The mobile game crash of sorts. Oversaturation of the market

[Nando]

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/01/indie-developers-ios/

"For the last four and a half years, the iOS App Store has been a promised land for independent game developers. Teams consisting of only two or three people could develop and publish an app and have a real shot at hitting the top of the charts. Anybody could hit it big: a pair of Croatian brothers (Doodle Jump), a husband-and-wife team (Temple Run) or a construction worker with minimal programming experience (Geared). It was a modern-day gold rush.


Those days are officially over. In fact, they ended in 2011, and even the incoming wave of Android-powered game consoles won’t save indie game developers."

[Arkhan]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA


I said that 4 f*cking years ago.  


Dumbshits.


f*ck em.


This is what happens when people get too cute with things and everyone flails and runs and jumps and puts shit all over the place hoping something sticks.

[soop]

I've heard this so many times.  It's sad, but in a way, it's going back to its roots as a bedroom hobby rather than a business.  I still feel sorry for all the people who had to give up their dreams, and in many cases almost everything they owned.

On a positive note, Wired is getting better and better.  I read it quite frequently now.

[Bernie]

I hate mobile games.  I could never get into em. 

[soop]

I hate mobile games.  I could never get into em. 

TBH "mobile games" is quite a blanket term.  I dislike immensely using touchscreen controls for traditional games, but for some things it works really well.

I got super into a text based adventure called Wizards Choice.  I have it in mind to make my own - not for the $ obviously, but for fun.

[Nando]

The Sony phone with the slideout pad is about the only decent peripheral that works well for "classic" gaming, meaning no need to touch the screen, and mobile gaming.

Puzzle and Dragons has my mobile devotion right now.

[Tatsujin]

I like good old deticated handheld gaming like GB to DS stuff, lynx, GT, some PSP etc.
I don't like new mobile/droid/iPfone crap with frowsy touchscreen control etc.

[SignOfZeta]

Um...this article isn't about the death of mobile at all, it's about the end of one man teams making $100M off of $0.99 games, which IMO can't come soon enough.

I'm quite interested in paying for mobile games that are worth paying for. It's just a shame that there are like...4 of them. Maybe that's about to change.

[SignOfZeta]

Duplicate post.

[Arkhan]

Um...this article isn't about the death of mobile at all, it's about the end of one man teams making $100M off of $0.99 games, which IMO can't come soon enough.

I'm quite interested in paying for mobile games that are worth paying for. It's just a shame that there are like...4 of them. Maybe that's about to change.

agreed.   

and it's them making millions off shit people are stupid enough to buy instead of playing for free instead.


There's that many stupid people with phones out there.

[KingDrool]

I can't bitch about mobile gaming. Some of the best gaming experiences I've had in the last few years have been on my iPhone/iPad. Looking at my GameCenter list, there are a handful of games I've had a blast with: Ascension, Jetpack Joyride, Plants vs. Zombies, Joe Danger, Pinball Arcade, Pac-Man Battle Royale, Chu Chu Rocket, Game Dev Story, Hypership Out of Control, Run Roo Run, Super World Adventures, World of Goo, Great Little War Game, Kami Retro, iBomber Defense,  etc. Not to mention all of the great Cave shooters that have made their way to iPhone and iPad.

My point is, if you can't find any good mobile games worth paying a couple bucks, you're just not looking very hard.

And yeah, there's a glut of shit out there too. But in my opinion, that's sort of a good thing. The cream is going to rise to the top, while the shit will (mostly) get ignored and hopefully the developers of that shit will get better over time or fall away.

One last thing: Temple Run 2 just came out and it's selling like crazy. Just sayin'.

[SignOfZeta]

I've tried very hard to find good mobile games worth paying for. I haven't tried very hard with menu based stuff, but when it comes to action games I've tried way too hard.

You shouldn't have to "try" at all! I don't need to play 50 DS games until I find one I like. I like pretty much every DS game I've ever bought.

So far the best action games in iOS I've played are the Cave shooters and FIFA 13. FIFA 13 is a miracle, but still a little frustrating. The Cave shooters are the least annoying. The touch-only input annoys me not even slightly with the Cave games, which is something I can't say about any other action games in iOS. Currently I'm playing Dodanpatchi Maximum.

[Necromancer]

Um...this article isn't about the death of mobile at all, it's about the end of one man teams making $100M off of $0.99 games, which IMO can't come soon enough.

Exactly.  Besides, how many indie teams were making millions four years ago?  I'd bet the vast majority failed and went under, just like now.

[soop]

Oh, also:  Ghost Trick. One of the best DS games ever available on iOS for free.  It takes a while to get into, but shit, I was crying by the end.  EVERYONE needs to play one of the most innovative games of the last few years. It's free.  No brainer.

[Starfighter]

To just rule out a whole market as "stupid" is tempting, but utterly childish, so I won't venture where others have.

I have bought many mobile games this last year just to see what I was missing and while, like SignOfZeta said, just a small fraction of them actually was worth paying for - the only purchase that really made me feel stupid was Insanity...