Tom's Hardware Interviews Four Android And iOS Game Developers

Features
By Andrew Ku
published

Four leading mobile game developers divulge their thoughts on the rise of mobile gaming, the iOS vs. Android vs. WP7 industry face-off, the impact of HD tablets like the iPad 3, and whether mobile gaming is now challenging the dominance of game consoles.

What Does The Future Look Like For Mobile Game Development?

How did we get—here? It might have been difficult to predict the sudden popularity of smartphones and tablets five years ago. Today, however, they're snatching all of the headlines, generating buzz for the cool things they can do in increasingly convenient form factors. Can we expect these diminutive devices to displace our PCs any time soon? Most enthusiasts insist not, but it'd be hard to ignore the fantastic sales and consequent growth of smartphones and tablets.

Indeed, for a great many tasks, PCs still reign supreme. But recent embedded processor and graphics advancements are at least blurring the performance line that previously separated tablets and notebooks. Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 and Qualcomm’s fourth-generation Snapdragon are two mobile "super-processors" that emerged over the last year. And with Microsoft’s recent announcement that Windows 8 would support the ARM instruction set, the wheels of change are unquestionably in motion.

With change comes new surprises to look forward to. More muscular smartphone and tablet hardware is enabling software developers to write more demanding (and visually appealing) games. The results suggest that dedicated gaming handhelds could eventually be replaced by more general-purpose mobile devices—and challenge the market dominance of console games.

Some of the more recently-released mobile games are already starting to remind of us of visuals we remember from desktop PC gaming a decade ago, with titles like Riptide GP and Shadowgun both introducing cool effects that we hadn't previously seen from mobile devices. Nvidia recently "put console games on notice," explaining to us the tremendous amount of work that went into getting some of the current-gen titles to market. And it'd indeed appear that the mobile gaming industry is poised for explosive growth. Already, enthusiasts are connecting Xbox 360 controllers to their Transformer Primes, kicking off the move from dedicated console equipment to smartphones and tablets that can really game.

The success of gaming on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7 must overcome notable challenges, though. Operating system fragmentation, hardware feature set and compatibility issues, and non-upgradable device drivers cause software developers to feel as through they're aiming at an always-moving target. Can mobile gaming transcend the barriers in its way, competing more aggressively against consoles, and ultimately dominate the industry? We get the inside scoop from four leading mobile game developers, including Vector Unit (developers of Riptide GP and Shine Runner), Fishlabs (developers of the Galaxy of Fire series), Mediocre (developers of Sprinkle), and Madfinger (developers of Samurai and Shadowgun).

Andrew Ku
33 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Though I agree that paying more for an HD version of a game is not the right way moving forward, I do believe HD resolution for gaming is essential. In my opinion, a game with excellent high-resolution graphics will win over a similar game with a lower res graphics. Having that crisp, clean graphics, would say a lot about the quality of the game even before the consumer has a chance to play it. First impressions count.
    Reply
  • cumi2k4
    @ anonimus789
    True that HD version is the way, but developers should not charge additional fees for it. Imagine if PC game developers implement this...you pay for the 1024x768 pix version, then when you upgrade your resolution to 1680x1050 pix, do you have to buy the game again?
    Reply
  • Andrew Ku, your shameful promotion of Windows Phone was embarasing. The developers have nothing to do with it, and you kept bringing it up over and over again.
    Reply
  • jaquith
    Phone & Tablet Reviews - I'm of the opinion, at least (here), there's little point to voicing any constructive point of view. Each platform has their followers and the numbers based on sales are not representative of the folks that post their comments.

