, if you own these games, they're still available to you.
 
Can't really blame EA too much for this, if updating the game is too much work for too little money then there's just not motivation for them to do it.

Also would definitely help if Apple/Google didn't break shit every time they update.
 
The yearly iOS updates really piss about with iOS games, apple really need to somehow support older runtimes in some way for compatability, I have an old ipod touch 4g which is still on an old iOS for a few older games which broke over the years but that's only because the OS can't be updated past it's current.
 

oldergamer

Member
Pretty much this, this costs devs and companies money for Apple's fuck ups. So many of my apps break after a major update.
Exactly! I've been spending the last two weeks dealing with Bullshit issues caused by ios 9 and in compatibility with older xcode versions. All of these bugs don't occur depending which version of xcode 6 we are using. Apple needs to stop making changes without caring about back compatibility.
 

Dicer

Banned
Can't really blame EA too much for this, if updating the game is too much work for too little money then there's just not motivation for them to do it.

Also would definitely help if Apple/Google didn't break shit every time they update.

Apple maybe, Android apps run all over the fragmented landscape...
 
You can download every game you've ever purchased on iOS again regardless of whether it's on the App Store, downgrading will always have a work-around solution for those that care, and by in large every game you had on your old hardware will work because as you yourself pointed out most API problems start happening after 4 years.

That doesn't really alter my thesis of "it's really difficult." Because it is intensely so, much more than equivalent platforms. Your suggestion that it's as easy as keeping around an N64 was flawed and incorrectly trivializes the concerns.

Also, practically impossible to predict. At least for the N64 I knew those games would stop working. There's no clean cut off point. Regarding the point I made earlier, one app could die in a single iOS upgrade if the code used certain API's. Another could use 4 years. It's hard to say.

It really comes down to the maturity of iOS (or lack thereof, at least right now). I understand why Apple is doing it, but for most companies it's not realistic to set aside several programmers (who each cost six figures) to keep your old stuff working. That can't be the expectation indefinitely, especially when the curation of the App Store is so important.

Lots of Apple hate for a problem that occurs on android as well.

That being said, if you own these games, they're still available to you.

User experience hasn't bitten Android in the ass yet because Android hasn't really had a stable API for a lot of its modules, unlike modern iOS.

Exactly! I've been spending the last two weeks dealing with Bullshit issues caused by ios 9 and in compatibility with older xcode versions. All of these bugs don't occur depending which version of xcode 7 we are using. Apple needs to stop making changes without caring about back compatibility.

Yeah the Xcode 7 betas were awful. We didn't have any time to prepare because it had so many bugs. All of our iOS 9 work is happening this week.

There's fast, and then there's stupid. Right now we're in the latter.
 
Things move fast in the mobile world, if a few old broken game is the price of significant yearly updates, I'm happy to pay it. I think Apple makes a decent effort to maintain compatibility but games in particular tend to do things in a way that's harder to maintain than regular apps. It's up to the developers to keep things up to date or remove them.
 
They want people to buy the new iDevice because unlike Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft they're making huuuuge profits on hardware.

But yeah I agree their practice are shit... well they are only good for them so :/

Old hardware with new OS => bugs
Too old hardware for new OS => some apps don't work anymore
New hardware with new OS => bugs

Where does the thing is good for consumers? Like from 1 month after purchase till last big OS release or hardware launch.
 

Henrar

Member
Lots of Apple hate for a problem that occurs on android as well.

That being said, if you own these games, they're still available to you.

On Android it's way easier for a user to hack the app so that it works again on newer version of the system.
 
Game developers shouldn't have to be constantly updating applications to work around Apple and Google's lack of concern for keeping compatibility. The entire point of mobile apps in the first place is that "I buy this once, and it carries forward forever, no need to worry about buying devices every few years".

