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I don't think iPhone hardware is more powerful than Android hardware, but games support in the Android SDK is lacking. Currently you need to use their weird ND

I don't think iPhone hardware is more powerful than Android hardware, but games support in the Android SDK is lacking. Currently you need to use their weird NDK and wrap it with Java code. For example, there's no way to play audio without using the Java SDK. Many of these problems have been fixed in Android 2.3, but it takes ages for updates to ship out to the majority of devices (a good chunk of devices still don't have Froyo).

Xuzz 16y ago
The other issue is that there is no "Android Hardware" -- the older or lower-end devices might not be able to power it. Then, though, it would only support a subset of the devices, and the more expensive ones at that, and Id is blamed, not the device itself.
- watty 16y ago
  I don't have a problem with the author commenting on fragmentation or API issues increasing dev time. Does Rage HD run on all iPhones? My comment was due to the way it's stated, "even possible on any Android device today", meaning that even with excess dev time, the application could not run on the newest Android device.
  - Xuzz 16y ago
    Good point. I misread that. RAGE works on all the iPhones that support iOS 4, which excludes the original iPhone and iPod touch. However, the hardware on those are reasonably identical to the second generation of devices, so that restriction is an arbitrary one by Apple.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
  - simonh 16y ago
    "even possible on any Android device today". This is probably true. The fact that the current Android SDK requires wrapping OpenGL calls in a Java layer is cited by developers (it's mentioned up-thread) as a hindrance in writing highly performant games. Gruber chose his words carefully though, this is true today but the next Android update supposedly fixes this. We'll see.
blinkingled 16y ago
It's more of a focus thing for Android - not all people put the ability to play Rage HD as their first requirement when buying a smart phone. So when Sony-Ericsson decided to do a portable gaming machine that can also act as a phone - 2.3 focus shifted to fixing up the gaming portion of Android. It's an organic, grow-as-you-go growth. In a way it is more sensible. The other thing is that there is lot of choice with Android - $29 LG Optimus to the upcoming Playstation Phone. People who just need a phone that can browse and email and occasionally play Angry Birds - LG phone is for them. People who want a portable gaming device which can be used as a phone - they can get the PS Phone and it will come with Gingerbread. I don't think that Android not having this or not having that is a real problem. If there is demand, some vendor will fix what is required, push more capable hardware etc and people will have more choices. So far the Android users don't seem to be demanding RageHD style games - that's all.

Xuzz 16y ago

The other issue is that there is no "Android Hardware" -- the older or lower-end devices might not be able to power it. Then, though, it would only support a subset of the devices, and the more expensive ones at that, and Id is blamed, not the device itself.

watty 16y ago
I don't have a problem with the author commenting on fragmentation or API issues increasing dev time. Does Rage HD run on all iPhones? My comment was due to the way it's stated, "even possible on any Android device today", meaning that even with excess dev time, the application could not run on the newest Android device.
- Xuzz 16y ago
  Good point. I misread that. RAGE works on all the iPhones that support iOS 4, which excludes the original iPhone and iPod touch. However, the hardware on those are reasonably identical to the second generation of devices, so that restriction is an arbitrary one by Apple.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- simonh 16y ago
  "even possible on any Android device today". This is probably true. The fact that the current Android SDK requires wrapping OpenGL calls in a Java layer is cited by developers (it's mentioned up-thread) as a hindrance in writing highly performant games. Gruber chose his words carefully though, this is true today but the next Android update supposedly fixes this. We'll see.

blinkingled 16y ago

It's more of a focus thing for Android - not all people put the ability to play Rage HD as their first requirement when buying a smart phone. So when Sony-Ericsson decided to do a portable gaming machine that can also act as a phone - 2.3 focus shifted to fixing up the gaming portion of Android. It's an organic, grow-as-you-go growth. In a way it is more sensible. The other thing is that there is lot of choice with Android - $29 LG Optimus to the upcoming Playstation Phone. People who just need a phone that can browse and email and occasionally play Angry Birds - LG phone is for them. People who want a portable gaming device which can be used as a phone - they can get the PS Phone and it will come with Gingerbread. I don't think that Android not having this or not having that is a real problem. If there is demand, some vendor will fix what is required, push more capable hardware etc and people will have more choices. So far the Android users don't seem to be demanding RageHD style games - that's all.