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How are phone/tablet games these days?
- Thread starter longdi
- Start date
More_Badass
Member
A good game is a good game. What makes a game good on mobile are the same things that makes a game good on PC, consoles, and any other platform. Of course there are games that play best on mobile, but being on mobile isn't some black mark that makes a game lesser. Good game design and mechanics are universal.
As for the other part, it's literally just as easy as keeping up with any other platform. Just like you go to sites for PC and consoles, and check the store pages for new and popular releases, it's the same with mobile (or at least iOS). If you know how to learn about games on PC, you know how to learn about games on mobile.
Omnii-chan
Member
Some jrpg's have found their way to mobile and they would probably work well with touch controls.
Also the GTA/ Max Payne ports I guess, though they are old now. Other than that meh. Lots of pay to win riddled crap every time I look, or maybe the Aussie android store doesn't get everything the States gets?
Also the GTA/ Max Payne ports I guess, though they are old now. Other than that meh. Lots of pay to win riddled crap every time I look, or maybe the Aussie android store doesn't get everything the States gets?
After all these years, I don't like my fingers getting in the way of the action on the screen. It's basically like having someone in front of you in front of the TV.
I also need real buttons.
I mean I guess I could get one of those controller add-ons, but I have plenty to play on my Vita anyways.
I also need real buttons.
I mean I guess I could get one of those controller add-ons, but I have plenty to play on my Vita anyways.
There are thousands of games with controller support on mobile these days.
NoHeDidn't
Member
Last mobile game I played daily was Order and Chaos Online on IOS it was a damn good WoW clone that I only quit when it went pay to win.
ArtHands
Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
ClayKavalier
Banned
I totally agree with the first paragraph. And games like Simogo's games, Monument Valley, and Sword and Sorcery are legitimately great. But many games that are considered great iOS games just aren't on the same level as games on other platforms IMO. Badlands is a perfect example, I doubt it would have gotten nearly as much recognition if it was only on PC and more directly competing with stuff like Don't Starve (which I know is also on iOS now).
And being mobile absolutely can be a black mark on otherwise great games. For example I love BioWare's games but would never choose to play any of the games they have available on iOS over any other platform they're available on. Games that are best on mobile are the only games I have any interest in playing on mobile.
It seems to me you definitely have to go out of your way to keep up on what iOS games are worth checking out. For example Neogaf is one of the internet's premiere sources of news and discussion of gaming in general, and if someone read the front page every day for a year they'd know every AAA game that was released, most larger indie games (stuff along the lines of Gone Home or Undertale), and a handful of more obscure indies and PC-only games (PUBG, stuff like that). They'd know next to nothing about iOS games, since 90% of discussion of them is in the monthly iOS threads. I know there's sites like TouchArcade, but in my experience most iOS-centric gaming sites seem to give attention to anything they get free codes for, and it often seems obvious to me that they don't do much gaming outside of mobile games. Because of this they don't seem very useful to me. I can see how it'd be similar to seeking out new games on PC, but I don't game on PC. And again, it seems like there's far more discussion on GAF and elsewhere on obscure PC games that get an obvious than for iOS games.
MistressMoitie
Member
Design Home, yo.
ClayKavalier
Banned
That's a great example of what I've been saying. Here's a list from last month ago of the best-selling console/ PC games this year. None of them are bad, and some are amazing. I'm not going to go out of my way to play a Call of Duty, but they are fun. Horizon and RE7 were great. Zelda will likely be remembered as a classic.
Then look at that mobile list. All of those games except Pokemon Go and Clash Royale are straight up bullshit as far as I'm concerned, and Clash Royale was frustratingly pay-to-win when I got into it and Pokemon Go didn't have the depth to sustain my interest more than a weekend.
That's not to say mobile doesn't have great games, but it just seems very clear to me that finding the great mobile games take a lot more effort than for PC and especially console. And the scope of those mobile games more often than not doesn't warrant the effort.