And for the " well don't upgrade": Most updates, including major and minor ones, concern security patches and bug fixes. It's unreasonable to expect someone to leave themselves vulnerable just so they can keep playing X game or keep using Y app. It's also unlikely that you can buy a device that is at (specific firmware that runs this app) except for the latest. As for consoles, I could, say, buy a launch 360, update it to the latest firmware, and still play 99% of all games released for it perfectly (online play aside :p)
 

greg400

Banned
That doesn't really alter my thesis of "it's really difficult." Because it is intensely so, much more than equivalent platforms. Your suggestion that it's as easy as keeping around an N64 was flawed and incorrectly trivializes the concerns.

Also, practically impossible to predict. At least for the N64 I knew those games would stop working. There's no clean cut off point. Regarding the point I made earlier, one app could die in a single iOS upgrade if the code used certain API's. Another could use 4 years. It's hard to say.

It really comes down to the maturity of iOS (or lack thereof, at least right now). I understand why Apple is doing it, but for most companies it's not realistic to set aside several programmers (who each cost six figures) to keep your old stuff working. That can't be the expectation indefinitely, especially when the curation of the App Store is so important.
Well as far as the N64 is concerned we could also start talking about the RAM expansion pak and the save pak that you needed for some games so it really isn't all that easy for that console either.

The fact remains if you want to play your old games, you're gonna have to keep all of your old shit. It isn't that difficult to do a little research on a game you want to play to find out the version number it requires, just like it isn't that difficult to do a little research and find out which N64 games require the expansion or save pak.
 
It is not apples to oranges, it's the same underlying concept. If people are willing to keep their old N64's to play all of their games then they should be willing to keep their old iOS devices to play their old games if that is of major concern to them (which for most consumers, it isn't).

That scenario doesn't work either. Developers only support so many iterations of iOS and phase the older ones out. I can't count how many games have gone for an update, and then not be playable because we can't update iOS. You might respond to not update the apps either, but there's been at least once there was a hook that didn't allow to run the game until we updated.

Either way, the developer was telling us we weren't playing that game anymore on that phone.

The yearly iOS updates really piss about with iOS games, apple really need to somehow support older runtimes in some way for compatability, I have an old ipod touch 4g which is still on an old iOS for a few older games which broke over the years but that's only because the OS can't be updated past it's current.

Basically this.
 

greg400

Banned
That scenario doesn't work either. Developers only support so many iterations of iOS and phase the older ones out. I can't count how many games have gone for an update, and then not be playable because we can't update iOS. You might respond to not update the apps either, but there's been at least once there was a hook that didn't allow to run the game until we updated.

Either way, the developer was telling us we weren't playing that game anymore on that phone.

Pretty much every item (or just flat out everything) on the App Store now has the ability to download the last working version for your OS:
legacy_app.png
 

Tobor

Member
The reality is of course that both companies deserve scorn for being selfish and shitting on their partners and customers.

EA knows full well how iOS and Android work. They are modern mobile OS's and yearly updates to improve and deprecate API's can break your software. Like all other developers, they could budget legacy support.

They choose not to.

Ya they should ignore like every business aspect ever and cater to something that Apple broke just because

"Just because"? Lol. Again, EA didn't budget support. Other developers do. Whose fault is it again?
 
Well as far as the N64 is concerned we could also start talking about the RAM expansion pak and the save pak that you needed for some games so it really isn't all that easy for that console either.

The fact remains if you want to play your old games, you're gonna have to keep all of your old shit. It isn't that difficult to do a little research on a game you want to play to find out the version number it requires, just like it isn't that difficult to do a little research and find out which N64 games require the expansion or save pak.

The RAM expansion and the save pak are relatively easy to track down, unless the hardware stopped working over time. A minority of games used it, and lists are plentiful on the internet about which ones. N64 preservation is extremely easy.

Unlike iOS, where you don't know what game will work on what iOS version until you fire it up. I figure there's some people documenting this stuff and backing up iOS apps as best they can, but the documentation is probably limited. There's just so much standing in the way of everyone. The system is set up against them.

There is an equivalency to be made, sure - keep your old devices to play old games. But to do it on iOS, you have to be a fortune teller, know more about iOS than I do, become a master at jailbreaking and downgrading, own tons of hardware, and remain intensely diligent. It's unreasonable to claim that N64 preservation is equally hard as iOS preservation.

