• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

The iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming |OT2| Part II

Status
Not open for further replies.
Apesht Mcfckface said:
Kind of off topic, but if I bought a tv episode on itunes on my computer then went and tried to download it on my phone, I wouldn't be re charged for it would I? I've never bought a single movie/TV show before and I couldn't find the new season of Built to Shred on torrents, so I bought it on itunes, can I put that on my phone, no problem. Also I don't normally synce up my phone, and don't really want to because I have some games from a different account and he changed his password and won't tell me his new one, so when it goes to sync, they get lost.
Click to expand...
Oh my God.
 
I finally got 4.1 (JB, yeah!) so that means I have GameCenter!

Add me. I'm Dacvak
 
Can anyone help me in terms of synching my iPhone 4 to a new computer? I have a new MBP so I'd like for it to synch to that instead of my old one without having to wipe it clean.

Can I copy over the MobileSync folder to my new laptop and have itunes restore a backup from it?

What's the best way to do this? I've googled and can't really find a good answer, hopefully one of you guys can help me out.
 
Anyone know if "different" iPhone/iPad versions (ie non-universal app) of a game use the same leaderboards for Game Center?

Or would it be two listed different apps ("Cut the Rope" and "Cut the Rope HD" for example)? Cause that'd be pretty shitty and is another reason why developers need to start making universal apps.
 
seady said:
Games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope definitely got some help somewhere from Apple to shoot it up to #1 immediately. Cut the Rope was released on October 5 (if the iTunes store's date is correct). For an unknown quantity like this to shoot up to #1 in just 2 days (it was #1 since Oct 7th) - when there are soooo many games released every day on the Apps store and games being previewed at sites like Touch Arcade / Slide to Play - is just impossible. Even word of mouth can't travel that fast. It's not like it's a highly anticipated blockbuster like Halo or Call of Duty where everyone can't wait to buy it Day 1.

Call me suspicious of whatever, I just don't buy into this.
And this has nothing to do with the quality of those games, because I enjoy those games A LOT. I just think this is shady, but genius set up by Apple to promote iPhone games that have potential. Without manually 'putting' those games onto the #1 of the chart, barely anyone would ever notice them. I believe in word of mouth, but not as fast as this. When you consider this is a new IP, and then the time for the first group of people to play it, then the time it takes to spread the words, etc etc.. all in two days?

I think it is a smart move though. On one hand it helps a selected few publishers, but on the other hand, it helps Apple too because these are the new IPs that will help the iDevices to establish a 'Game Machine" image.
Click to expand...
The top charts are not top all-time sales. There is some scaling so if you sell more in the near term, it counts for more in your ranking. Cut the Rope got a ton of purchases here just after one guy mentioned it, I don't see how it couldn't jump to the top.
 
Sean said:
Anyone know if "different" iPhone/iPad versions (ie non-universal app) of a game use the same leaderboards for Game Center?

Or would it be two listed different apps ("Cut the Rope" and "Cut the Rope HD" for example)? Cause that'd be pretty shitty and is another reason why developers need to start making universal apps.
Click to expand...

I imagine they're considered the same. The reason Cut The Rope is two apps rather than one is, most likely, due to the fact that the HD version is 26.9MB. For a game to be downloadable over 3G it has to be less than 20MB. For such a simple game like this and simply hearing about it, you want to download it straight away, and not be around a wireless spot or wait till you get home.
 
seady said:
Games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope definitely got some help somewhere from Apple to shoot it up to #1 immediately. Cut the Rope was released on October 5 (if the iTunes store's date is correct). For an unknown quantity like this to shoot up to #1 in just 2 days (it was #1 since Oct 7th) - when there are soooo many games released every day on the Apps store and games being previewed at sites like Touch Arcade / Slide to Play - is just impossible. Even word of mouth can't travel that fast. It's not like it's a highly anticipated blockbuster like Halo or Call of Duty where everyone can't wait to buy it Day 1.

Call me suspicious of whatever, I just don't buy into this.
And this has nothing to do with the quality of those games, because I enjoy those games A LOT. I just think this is shady, but genius set up by Apple to promote iPhone games that have potential. Without manually 'putting' those games onto the #1 of the chart, barely anyone would ever notice them. I believe in word of mouth, but not as fast as this. When you consider this is a new IP, and then the time for the first group of people to play it, then the time it takes to spread the words, etc etc.. all in two days?