    Therefore, whichever platform you like I hope you can 'get' what you like. I do hope that all platforms can make it easier for the developers.
    Reply
  • ram1009
    This is complete BS IMHO. I don't see how anybody can enjoy gaming on such a tiny screen not to mention the lack of processing power and absence of memory required by modern games. It's all wishful thinking by the marketeers. Just something new to sell unsuspecting novices who later find out what a desktop can do and buy what they should have bought in the first place.
    Reply
  • tk1138
    ram1009This is complete BS IMHO. I don't see how anybody can enjoy gaming on such a tiny screen not to mention the lack of processing power and absence of memory required by modern games. It's all wishful thinking by the marketeers. Just something new to sell unsuspecting novices who later find out what a desktop can do and buy what they should have bought in the first place.
    EXACTLY

    these mobile games are a joke...they are clearly made for the lowest common denominator of people (the stupid)
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    tk1138EXACTLYthese mobile games are a joke...they are clearly made for the lowest common denominator of people (the stupid)ram1009This is complete BS IMHO. I don't see how anybody can enjoy gaming on such a tiny screen not to mention the lack of processing power and absence of memory required by modern games. It's all wishful thinking by the marketeers. Just something new to sell unsuspecting novices who later find out what a desktop can do and buy what they should have bought in the first place.
    You two are exaggerating by way too much. Mobile gaming isn't for the stupid, not in the least. It's for people who want to game when they are mobile. Desktops are for a completely different market with different goals. Mobile gaming is not about matching PC gaming in quality, it's about cheap, affordable games that can be played when you are mobile. Of course they won't come close to desktop quality. Mobile games are not for the stupid, they are for the mobile. You two are just elitest pricks who don't recognize that your ways of life can't be sustained by everyone else and even if they could, not everyone wants to be like you. If I'm on a train for two hours a day to go between work in a city and my home in a cheaper suburb outside of the city, then wth am I supposed to do? PCs obviously aren't a viable choice here. However, I have my phone on me, so I can use it. Mobile gaming markets are pretty similar to the Game Boys and such, except the smart phones are both for gaming and many other uses.

    Sure, mobile gaming can also be done at the house and such for people who want to do it. It is FAR more affordable than PC or console gaming is, so many more people can do it who would have otherwise been left without any good games at all. Furthermore, games obviously don't need tons of memory if they are written well. For example, the PS3 only has 256MB of GDDR3 VRAM and only 256MB of XDR system RAM and most modern smart phones have at least that much memory, if not even more. Smart phones have more than enough memory for mobile gaming.

    Furthermore, smart phones are approaching the processing power of the PS3 and Xbox 360. Tablets have already matched them with the newest iPad (although I'd wait until a non-Apple tablet/smart phone had such power before buying something like this). Most people simply can't afford or can't justify spending hundreds to thousands of dollars to get high performance gaming systems and games for those systems, especially when they can get a far cheaper phone that is also needed for other things and get the games for less than $10 each (many are free). Sure, they aren't as high quality as some PC games, but it's not like most PC games we see today are nearly as good for the time as we have seen in the past. So many potentially good games have been dumbed down or were just made poorly.

    Sure, we still have some good games, but most of them simply aren't anymore. Sometimes, I'd rather just play an older game nowadays just because they were simply better games, despite not having as much eye candy. Seriously now... Most people need a phone for a variety of reasons (be they convenience or through necessities such as jobs requiring phones and other important reasons). Most people don't really need a computer for anything except internet access. Sure, some people, such as developers, IT, and others need them for their jobs, but most people don't really need them and can do a lot of what needed a PC on a cheap laptop or even on a good smart phone. So, phones are obviously pretty much universally needed by the majority. You can just get a free or a cheap game, or a bunch of them, for the prices of a single PC/console game. They don't even need to be as good... At least smart phone games don't have DRM problems and such that PC games (and possibly console games soon enough) have.
    Reply
  • c4v3man
    tk1138EXACTLYthese mobile games are a joke...they are clearly made for the lowest common denominator of people (the stupid)Obviously this is a PC centric website, but a fair amount of "hardcore gamers" seem to miss the point completely. Honestly the term Hardcore Gamer seems to indicate you're not really a gamer at all.

