The iPhone SHOULD be the best portable game system

[Doppel]

The iPhone has massive market share, huge processing power, and a nice touch screen. Based on the games I have played the overwhelming thing holding it back is that a touchscreen blows huge chunks for a lot of games. So I think somebody needs a Bluetooth controller. I google this, find that there are tons of them. I bet some dint even suck (I bet most do). I then figure the only reason these aren't taking off is lack of dev support. Is this true?

Am I the only one to think that if a big company put its weight behind a 30-40$ controller and ensured the best games supported it that it would be a nice item to get? Currently for example FPS games are basically unplayable on the iPhone due to lack of joystick and shoulder buttons. I think this is also why most iPhone games are $1-5--because it just cannot be taken seriously as a game platform without superior input.

Unfortunately the IPhone accessory market is saturated with so much absolute dog crap that it is harder than it should be for a quality product to emerge.

[purbeast0]

i personally would not want to have to carry around 2 pieces of electronics to play a "portable" console. you then also have to have somewhere to set the iphone down and look at so that you can hold the controller in your hand.

the whole idea ruins the appeal of handheld/portable gaming. but then again i haven't liked handheld gaming in years, OTHER than the quick touch-games on my phone. if i want to play a "real" game i play it on 360 or ps3. quick 5 - 10 minute spurts of gaming happens on my phone, primarily when i'm taking a shit or lounging on the couch.

[reallyscrued]

By your metric, the PC should be the best in-home gaming solution.

Huge amounts of processing power, ability to play with any sort of control device (even if touchscreen/mouseKB isn't your thing), cheap games...but lacking dev power. Why do so many people prefer consoles?

[exdeath]

Will take my PSP or DS over a phone any day.

Real games, not these stupid Angry Birds/Punch the Monkey quick fix time wasters, whole day of gaming time on a 1400 mah charge, real buttons instead of virtual controls and gimmick gyro controls, etc

Ill leave the mobile phone games to the casuals who can only play a game 5 minutes a day and call themselves gamers.

[purbeast0]

Originally Posted by exdeath

Will take my PSP or DS over a phone any day.

Real games, not these stupid Angry Birds/Punch the Monkey quick fix time wasters, whole day of gaming time on a 1400 mah charge, real buttons instead of virtual controls and gimmick gyro controls, etc

Ill leave the mobile phone games to the casuals who can only play a game 5 minutes a day and call themselves gamers.

im the exact opposite. i'd take my phone angry birds games over a psp or ds any day. portable gaming is only in really short spurts for me and these 5 minute timewasters are perfect for that.

if i wanted to play a real game for a whole day of gaming with real buttons i'd do so on my couch or recliner with a controller in my hand on a 60" or 120" screen.

[exdeath]

Sorry I didn't know DS had 1080p HDMI output or that exclusives like Radiant Historia were available on home consoles....

I hear you though, I played all my current gen home console games on a 1080p projector (AE4000U).

But its nice to vedge in bed with the lights out on a portable for a few hours, and just toss it aside and fall asleep.

[purbeast0]

sorry i didn't realize this was a console rpg only forum....

[Aikouka]

It's not like there aren't RPGs that are exclusive to iOS/Android.

[exdeath]

I tried some of them. Mostly just ports with terrible controls, or arcade hack and slash, or dungeon crawlers. Nothing truly epic or must have yet in the way that dedicated console games are. Mobile games seem to be designed to be cheap and disposable quick fix which is the opposite of what's need for a really good game.

Phantom Hourglass showcased how to do native touch screen PERFECT, why aare we still forced to cover half the screen with our hands and suffer from crappy virtual controls years later?

[ImpulsE69]

I thought there was somoene who made/making a controller that basically attaches to your iphone and puts it in the shape of like a Vita, etc. Haven't heard how good they are.

[Saint Nick]

What I don't like about the touchscreen thing, is that the controls take up part of the screen. There are some games I can play on my iPhone, but there are a ton that just don't feel the same.

[Aikouka]

Originally Posted by exdeath

I tried some of them. Mostly just ports with terrible controls, or arcade hack and slash, or dungeon crawlers. Nothing truly epic or must have yet in the way that dedicated console games are.

Square-Enix does make mobile-only RPGs. They also have a tendency to re-release all of their other games on iOS (and Android typically at a later date). Final Fantasy IV is coming to iOS as the 3D "remastered" version later this month, and we also got Theatrhythm last week. There went one of my few reasons for buying a 3DS!

Originally Posted by Saint Nick

What I don't like about the touchscreen thing, is that the controls take up part of the screen. There are some games I can play on my iPhone, but there are a ton that just don't feel the same.

That's one of the reasons why I leave certain iOS games to my iPad instead of my iPhone. Even if the controls aren't that obstructive, I simply want more screen real estate when playing. The Vita is probably about as small as you can go if you want to start throwing in touch, and it's as big as a Galaxy Note (5" diagonal screen).

[Doppel]

Originally Posted by purbeast0

i personally would not want to have to carry around 2 pieces of electronics to play a "portable" console. you then also have to have somewhere to set the iphone down and look at so that you can hold the controller in your hand.

the whole idea ruins the appeal of handheld/portable gaming. but then again i haven't liked handheld gaming in years, OTHER than the quick touch-games on my phone. if i want to play a "real" game i play it on 360 or ps3. quick 5 - 10 minute spurts of gaming happens on my phone, primarily when i'm taking a shit or lounging on the couch.

