4 ms·

It's a bit sad. I feel like mobile gaming is in large part dead because of these stupid pay-to-play games. Back in the early days of the iPhone, even the iPhone

It's a bit sad. I feel like mobile gaming is in large part dead because of these stupid pay-to-play games. Back in the early days of the iPhone, even the iPhone games were one-time $2 games (and good for that!), while you had the DS where games were $20+ (often more). Now mobile games of quality are mostly dead.

fossuser 6y ago
Apple Arcade was supposed to fix that - it’d be interesting to read a blog post from a developer in that ecosystem to see if it’s actually working.
- the_lucifer 6y ago
  The problem with Apple Arcade seems to be stemming from the lack of a deep gameplay experience. The games although devoid of micro-transactions and other predatory practices are often very simplistic and feel like made for gaming sessions in transit. Another drawback seems to be lack of controllers that make some games hard to play. This is yet another issue to be addressed by Apple-- They did add in DualShock and XBox controller support but that doesn't mean a lot unless users have access to those consoles in the first place, further solidifying Apple Arcade's place as a on-the-go gaming solution.
unix_fan 6y ago
unfortunately, the market isn’t willing to pay for high-quality games.
- wmf 6y ago
  The "market" has been designed a certain way and it could be redesigned. Imagine what mobile games would look like if there were no IAPs and no ads.
- erik 6y ago
  People pay for games on console and the PC, mobile didn't have to be this way. In the early days of the app store getting high download counts was one of the only ways to get visibility. Which pushed the race to the bottom on pricing. Once the big F2P players established themselves, they sucked all the air out of the ecosystem. Arcade is, among other things, Apple's attempt to fix this. We will see how it turns out.
- reificator 6y ago
  > unfortunately, the market isn’t willing to pay for high-quality games. Because they've been repeatedly abused by free-to-play nonsense. Take out the IAPs and forced ads entirely and watch game quantity drop[0] while quality skyrockets. Customers might still be willing to buy back in, if all trust hasn't been eroded already. [0]: Normally that's not a thing you want from a game/entertainment storefront, but I think the App Store (and Steam) is actually at the point where it would benefit from fewer games. Consumer confidence is at an all-time low.
- wilshipley 6y ago
  I buy a lot of $60 games for my PS4 every year. There’s a market for quality, but the owners of the platform have to support it. Apple has instead fostered a race to the bottom. -W
- _ph_ 6y ago
  Only because the market has been killed by freemium games. Look how the Nintendo Switch is a huge game platform, where you basically only get full-paid games without in-app purchases.
TeMPOraL 6y ago
StavrosK has made a list of non-shit games for Android and iOS the other day. I'm grateful for it, because it's otherwise hard to find these games among the sea of garbage both appstores are. https://nobsgames.stavros.io/ https://nobsgames.stavros.io/

fossuser 6y ago

Apple Arcade was supposed to fix that - it’d be interesting to read a blog post from a developer in that ecosystem to see if it’s actually working.

the_lucifer 6y ago
The problem with Apple Arcade seems to be stemming from the lack of a deep gameplay experience. The games although devoid of micro-transactions and other predatory practices are often very simplistic and feel like made for gaming sessions in transit. Another drawback seems to be lack of controllers that make some games hard to play. This is yet another issue to be addressed by Apple-- They did add in DualShock and XBox controller support but that doesn't mean a lot unless users have access to those consoles in the first place, further solidifying Apple Arcade's place as a on-the-go gaming solution.

unix_fan 6y ago

unfortunately, the market isn’t willing to pay for high-quality games.

wmf 6y ago
The "market" has been designed a certain way and it could be redesigned. Imagine what mobile games would look like if there were no IAPs and no ads.
erik 6y ago
People pay for games on console and the PC, mobile didn't have to be this way. In the early days of the app store getting high download counts was one of the only ways to get visibility. Which pushed the race to the bottom on pricing. Once the big F2P players established themselves, they sucked all the air out of the ecosystem. Arcade is, among other things, Apple's attempt to fix this. We will see how it turns out.
reificator 6y ago
> unfortunately, the market isn’t willing to pay for high-quality games. Because they've been repeatedly abused by free-to-play nonsense. Take out the IAPs and forced ads entirely and watch game quantity drop[0] while quality skyrockets. Customers might still be willing to buy back in, if all trust hasn't been eroded already. [0]: Normally that's not a thing you want from a game/entertainment storefront, but I think the App Store (and Steam) is actually at the point where it would benefit from fewer games. Consumer confidence is at an all-time low.
wilshipley 6y ago
I buy a lot of $60 games for my PS4 every year. There’s a market for quality, but the owners of the platform have to support it. Apple has instead fostered a race to the bottom. -W
_ph_ 6y ago
Only because the market has been killed by freemium games. Look how the Nintendo Switch is a huge game platform, where you basically only get full-paid games without in-app purchases.

TeMPOraL 6y ago

StavrosK has made a list of non-shit games for Android and iOS the other day. I'm grateful for it, because it's otherwise hard to find these games among the sea of garbage both appstores are. https://nobsgames.stavros.io/ https://nobsgames.stavros.io/