More_Badass
Member
It really isn't. You just go to the Games page, just like you would go to the Steam homepage, where there are curated lists of new games, sections dedicated to premium games, to indie games, to ports, to different genres and themes. You go to the mobile focused sites, just like you would RPS or PC Gamer. You go to the iOS thread, just like you would go to the Steam thread, or make a thread asking for recommendations like you would for PC and console. There is certainly less coverage for mobile, but the actual effort needed to find games is no different
The last place you should ever look for good games is the list of highest grossing or most downloaded games.
I wanna get an iPad so I can play the digital board games stuff on it. The casual fare stuff, like Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, or Burgle Bros. I'm sure there is deeper stuff but the casual stuff is so fun.
Meanwhile, Pokemon Go, Mario Run, and Fire Emblem keep me happy. Can't wait for AC mobile.
Meanwhile, Pokemon Go, Mario Run, and Fire Emblem keep me happy. Can't wait for AC mobile.
Omega Kirby
Member
Mobile games are being ported to switch, and are being well recieved. That should tell you about the much better quality of mobile games are doing now. Some people still have their archaic opinion that mobile games are just trash.
More_Badass
Member
What games?
Permanently A
Junior Member
I really wish I didn't like gatcha games. They have all the elements of RPGs that I like, except for progression. You can save all the stones you want, come time to spend them to actually get stronger and progress, and you usually end up with a whole lot of nothing for your time. Its infuriating.
More_Badass
Member
I just realized I don't even know what a gatcha game is. I always see them mentioned in GAF but I've never actually seen or played one. I'm assuming it's obnoxiously F2P or something?
ClayKavalier
Banned
I've never once found an iOS game I enjoyed on the App Store. Besides ports like Civilization Revolution, every game I've really enjoyed I've either heard about on a podcast or learned about through the community threads. The sheer volume of games released makes the App Store extremely noisy.
And I won't argue that a "highest grossing" list is the last place to look for the most exciting example of any medium, but the fact remains that the console/ PC list is filled with games that are average at worst and amazing at best and the mobile list is full of dog shit. It's also indicative that mobile platforms just aren't a good place for developers to make the kinds of games I want to play.
Again, I've loved mobile games and realize there's gems out there, but when I typically have ten or fewer hours a week to game it becomes a question of whether the few great mobile games are that much better than more visible games like Zelda or Prey (or Splatoon or Mario or Uncharted, some of the next games on my radar) to justify the effort it takes to seek them out.
That's pretty incredible given how otherwise knowledgable you are about mobile games, like an avid console player having no clue what an FPS is. The Fire Emblem is a gatcha game, they typically revolve around battling somehow with characters that you receive randomly via a loot box or something similar. You can typically pay to get more units and they're "pay to win" since players willing to spend thousands of dollars will have more chances to get powerful rare units.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Like some mobile stuff, but it's hard for me personally to deal with gacha mechanics. So that cuts out a lot of stuff that is otherwise ok.
More_Badass
Member
But the actual Games page isn't. No one just starts randomly browsing the App Store. This is what you see when you go to the Games homepage. I always know what I'm looking for when I go to the App Store, but to the random browser, you got practically nothing but quality and hidden gems
Honey Bunny
Member
Still incredibly weak compared to the reach of the platform
TransTrender
Gold Member
I'll be that guy.
Aside from the bulk of the games that are shovelware kiddy crap most everything else is ruined by touch controls. Those that aren't hampered by touch are still limited by the platform and monetization. I'm sure you'll cite one or two that aren't but at this point the bulk of the catalog is shit considering the platform and penetration.
Saucycarpdog
Member
99% of PC is shit (and some melodramatics will tell you Steam is too) when you consider every game ever released on PC. That means every game; from the games created by teenagers with assets from Microsoft paint to the most basic prototype browser game to the AAA juggernauts. If you took every game on PC, I'm sure only 1% of those games would be deemed acceptable by this community.