This is intended for the millions of iphone users. As it is now they have to carry two devices to portable game anyway. It's not intended to replace people who play no more than angry birds. It doesn't require setting phone down; integrates like this:

By your metric, the PC should be the best in-home gaming solution.

Most people's PCs/laptops can't game (insufficient power), have small screens.

Real games, not these stupid Angry Birds/Punch the Monkey quick fix time wasters, whole day of gaming time on a 1400 mah charge, real buttons instead of virtual controls and gimmick gyro controls, etc

Ill leave the mobile phone games to the casuals who can only play a game 5 minutes a day and call themselves gamers.

You just agreed with me, other than the poor battery power. There is NO good technical reason an iphone need be only dollar bin games and cannot have good controls.

[Saint Nick]

Originally Posted by Aikouka

That's one of the reasons why I leave certain iOS games to my iPad instead of my iPhone. Even if the controls aren't that obstructive, I simply want more screen real estate when playing. The Vita is probably about as small as you can go if you want to start throwing in touch, and it's as big as a Galaxy Note (5" diagonal screen).

My hands are fucking huge, too, so that doesn't help

[Doppel]

There are many of these on amazon, here is one of the few that is reviewed. Good overall reviews, but exactly as I thought, no dev suppport:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1X4OYD...R1X4OYDQR30DZ2

[tipoo]

I've thought for a long time that the thing holding back iPhones and Android devices gaming potential is a unified controller standard. One controller that all games work with. For the iPhone it could even be possible as a case, that adds Xperia Play-like controls to the iphone without having an external controller.


Controllers, plus storage, the iPhone/iPad may have a significant amount of processing power but games lack depth I suspect at least partially because of how little storage they can use, on a 16GB device you don't want a game taking 8GB like Xbox 360 games do or even more like some PS3 games.

Last problem, and possibly the most important, would be development budgets, even with a large install base new console games sell for 60, while most new mobile games sell for below 15-20, developers don't want to sink millions into a risk like that.

[SandEagle]

my Note II with the bluetooth MOGA controller kicks ass.

[Doppel]

Last problem, and possibly the most important, would be development budgets, even with a large install base new console games sell for 60, while most new mobile games sell for below 15-20, developers don't want to sink millions into a risk like that.

This may change, hopefully. I saw a game yesterday for $19.99 !! It looked lik ea jrpg or something. Still too rich for my blood for this platform, but the walking dead series costs $20-25, which is a lot of cash.

Originally Posted by SandEagle

my Note II with the bluetooth MOGA controller kicks ass.

Does it work with a lot of games?

[Red Storm]

I honestly have no idea why Apple hasn't released an official controller for iOS. You get an official controller, you'll have devs flock to it in droves with support. This then acts as a gateway to sell people on the Apple TV, cause you can then use your iPad at home like a console, playing games on your TV with a controller, via your iPad.

With yearly hardware updates, it's only a matter of time before mobile devices catch up to and then surpass consoles in computing power.

[zerocool84]

Originally Posted by SandEagle

my Note II with the bluetooth MOGA controller kicks ass.

I just ordered one on a free deal last week.

Originally Posted by Doppel

This may change, hopefully. I saw a game yesterday for $19.99 !! It looked lik ea jrpg or something. Still too rich for my blood for this platform, but the walking dead series costs $20-25, which is a lot of cash.Does it work with a lot of games?

It comes with an app with supported games so not every game it seems about 40 so far. You can use it on any game but you need to root your phone.

I just really hate playing anything but the most simple games on a touch screen, it just really sucks.

[cmdrdredd]

It's because in Japan developers don't want to make games for a device that changes specs every 6 months.

That and they won't sell $40 games on the iphone. Sitting next to all the free crap and $.99 games, they won't sell. They would make zero money if they released a top tier game for $1.99.

Originally Posted by Red Storm

I honestly have no idea why Apple hasn't released an official controller for iOS. You get an official controller, you'll have devs flock to it in droves with support. This then acts as a gateway to sell people on the Apple TV, cause you can then use your iPad at home like a console, playing games on your TV with a controller, via your iPad.

With yearly hardware updates, it's only a matter of time before mobile devices catch up to and then surpass consoles in computing power.

Won't happen because the battery tech hasn't gotten better in years.

[cmdrdredd]

n/m

[Aikouka]

Unless you really want to play the expensive game now, just wait until a holiday, and the game will most likely go on sale. Square-Enix is probably the biggest "offender" when it comes to high-priced games on the App Store, and they actually just had a sale (to celebrate the upcoming release of Final Fantasy IV). They'll probably have another sale around Christmas time, but if you wait for said sales, you won't be paying $20-30 for their games, but typically around half that or better. Final Fantasy Dimensions is pretty expensive for a mobile game, so I'm hoping to nab that for cheap!

[purbeast0]

Originally Posted by Doppel

This is intended for the millions of iphone users. As it is now they have to carry two devices to portable game anyway. It's not intended to replace people who play no more than angry birds. It doesn't require setting phone down; integrates like this:

Most people's PCs/laptops can't game (insufficient power), have small screens.You just agreed with me, other than the poor battery power. There is NO good technical reason an iphone need be only dollar bin games and cannot have good controls.

it's still a 2nd piece you need which defeats the purpose of a portable platform imo.

[American Gunner]

Originally Posted by purbeast0

it's still a 2nd piece you need which defeats the purpose of a portable platform imo.

Most of us already carry our phone with us, so it's either add something like the picture, or carry around a DS or PSP/Vita along with out phones.