I think it is a smart move though. On one hand it helps a selected few publishers, but on the other hand, it helps Apple too because these are the new IPs that will help the iDevices to establish a 'Game Machine" image.
Click to expand...
The top charts are not top all-time sales. There is some scaling so if you sell more in the near term, it counts for more in your ranking. Cut the Rope got a ton of purchases here just after one guy mentioned it, I don't see how it couldn't jump to the top.
 
Rlan said:
I imagine they're considered the same. The reason Cut The Rope is two apps rather than one is, most likely, due to the fact that the HD version is 26.9MB. For a game to be downloadable over 3G it has to be less than 20MB. For such a simple game like this and simply hearing about it, you want to download it straight away, and not be around a wireless spot or wait till you get home.
Click to expand...

Well the reason I ask is that Cut the Rope and Cut the Rope Lite on the iPhone are considered two different games by Game Center. I'm not sure if that was something the developer intentionally did or if that's just the way GC works. Hopefully there is some kind of hook for developers to say "use the same leaderboards even though the app name is different". Otherwise things are going to be real messy and stupid IMO.

Good call on the 20mb download thing, I never thought of that being a reason to split up iPhone/iPad apps. That makes sense and I can't really fault them for that, but non-universal apps still kind of sucks for the end user.
 
numble said:
The top charts are not top all-time sales. There is some scaling so if you sell more in the near term, it counts for more in your ranking. Cut the Rope got a ton of purchases here just after one guy mentioned it, I don't see how it couldn't jump to the top.
Click to expand...

I guess you guys have a point. It really depends on how often they update the chart. If it is counted by the hour instead of day, then it make a little bit more sense for an unknown title to be #1 in just two days. (but what is the difference between this and Top Grossing then?)
I am still not totally convince how fast something unknown spread like this though. If it hits #1 in like a week or two then it makes more sense to me.
 
Tobor said:
Dude, there are featured sections for every category in the app store. Apple picks the games that are featured. :lol

It's not rocket science. Featured games tend to sell a lot.
Click to expand...
No that sure isnt rocket science and a game with the background of Cut the rope sure sells like in heaps from the beginning.

Still the featured categories are kind of rocket science for me. Our game is (in the german shop) between #2 and #4 in 'Action->New and featured'. Modern Combat 2 is the #1.

Still our game is not on the general 'Games->New and featured' page, neither is Modern Combat, while Sonic is on both.

So neither the "game page updates are slow" nor the "you need a big name to be featured there" theories would fit.
 
Sean said:
Well the reason I ask is that Cut the Rope and Cut the Rope Lite on the iPhone are considered two different games by Game Center. I'm not sure if that was something the developer intentionally did or if that's just the way GC works. Hopefully there is some kind of hook for developers to say "use the same leaderboards even though the app name is different". Otherwise things are going to be real messy and stupid IMO.

Good call on the 20mb download thing, I never thought of that being a reason to split up iPhone/iPad apps. That makes sense and I can't really fault them for that, but non-universal apps still kind of sucks for the end user.
Click to expand...

You're probably right about the first one -- I'm not entirely sure, we're are just getting the hang of Game center at the moment. Age Of Zombies will be a Universal app though :P
 
seady said:
I guess you guys have a point. It really depends on how often they update the chart. If it is counted by the hour instead of day, then it make a little bit more sense for an unknown title to be #1 in just two days. (but what is the difference between this and Top Grossing then?)
I am still not totally convince how fast something unknown spread like this though. If it hits #1 in like a week or two then it makes more sense to me.
Click to expand...
Top Grossing goes by the amount of money rather than just number of sales, it's not that complex.

And it wasn't unknown. It was known back on August 31st on Touch Arcade, had a four page discussion thread there before release and currently has a 19 page thread post release. They probably spread PR blurbs around to every site they could find, various viral crap, etc. People know about the game, some take a chance cause it's just a buck, others see positive reviews on various sites, and as more people play it they spread the word, etc. It's not some vast reverse vampire conspiracy over on the iTunes Store.

But if there is a conspiracy I would blame Matt Casamassina.
 