EA knows full well how iOS and Android work. They are modern mobile OS's and yearly updates to improve and deprecate API's can break your software. Like all other developers, they could budget legacy support.

They choose not to.

"Just because"? Lol. Again, EA didn't budget support. Other developers do. Whose fault is it again?

Speaking from experience - legacy support on iOS is really, really hard. It's not only a matter of throwing money at the problem (and it'd be quite a bit of money these days), unless you're remaking the whole game over again.
 

greg400

Banned

"It’s not recommended (since these users will feel left out), but it is possible."

Developers have to go out of their way to make it not work and apparently the method outlined there requires the device have no front facing camera.

The RAM expansion and the save pak are relatively easy to track down, unless the hardware stopped working over time. A minority of games used it, and lists are plentiful on the internet about which ones. N64 preservation is extremely easy.

Unlike iOS, where you don't know what game will work on what iOS version until you fire it up. I figure there's some people documenting this stuff and backing up iOS apps as best they can, but the documentation is probably limited. There's just so much standing in the way of everyone. The system is set up against them.

There is an equivalency to be made, sure - keep your old devices to play old games. But to do it on iOS, you have to be a fortune teller, know more about iOS than I do, become a master at jailbreaking and downgrading, own tons of hardware, and remain intensely diligent. It's unreasonable to claim that N64 preservation is equally hard as iOS preservation.
I'm sorry but you really don't need to be a fortune teller, for a game like BioShock on iOS it can take you less than a minute to find out what version number you need. Also requiring physical hardware additions will not be relatively easy as time progresses and prices continue to rise for those items.
 
"It’s not recommended (since these users will feel left out), but it is possible."

Developers have to go out of their way to make it not work and apparently the method outlined there requires the device have no front facing camera.

That article is from 2012. iOS has changed since then. Setting the minimum iOS version to about two versions back is the default in Xcode and is highly recommended to get the newest API's.

I'm sorry but you really don't need to be a fortune teller, for a game like BioShock on iOS it can take you less than a minute to find out what version number you need.

And it can take you more than an hour to find out what version numbers you can't use.

You're not really attacking my argument, just my supporting statements.

Also requiring physical hardware additions will not be relatively easy as time progresses and prices continue to rise for those items.

Market valuation over time and physical hardware breaking down is a problem, sure. It affects iOS too, though, on top of everything else
 

oldergamer

Member
Lots of Apple hate for a problem that occurs on android as well.

That being said, if you own these games, they're still available to you.
It's not the same with android. The new releases of android are gated ( unless you are a power user) by carriers and this gives months after an official release to catch up and address bugs. Apple pushes an OS update to everyone independent of any gating. So the OS version goes live faster then android.

They also make drastic changes in versions and deprecate features without a longer wind down time. This breaks apps with each OS release and causes tons of app submissions in a short time frame.

For example my android apps don't have any issues with android M. But have huge crashing issues with xcode 6.3 versus 6.1.

It's total bullshit.
 

BTA

Member
I feel like there's an issue being missed here, which is that Infiltrator had hooks into ME3. I guess it was just a War Asset/Intel reward, which might not be so bad (the other spinoff mobile game unlocked dialogue in 2), but it does mean the alternate ways of getting morale are dying out. The Datapad barely worked when I last used it back when Citadel came out (I had to basically glitch it out just to get past error windows) and I'm guessing it's in no better state now either, if it's even still on the store. I guess the multiplayer servers probably won't be taken down anytime soon, but losing those options is a little worrying.
 

greg400

Banned
That article is from 2012. iOS has changed since then. Setting the minimum iOS version to about two versions back is the default in Xcode and is highly recommended to get the newest API's.
No, if you want to download the old version of Netflix onto your iOS 5 iPad that's still possible because the app for that version is still on Apple's servers.

And it can take you more than an hour to find out what version numbers you can't use.

You're not really attacking my argument, just my supporting statements.
How bad exactly are you at researching? Look up BioShock iOS release date and download a version that fits between the time frame of it working and no longer working. It's not that complicated.
 
"It’s not recommended (since these users will feel left out), but it is possible."