    Games are there to entertain, and to have fun. If I can have fun playing World of Goo on my android phone while running errands with my wife, or play Machinarium on my Playbook while flying to my destination, then at is gaming at it's essence. Honestly the Wii was probably the best and worst thing to happen to gaming. Obviously it brought out alot of shovelware (that otherwise would have targeted another console) but it also showed the world that people don't need serious games, we need fun games. Not everyone wants to compete all the time, they just want something to pass the time, to tell a story.

    There's room in the market for all game types. Hell, I even backed Takedown since I do enjoy a "serious" game occasionally. But claiming that people will stop playing tablet games "once they see what a PC can do" is ignorant. I'm well aware of what a PC can do, and will continue to play games on all my devices, when convenient. I don't need great graphics to have fun, just remember that video games started out with a dot and 2 lines.
    Reply
  • ram1009
    blazorthonYou two are exaggerating by way too much. Mobile gaming isn't for the stupid, not in the least. It's for people who want to game when they are mobile. Desktops are for a completely different market with different goals. Mobile gaming is not about matching PC gaming in quality, it's about cheap, affordable games that can be played when you are mobile. Of course they won't come close to desktop quality. Mobile games are not for the stupid, they are for the mobile. You two are just elitest pricks who don't recognize that your ways of life can't be sustained by everyone else and even if they could, not everyone wants to be like you. If I'm on a train for two hours a day to go between work in a city and my home in a cheaper suburb outside of the city, then wth am I supposed to do? PCs obviously aren't a viable choice here. However, I have my phone on me, so I can use it. Mobile gaming markets are pretty similar to the Game Boys and such, except the smart phones are both for gaming and many other uses.Sure, mobile gaming can also be done at the house and such for people who want to do it. It is FAR more affordable than PC or console gaming is, so many more people can do it who would have otherwise been left without any good games at all. Furthermore, games obviously don't need tons of memory if they are written well. For example, the PS3 only has 256MB of GDDR3 VRAM and only 256MB of XDR system RAM and most modern smart phones have at least that much memory, if not even more. Smart phones have more than enough memory for mobile gaming.Furthermore, smart phones are approaching the processing power of the PS3 and Xbox 360. Tablets have already matched them with the newest iPad (although I'd wait until a non-Apple tablet/smart phone had such power before buying something like this). Most people simply can't afford or can't justify spending hundreds to thousands of dollars to get high performance gaming systems and games for those systems, especially when they can get a far cheaper phone that is also needed for other things and get the games for less than $10 each (many are free). Sure, they aren't as high quality as some PC games, but it's not like most PC games we see today are nearly as good for the time as we have seen in the past. So many potentially good games have been dumbed down or were just made poorly.Sure, we still have some good games, but most of them simply aren't anymore. Sometimes, I'd rather just play an older game nowadays just because they were simply better games, despite not having as much eye candy. Seriously now... Most people need a phone for a variety of reasons (be they convenience or through necessities such as jobs requiring phones and other important reasons). Most people don't really need a computer for anything except internet access. Sure, some people, such as developers, IT, and others need them for their jobs, but most people don't really need them and can do a lot of what needed a PC on a cheap laptop or even on a good smart phone. So, phones are obviously pretty much universally needed by the majority. You can just get a free or a cheap game, or a bunch of them, for the prices of a single PC/console game. They don't even need to be as good... At least smart phone games don't have DRM problems and such that PC games (and possibly console games soon enough) have.

    You can always tell when someone is out of logical, focused arguements. They start calling names. "Elitist prick"? What do I care how you spend your 2 hour commute? Next you'll be telling me it's OK to game and drive. Something tells me you're an itard.
    Reply
  • ojas
    Mihai CAndrew Ku, your shameful promotion of Windows Phone was embarasing. The developers have nothing to do with it, and you kept bringing it up over and over again.Though at least we know why they've nothing to do with it. I for one was unaware of the native code restriction. It's good to see they're willing to support Win 8 though.

    What was more interesting is the way they completely avoided talking about anything related to x86. Can't be sure why but i think they've not got much experience at all with the arch.
    Reply