No, most of the top games for people only interested in how well mobile phones can play console games will be ports.
For anyone interested in mobile games, the best ones are largely those designed for the systems from the ground up for touch controls, not those with the least-hampered ports.
TransTrender
Gold Member
Steam greenlight or what's left of it is shit, and there are a ton of shit games on Early Access, but it's laughable to compare the number of good PC games released every month compared to the actual, sustainable, real games released on mobile. It's a fucking joke in comparison.
More_Badass
Member
The ratio of crap to decent/great is not that different from PC. The vast vast majority of games on PC are flash games, freeware games, alphas, betas, prototypes, and whatnot. Like, more games get submitted to the Ludum Dare game jam in two years than the entire Steam library in its entirety.
The difference is that the App Store is the entire ecosystem of every piece of software ever made for mobile, and Steam/Humble/etc are curated and sectioned off from the rest of PC gaming. If Steam was like the App Store, the great paid games would just be tiny islands among the endless tsunami of free games, flash games, and the rest. If you're going to compare mobile to PC, you have to include all of PC, not just Steam or other storefronts
As for touch controls, I liken it to someone who only played on a game pad finding mouse and keyboard awkward and frustrating when they first get into PC gaming. Dozens of genres play perfectly fine on touch, and those genres tend to lean towards the more advanced/hardcore categories: turn-based strategy, roguelikes, adventure games, puzzlers, card and board games, RPGs, etc
Speaking as someone who plays on PC and PS4 nearly every day, the only times I've ever had issues with touch are when the devs have implemented poor controls. I've played platformers, shmups, and dual sticks just fine on mobile.
Omega Kirby
Member
VOEZ and Implosion Never Lose Hope
Off-Kilter
Banned
Conkerkid11
Member
Clash Royale is probably my favorite recent mobile game. Looking forward to whatever genre Supercell ends up redefining next. Just unfortunate that South Park Phone Destroyer ended up being a really bad clone.
This post is even more funny now.Now I remember how you got your tag
I'm missing most of this conversation, but I'd argue that it's significantly harder to find good mobile games than it is good games on other platforms because the sea of shit mobile games happens to be on the top of all the charts.
Saucycarpdog
Member
Cool, now we're at the "real games" point in the discussion. This thread can only get better from here!
But seriously, what is you're definition of "real game". Just last week alone I downloaded 3 games that released and wishlisted another. 2 of the games I downloaded were arcade platformers and the third game was a puzzle RPG with turned based combat. I currently like and I am enjoying all three of the games. Now, depending on what consider a "real game", those games might not be considered real to you and you believe they can't compare to those high-budget games released on PC/consoles every week. They might not have 20-hour singleplayer or 3D open worlds But, they are fun games to me and I'm more than willing to play them in my spare time. That's all that matters to me.
TransTrender
Gold Member
First point is bullshit because actual good games that gain traction on a monthly basis on mobile compared to PC is hugely in favor on PC. Sure, some shit free to play with punitive monetization whale hunting garbage could pull more revenue once or twice a year but in general the gaming public cringes.
Second point I don't believe because even when searching for real APS I see 1000 broken clones right behind it, and if I misspell then the shit clones are on top. If I put "Doom" in to Steam I get Doom games and good games with 'Doom' in it.
Third point I fuck people up with both gamepad and KBM and touch is still shit. Puzzle Bobble and Pac Man play poorly with touch, and even genres like strategy, RPG, puzzles still suffer from fat fingers, inaccurate fast actions, inconsistencies at screen edges, and pick your choice between limiting the amount of information on screen because of touch or fat fingering through unnavigable dense menus.
While there's some truth to this, at the end of the day, we DO have those platforms to filter that stuff, and the low quality games aren't in your face. On mobile platforms however, "candy crush" type games are tremendously prominent on the respective app stores. There's no question about it, there's no denying it affects popular mobile game development, and a lot of the people who are playing these mobile games aren't doing the same thing on PC.
