70°

What Makes A Mobile Game Great?

Popsci: Two big games dropped for iOS Wednesday night: Temple Run 2 and Final Fantasy: All The Bravest. On my bus ride to work yesterday morning [Ed note: Colin lives in New Jersey for reasons unclear to any of the rest of us.], I played both. I quickly realized that of the two, I'll play the hell out of one and may never pop open the other again. You can tell almost immediately if a game will work on iOS: in many ways, it's about how the game deals with death.

The best iOS games are seamless, with rounds that come in bite-sized bits. When you die, or when it's time to enter the next round of play, it just happens; you barely notice between one play-through of the game and the next. I play games like this in transit, for the most part, and being able to put down or pick up one whenever I want is key to the experience.

You can say that's just asking for low-investment games, sure, but I'm not making my way through Angry Birds Star Wars for the tale of intergalactic politics. If...

Y_51504836d ago

Cheap, easy accessible, and fun.

derkasan4836d ago

I think Crazy Taxi is the perfect example of a mobile game. It's quick, accessible, colorful, and fun

creeping judas4836d ago

Playing Final Fantasy 1 on my W8 phone, and playing Final Fantasy 3 on my Tab2. Those are two great mobile games!!

ZombieNinjaPanda4836d ago

They're not mobile games. They're games that have been ported over to mobile platforms.

creeping judas4836d ago

So by me playing them on a mobile device don't make them mobile games?

ZombieNinjaPanda4836d ago

If I can play Final Fantasy on a calculator, does that make it a calculator game?

If I can play Metal Gear on a Refrigerator, does that make it a refrigerator game?

CommonSenseGamer4836d ago

They may be ports but they play exceedingly well and show that mobile gaming is not just about Angry Birds as many would have you believe.

The port of Bards Tale is simply incredible as is Dead Space! But what's really incredible is that they typically cost only a couple of dollars each.

TongkatAli4836d ago

I got all the bravest on my Iphone, meh.

Blank4836d ago

Its cheap and my phone is always with me so when I dont have my vita my phone is filled with shmups from cave co ltd aside from my shmup filled xbox 360 ports which I prefer playing my cave shmups : )

caseh4836d ago

I take it you have a phone with a tangible keypad then?

I find it hard to believe anyone could enjoy shmups on a touchscreen, especially Cave shmups considering how insanely difficult they can get.

Blank4836d ago

No tangible keypad to me the touchscreen is fine I adapted to it I like how sensitive it is but like I said I prefer my xbox for my shmups the phone is really mostly a tool to memorize enemies and bullet patterns but for my more serious portable gaming I stick to my vita now if only cave can port there shmups there I can truly be a happy man imagine playing using the back touch pad?! : O

CommonSenseGamer4836d ago

Actually, shmups play well just using the touchscreen. Reminds me of playing Hybris on my Amiga 500 using a mouse.

60°

Guild Wars Publisher CEO Warns AI Can't Replace What Makes Games 'Instinctively Fun'

TNS - NCSoft CEO admitted that AI is rapidly becoming a core part of game development, but he added that it cannot replace what makes games fun.

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thenerdstash.com
Lionsguard23h ago

To be fair, there are also human made games that release and lack any fun at all either.

jznrpg19h ago

But all of the great games have been made by humans

jwillj2k416h ago

One is by choice, the other is a feature.

PRIMORDUS19h ago

Guild Wars 2 been playing for 14yrs, 1st beta. This is just one company I support, Arenanet and NCSoft, even though I torrent, there are a few PC companies I will buy from. "PlayStation’s Horizon MMO spin-off, Horizon Steel Frontiers." I feel this will be good, NCSoft is a good developer/publisher.

CrimsonWing691h ago

It’s a tool. Use it elevate things and get it done faster. I’m sorry but not every game made by humans is good. If this can help things, then I fully embrace it.

40°

The grim dark pixel RPG, ‘DROVA’, is out now for iOS and Android devices

"Deck13 Spotlight and Just2D are proud and excited to announce that DROVA – Forsaken Kin, the acclaimed grim and dank pixel RPG, set in a mystic Celtic world and celebrated by fans all over the world, is out now on iOS and Android!" - Deck13 Spotlight and Just2D.

50°

Albion Online: The Long-Running MMORPG Comes to Xbox Series X|S

Renowned sandbox MMORPG, Albion Online is available today on Xbox Series X|S as a free-to-play title.

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news.xbox.com