Sean said:
Good call on the 20mb download thing, I never thought of that being a reason to split up iPhone/iPad apps. That makes sense and I can't really fault them for that, but non-universal apps still kind of sucks for the end user.
Click to expand...

That very issue is cause for some regret in our making Flick Kick Football universal. It is currently sitting just under 20MB, so we don't have a lot of room to expand the game with more assets.

Being under 20MB definitely has an impact on sales too. When the update before last went up it was 20.3MB (Apple adds to the download size slightly by an unpredictable amount, so we weren't expecting to go over). Saw an instant negative impact on our sales until we got a new sub 20MB build live and saw our sales bounce back.

Hopefully, Apple ups the max 3G download size again at some point.
 
Sean said:
Anyone know if "different" iPhone/iPad versions (ie non-universal app) of a game use the same leaderboards for Game Center?

Or would it be two listed different apps ("Cut the Rope" and "Cut the Rope HD" for example)? Cause that'd be pretty shitty and is another reason why developers need to start making universal apps.
Click to expand...
They're separate. Leaderboards, achievements, everything. Thats the exact reason the developers of Neuroshima Hex gave for making the game universal rather than release a separate iPad version. They wanted to keep the GC stuff unified.

As for the 20MB restriction, that's AT&Ts bullshit.
 
Tobor said:
As for the 20MB restriction, that's AT&Ts bullshit.
Click to expand...

If you're thinking of the same restriction I'm thinking of, that's just an App Store thing. I download larger podcasts using another app over 3G.
 
elektrixx said:
If you're thinking of the same restriction I'm thinking of, that's just an App Store thing. I download larger podcasts using another app over 3G.
Click to expand...
It's a restriction forced on Apple by the networks.

Just like FaceTime.
 
I never understood why that 20MB limit affects people, doesn't eveyone have wifi or a mac/pc w/ the internet?
 
Interesting.

I wonder if Apple could come up with a workaround where on 3G it'll only download the necessary part of the app for that particular iDevice. Say you're a iPhone 3G/Touch 2G user for example it wouldn't download the iPhone 4 retina display or iPad graphics. Then next time you sync to your computer it'll download the remaining bits of the app from iTunes and make it universal.

That way devs can make a 40mb universal app yet users would only be downloading the necessary 10-15mb over 3G.
 
Sean said:
Interesting.

I wonder if Apple could come up with a workaround where on 3G it'll only download the necessary part of the app for that particular iDevice. Say you're a iPhone 3G/Touch 2G user for example it wouldn't download the iPhone 4 retina display or iPad graphics. Then next time you sync to your computer it'll download the remaining bits of the app from iTunes and make it universal.

That way devs can make a 40mb universal app yet users would only be downloading the necessary 10-15mb over 3G.
Click to expand...

Mario said:
That very issue is cause for some regret in our making Flick Kick Football universal. It is currently sitting just under 20MB, so we don't have a lot of room to expand the game with more assets.

Being under 20MB definitely has an impact on sales too. When the update before last went up it was 20.3MB (Apple adds to the download size slightly by an unpredictable amount, so we weren't expecting to go over). Saw an instant negative impact on our sales until we got a new sub 20MB build live and saw our sales bounce back.

Hopefully, Apple ups the max 3G download size again at some point.
Click to expand...
So do I understand that correctly, that the extra content you buy as an In-App Purchase must already be in the App?

That would kill universal app for me as I rely on the basic app being below 20MB (as it is a travel guide and want people to be able to get the basic version on the go).
 
quetz67 said:
So do I understand that correctly, that the extra content you buy as an In-App Purchase must already be in the App?
Click to expand...

No, I don't believe it needs to be. As suggested by someone else, you could set it up so the user elects to pull down the high res assets after installing a base sub 20MB app. However, that sounds like a clunky solution to me and would probably be confusing to some consumers.
 
Mario said:
No, I don't believe it needs to be. As suggested by someone else, you could set it up so the user elects to pull down the high res assets after installing a base sub 20MB app. However, that sounds like a clunky solution to me and would probably be confusing to some consumers.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I think the Tyrian app does this -- downloads a surrounding, and then downloads the base files from a server somewhere. This gets around some deal where you're just "paying" for the wrapper around it, and then it downloads the freeware version of the game separately.
 