Developers have to go out of their way to make it not work and apparently the method outlined there requires the device have no front facing camera.

It's apparently pretty easy, because most of the games my kids like won't work on anything below iOS 7. I would also expect that figure to keep revising forward.

Also, I think for you to get the prompt to download an older version, that version must still exist on the App Store.

Apple said:
If a compatible version isn't available, you can try contacting the app developer.

All the developer has to do is remove the older versions that they don't want to support, and you're screwed.
 
Apparently, because there are new mobile operating system versions on the way (Android 6.0 and iOS9 and 9.1), EA decided again to remove some of their games, because they decided to end support and not update their games to work properly on mobile devices.

It's only Apple's fault that apps are broken with new iOS versions. Some devs don't fix their apps to support new versions because it costs time and money, or the app is just too old, and when they do bother, it takes months to get it fixed like TWEWY which was broken for nearly a year.

This is a problem I wouldn't really have expected with iOS but damn it turned out it's actually the most severe case of broken backwards compatibility.
 
No, if you want to download the old version of Netflix onto your iOS 5 iPad that's still possible because the app for that version is still on Apple's servers.

Good luck getting a four year old version of Netflix to connect to their servers.

But you're not reading what I'm saying. For modern apps, you basically have to cut off support for older iOS versions. It makes your code unmaintainable if you don't, because you have to support multiple (sometimes conflicting) API's in one app. Don't be surprised if a bunch of modern apps written for iOS 7 suddenly stop working soon.

How bad exactly are you at researching? Look up BioShock iOS release date and download a version that fits between the time frame of it working and no longer working.

Assuming, of course, that anybody documented when it stopped working. All of this is so difficult that documenting the topic will be decently technical.

My point is: If you're using your iOS devices right now, upgrading your devices, you won't know what stopped working until you upgrade iOS. Only after the fact will you know exactly what needed to be preserved.
 
EA knows full well how iOS and Android work. They are modern mobile OS's and yearly updates to improve and deprecate API's can break your software. Like all other developers, they could budget legacy support.

They choose not to.



"Just because"? Lol. Again, EA didn't budget support. Other developers do. Whose fault is it again?
So every year EA's operating budget keeps growing because of legacy support as they release more and more apps and games? At some point it's not reasonable to infinitely budget legacy support.
 

Haunted

Member
EA knows full well how iOS and Android work. They are modern mobile OS's and yearly updates to improve and deprecate API's can break your software. Like all other developers, they could budget legacy support.

They choose not to.
Absolutely, it's EA's fault to not account for this situation.

A situation that could be avoided by Apple in the first place.
 

Foffy

Banned
Hypothetically, couldn't one pirate the removed Android games? Assuming they weren't just removed for sheer compatibility, of course.

I know piracy is taboo, but on the topic of game preservation, it quite literally is our best tool.
 

greg400

Banned
It's apparently pretty easy, because most of the games my kids like won't work on anything below iOS 7. I would also expect that figure to keep revising forward.

Also, I think for you to get the prompt to download an older version, that version must still exist on the App Store.
Anecdotal evidence but every game I've tried to download has worked within the function. If something didn't work then there is another option and that is simply taking the old version that was backed up into your iTunes and put it back on.

Good luck getting a four year old version of Netflix to connect to their servers.

But you're not reading what I'm saying. For modern apps, you basically have to cut off support for older iOS versions. It makes your code unmaintainable if you don't, because you have to support multiple (sometimes conflicting) API's in one app. Don't be surprised if a bunch of modern apps written for iOS 7 suddenly stop working soon.
It's literally working right now no issues LOL, just like plenty of Wii owners are using an app that's well over 4 years old.

It's not a matter of supporting older iOS versions, it's a matter of simply having the older app version on Apple's servers. Your latest version can require iOS 9, that doesn't matter. The version that supports iOS 5 can be left untouched on Apple's servers.

Assuming, of course, that anybody documented when it stopped working.