I wouldn't compare smartphone control options to a PC given how many more control choices you have. The key word for smartphone controls is "fine", there are certain games that benefit from it, but there's no doubt a smartphone has serious limitations for what types of games would work.
Saucycarpdog
Member
I'm actually anticipating Supercell's new game Brawl Stars, which is something I never thought I'd say.
Reigns
Solitairica
Age of Rivals
Full Of Stars
Nightgate
Swap Sword
Gatecrasher
Enyo
The problem is, if we are talking about exclusives, a shitload of the best mobile games are also on Steam anf I'm not sure which ones were on mobile first. But considering the appeal of it being on a mobile device this is still a huge deal. True exclusivity is not as important to me as having the software I want to play on the platform I wany to play it on.
The iPad is an embarassment of riches if you are into digital board games, card games, strategy, roguelikes, etc.
There's definitely a lot of overlap between mobile and Steam that isn't on consoles.
While touch controls are a poor subsitute for a controller, they often make for great translations of mouse and keyboard interfaces.
TransTrender
Gold Member
I'm settling now, in this day and age, for 8 hours of SP content and I feel that open world is shit filled with repeats and fetch quest. A good narrative is a plus.
If these turn based RPG's are fun then have at it. I'm sure the Nintendo already established the format and playstyle but I guess they have better art, some gimmick game mechanic, monetization, and gtacha elements that don't appeal to me.
Doom 3, Resident Evil 4( via gamecube emulation), HL2. These all run on a Pixel C which is basically a very under clocked switch.
Portal also works which is 07.
Games like unkilled, shadowgun legends look pretty good.
More_Badass
Member
I don't think you understood the point I was making. If you're going to compare mobile and PC, you have to compare all of PC. All the flash games, all the alphas and betas and demos and prototypes and shitty games on itch.io and everything else. PC gaming isn't just Steam. Include everything on PC, and you're going to have all the decent, great, masterpiece games outnumbers by dozens or hundreds of other stuff
There are 15,900 Steam games. There are over 40,000 Ludum Dare games. I'm only counting Ludum Dare entries because that's quantifiable, compared to who knows how many flash games there are.. Ludum Dare gets around another 2,000 games every few months. 13,000 of those games came from the last two years. That's just one game jam.
Saucycarpdog
Member
I forgot to mention, of the 3 games:
2 were premium/pay-once-and-play
1 was free-with-ads and an IAP to turn off ads
None of them were gacha games.
Joey Jo-Jo Jr
Member
Horizon Chase is the best arcade style racer this gen (although in part because it has no competition on consoles).
I tried to play Espgaluda on my Galaxy S6 the other day but it seems it doesn't work anymore which I assume is due to the recent android update I downloaded.
I just get "galaxy s6 not supported" or some such.
Oh thanks guys, any chance of mymoney back.
I will be extremely wary of paying money again for android games now that I know how easily they can be rendered unplayable. Basically if the dev isnt commited to never ending updates to keep up with android, you are buying the privilege of playing the game for a year or two.
I tried to play Espgaluda on my Galaxy S6 the other day but it seems it doesn't work anymore which I assume is due to the recent android update I downloaded.
I just get "galaxy s6 not supported" or some such.
Oh thanks guys, any chance of mymoney back.
I will be extremely wary of paying money again for android games now that I know how easily they can be rendered unplayable. Basically if the dev isnt commited to never ending updates to keep up with android, you are buying the privilege of playing the game for a year or two.
Excuse me, but why would you include competition demo games in a comparison with an APP STORE ENTRY?
Steam itself is getting more and more crowded, sure, but it is nowhere near the levels seen in IOS/Android. And at least the pc market has not collapsed, meaning games unable to ask money beforehand from the customer.
Your argument would stand if every single Ludum Dare game would automatically end up in itch.io (it does not) or Steam (it does not).
Mobile games "being crap" in general could be weakened by having more curated app stores, for example.