Minsc said:
I never understood why that 20MB limit affects people, doesn't eveyone have wifi or a mac/pc w/ the internet?
Click to expand...
I know several people who turn off wifi and just leave it off. People are weird.

Hopefully Verizon allows large 3G downloads for the Verizon iPhone. That should kick AT&T in gear.
 
Minsc said:
I never understood why that 20MB limit affects people, doesn't eveyone have wifi or a mac/pc w/ the internet?
Click to expand...

I think a large number of people think 3G or nothing, for some reason. Guy at work (another engineer) was complaining about his 3G in the building. I pointed out the wi-fis and he did a face palm.
 
Also not everyone is on Wifi at work, and if people get to the screen, and are only on 3G at the time and it says they can't download it right now, that's just enough reason for people to forget to buy it later, and then it's a lost customer.

Aint really that hard going over a 1GB or less limit if you try (believe me, I have)
 
Rlan said:
Great article on Halfbrick in regards to Fruit Ninja and Monster Dash, and how crucial promotion can be.

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/info...-turned-two-iphone-apps-into-2-million-2.html
Click to expand...
Great interview. Nice to see an Aussie developer make such an impact. I'll certainly be taking their advice on marketing once I start iOS development. :D

My brother completely ignored marketing until the day of the release of his and his friend's app, so to make him feel better I guess I'll repost it:

Banana Splitz: Munky Smash ($1, iPhone/iPad, retina support)

I'll also forward that interview to him :lol
 
Rlan said:
Also not everyone is on Wifi at work, and if people get to the screen, and are only on 3G at the time and it says they can't download it right now, that's just enough reason for people to forget to buy it later, and then it's a lost customer.

Aint really that hard going over a 1GB or less limit if you try (believe me, I have)
Click to expand...

Sure, if you don't use WiFi. I have a few apps that are over 300MB on my phone, so it's not uncommon for me to hit over 2GB in just updates a month. But I'm on the 200MB plan, and barely use over 100MB.

Don't people use iTunes on their PC/Mac to get stuff on their phone though?

I agree, 20MB could perhaps be 200MB, but then the people on the 1GB could be in for a nasty surprise when they update an app and it costs them $15 or something. I think that's the risk in raising the limit, is that you'll end up having so many people go over their limit (so then, that begs the question why doesn't AT&T do it and rake in the $$$ in overages?). I guess their network still needs some work.

I think if people want an app bad enough, they'll get it through their computer, it's hard to keep a 960x640 resolution app with high quality assets below 20MB, high res 2D artwork can be pretty large.

All the 20MB limit does imo is force app maker to use lower quality assets, or in some cases they have no choice but to ignore it, like Cave's SHUMPs, no way they'd get in under 20MBs.
 
This might not be the place, but hopefully someone can help: I inherited a friends old 3G, and while the phone works fine. The wifi is not working. He once dropped it on the floor, cracking the screen, and I'm thinking the wifi chip could a knock as well, or has there been a firmware update at some point that has a history of killing wifi in 3G's?
 
Honestly, unless I'm at home, I never use Wi-Fi. I hate it when the iPhone locks on to a shitty Wi-Fi connection; on the other hand, my 3G reception is great and it's pretty damn fast, so I'm happy to be on 3G most of the time (unlimited plan helps :-P).
 
Bliddo said:
4.1 increased dramatically the battery life of my 3g, go for it
Click to expand...

I'll have to use it a little more to know, but for now it seems okay.
I had a few slowdowns after restoring my apps, but after rebooting everything seemed fine.
 
ivedoneyourmom said:
Mmm, cut the rope. I feel so bad when I fuck up and om-nom makes that sad face and grunts cause I lost his candy. Best motivator ever, even better than dying in smb!

Such a great game!
Click to expand...
I know. :(
 
animlboogy said:
With the anecdotal evidence for how sales drop off, you KNOW that limit is AT&T throwing their weight around.

The simple answer is, you're never more likely to impulse buy than when you're bored. And you're never more bored than when you're commuting. So those games will sell. It's why smaller games in scope will continue to do better, too: you see someone playAbgry Birds on the train and it immediately makes sense. Two minutes and a dollar later, you're playing.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think this is the big reason why it matters for smaller random unknown games, it just goes towards the whole impulse nature of them. I don't think it matters nearly as much for the big name releases.
 