My point is: If you're using your iOS devices right now, upgrading your devices, you won't know what stopped working until you upgrade iOS. Only after the fact will you know exactly what needed to be preserved.
The chances of there being no trace of when a game stopped working is slim, especially from a big name developer. If you have a game or app you really care about it's not that hard to check to see if it's compatible with the new version before updating by reading a couple of recent reviews.
 

Tobor

Member
So every year EA's operating budget keeps growing because of legacy support as they release more and more apps and games? At some point it's not reasonable to infinitely budget legacy support.

At some point, and you could argue that point is now for these games, no one will care that the app stops working.

So the argument really is how long should support last.

Personally I don't care about any of the games listed in the OP, so EA waited long enough for me.

If you still want to play those games, then EA is ending support early. It's no different than an online game requiring server support, IMO.
 
It's literally working right now no issues LOL, just like plenty of Wii owners are using an app that's well over 4 years old.

It's not a matter of supporting older apps, it's a matter of simply having the older version on Apple's servers. Your latest version can require iOS 9, that doesn't matter. The version that supports iOS 5 can be left untouched on Apple's servers.

Then that's very impressive of Netflix, to not change their streaming platform in over four years. I would imagine they're an outlier in mobile services.

The version that only supports iOS 5 can be left untouched. If there ever was one, and if Apple decided to keep archiving old releases. And if you can manage to get on iOS 5 in the first place, either by never upgrading or by downgrading somehow.

The chances of there being no trace of when a game stopped working is slim, especially from a big name developer. If you have a game or app you really care about it's not that hard to check to see if it's compatible with the new version before updating by reading a couple of recent reviews.

Recent one star reviews of app users who can't use it anymore. Don't be a trailblazer, kids. That sounds like a lot of work, researching every game for the nebulous day it might not work anymore.

Again, tons more work than N64. That's my thesis that you're failing to attack. Even setting aside these pretty boring and complicated details aside, we've still painted a complex picture of old iOS game playback.
 

kiguel182

Member
Apple (and Google) really need to step up their game when it comes to upgrading the OS. It's inexcusable that they break a bunch of apps with each upgrade. It's an extra burden devs have to face for no reason at all.
 

Psyren

Member
Right, because you have no response to that.

I prefer the term modern OS defense force actually, thanks.

"modern OS" defense force huh...

So you're a proponent for 'production ready' platforms that deprecate and deliberately break their core API regularly, which in turn incur additional costs (Not just money. Developer time is costly too) due to constant R&D to main compatibility with potentially little to no gain for the developer??? That's really the take away from that statement...
 

greg400

Banned
Then that's very impressive of Netflix, to not change their streaming platform in over four years. I would imagine they're an outlier in mobile services.

The version that only supports iOS 5 can be left untouched. If there ever was one, and if Apple decided to keep archiving old releases. And if you can manage to get on iOS 5 in the first place, either by never upgrading or by downgrading somehow.
It's just a matter of supporting a video stream, really nothing impressive about it. YouTube works fine as well and also a ton of games. Getting to iOS 5 is simple, jailbreak or have something like a gen 1 iPad that can't be upgraded any further.

Recent one star reviews of app users who can't use it anymore. Don't be a trailblazer, kids. That sounds like a lot of work, researching every game for the nebulous day it might not work anymore.

Again, tons more work than N64. That's my thesis that you're failing to attack.
I've actually been chipping away at it constantly but since you haven't noticed let me put it together for you. They both have problems, and you are living in a fairy tale world if you think otherwise.

Here's just a few problems with the N64:
Hardware expansion availability
Hardware expansion pricing
Finding the software for a reasonable price (games like Conker for 350 bucks)
Having that expensive software still prone to failure
Finding out which software requires those expansions
No ability to refund broken software
No back-ups of that now broken software

"modern OS" defense force huh...

So you're a proponent for 'production ready' platforms that deprecate and deliberately break their core API regularly, which in turn incur addition costs (Not just money. Developer time is costly too) due to constant R&D to main compatibility with potentially little to no gain for the developer??? That's really the take away from that statement...
I'm a proponent of platforms that are willing to grow to move on and expand when they are young into something that will ultimately be remarkably stable just like OS X did. Apple abandoned Rosetta for a reason.
 
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