Is there an official Game Center thread?
 
Rlan said:
Also not everyone is on Wifi at work, and if people get to the screen, and are only on 3G at the time and it says they can't download it right now, that's just enough reason for people to forget to buy it later, and then it's a lost customer.

Aint really that hard going over a 1GB or less limit if you try (believe me, I have)
Click to expand...

Lol, after looking at my data usage for last month on my cellphone bill. I decided that my measily 15GB of usage was making me look bad, so i downloaded 8GB of data on it the other day just for kicks.
 
I've got three stars in every level on Cut The Rope but it didn't unlock the achievement for finishing the Gift Box, on Crystal or Game Center. Annoying!

Very good game, but kind of short. It only took me two days to do everything in it. Can't complain for the price, I guess.
 
Minsc said:
Sure, if you don't use WiFi. I have a few apps that are over 300MB on my phone, so it's not uncommon for me to hit over 2GB in just updates a month. But I'm on the 200MB plan, and barely use over 100MB.

Don't people use iTunes on their PC/Mac to get stuff on their phone though?

I agree, 20MB could perhaps be 200MB, but then the people on the 1GB could be in for a nasty surprise when they update an app and it costs them $15 or something. I think that's the risk in raising the limit, is that you'll end up having so many people go over their limit (so then, that begs the question why doesn't AT&T do it and rake in the $$$ in overages?). I guess their network still needs some work.

I think if people want an app bad enough, they'll get it through their computer, it's hard to keep a 960x640 resolution app with high quality assets below 20MB, high res 2D artwork can be pretty large.

All the 20MB limit does imo is force app maker to use lower quality assets, or in some cases they have no choice but to ignore it, like Cave's SHUMPs, no way they'd get in under 20MBs.
Click to expand...
Due to my state's economy I have had to move home to my natal town, my only Internet options are 33.6 modem and edge. I wouldn't mind if they changed the limit to something larger, however I have no access to wifi, and I am sure I am not alone.

Oh and I agree about the iPhone getting on a bad wifi network. My biggest complaint about the iPhone is it's reluctance to drop the network and switch to cellular. I never want to see that I can't connect to a website unless it is down for the entire Internet. It is unacceptable to have to turn off my wifi to load a page.
 
Minsc said:
Sure, if you don't use WiFi. I have a few apps that are over 300MB on my phone, so it's not uncommon for me to hit over 2GB in just updates a month. But I'm on the 200MB plan, and barely use over 100MB.

Don't people use iTunes on their PC/Mac to get stuff on their phone though?

I agree, 20MB could perhaps be 200MB, but then the people on the 1GB could be in for a nasty surprise when they update an app and it costs them $15 or something. I think that's the risk in raising the limit, is that you'll end up having so many people go over their limit (so then, that begs the question why doesn't AT&T do it and rake in the $$$ in overages?). I guess their network still needs some work.

I think if people want an app bad enough, they'll get it through their computer, it's hard to keep a 960x640 resolution app with high quality assets below 20MB, high res 2D artwork can be pretty large.

All the 20MB limit does imo is force app maker to use lower quality assets, or in some cases they have no choice but to ignore it, like Cave's SHUMPs, no way they'd get in under 20MBs.
Click to expand...

There are some ways around the 20MB 3G limit though. Katy Perry Revenge (<3) shipped with 3 songs, then automatically downloaded 7 more when you launched it. Ninjatown comes as a 20MB download with the option to download a 10 meg retina graphics patch in the game.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Remedy releases Control on iPhone and iPad with touch controls, reworked gameplay systems, and ray tracing
Platform 
20
247
RoboFu replied
The Blood of Dawnwalker — Gameplay Overview (Part II)
2
71
1K
Mortisfacio replied
Apple APP Store Game of the Year 2025 (Pokémon TCG Pocket for iPhone, DREDGE for iPad, and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition for Mac)
Platform 
1
597
LectureMaster replied
Will this controller work with my iPad Pro?
10
165
cormack12 replied
Control coming to iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro alongside Mac in early 2026
Platform 
21
1K
Baemono replied
Top Bottom