Why is gaming on Android still lacking and so bad?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

RockinZ28

Platinum Member
Mar 5, 2008
2,171
49
101
I just hope there will be some nice games for the android tablets. Planning on getting the Transformer if it's ever in stock, and then my phone will basically be a 3G wifi router.
 
Oct 25, 2006
11,036
11
91
Never understood gaming on phones. Controls are infuriating to use.

It's like the jump between KB & M and Joystick. Except it goes even futher down the crappy end.

Also, they're all freaking boring. Angry birds and fruit ninja? Those flash game type things don't appeal to me at all.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Runaway, you know they can't miss what they've never experienced ;).

Never understood gaming on phones. Controls are infuriating to use.

It's like the jump between KB & M and Joystick. Except it goes even futher down the crappy end.

Also, they're all freaking boring. Angry birds and fruit ninja? Those flash game type things don't appeal to me at all.

It depends on the game... some games implement controls well, and some don't. Usually, the best controls seem to be location independent, or at least only respective to a side. For example, in Infinity Field, if I put my finger on the left, wherever I put my finger becomes the movement joystick.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
651
126
Never understood gaming on phones. Controls are infuriating to use.

It's like the jump between KB & M and Joystick. Except it goes even futher down the crappy end.

Also, they're all freaking boring. Angry birds and fruit ninja? Those flash game type things don't appeal to me at all.

Been spending a lot of time lately playing NBA Elite 2011 on my iPhone. Being able to play games while waiting around or on the bus, subway is a huge bonus.

Saying a smartphone is not a gameboy is silly. Plenty of games are fun to play on a touchscreen smartphone. I'm guessing most haven't had the opportunity to experience it.
 

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,670
4
0
Call me crazy, but I think the NFS game that came with my X is pretty impressive for a phone.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
Call me crazy, but I think the NFS game that came with my X is pretty impressive for a phone.

Don't get me wrong, it's cool but people here are talking about HUGE games. There's TONS of games on Android but more companies make more games specifically for iPhone and make them look better.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,546
832
126
EA gave the iPhone the NBA Remake, killer game. On Android we got the a port of the Genesis version with god awful controls. I'm done with Android gaming.
 

foghorn67

Lifer
Jan 3, 2006
11,883
63
91
NES emulator's using a Wii controller makes me happy.
I have enough games to keep me distracted. If I wanted more gaming out of my phone, the iPhone would have been my first pick.
 

DivideBYZero

Lifer
May 18, 2001
24,117
2
0
This is why gaming is poor on Android:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Android_devices#Smartphones

Too many hardware differentials. As a developer you have to taget one base specification and add features for higher capability, like in the PC world, but this adds complexity and complexity equals time and time equals money. Money you are very unlikely to get back in the Android Market due to low app purchase rates and rampant piracy/sideloading of apps.

With iOS the base hardware specification is known, 80% of the operational phones are the same specification, so you can target and optimize for the platform. On Android that would be comercial suicide to optimize for 30-40 platforms, all of which can be implemented differently by the OEM, with differing RAM, CPU speed, resolution, keyboard/no keyboard etc per individual device.
 

Monster_Munch

Senior member
Oct 19, 2010
873
1
0
If you target an older model like the nexus one and android 2.1 your game will work on the vast majority of hardware out there, but you wont be able to really take advantage of the latest tech.

With iphone the developers can just target the latest 2 models and know that their game will work great on 90% of phones being used.
 

BenSkywalker

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,140
67
91
I have been toying with an HTC Inspire and I am shocked at how bad the gaming is compared to IOS.

What exactly are you looking for for gaming? I'm kind of curious as my gaming library is significantly larger for my Android devices then my iOS devices. Right now I'm playing FinalFantasy7, DragonQuest7 with a little bit of Fruit Ninja HD when I need some dumb mindless fun. It's nice to immerse myself in a nigh 100 hour long RPG, playing it on the go and able to pop it up on the big screen using a blue tooth controller when I have time to get a bit more immersed. I also like the fact that the hundreds of games I have acquired over the years that are largely in boxes now I can go back and replay on a portable device. Really a nice setup.

For newer phone exclusive type games, if you are looking for anything impressive, get a Sony or Tegra2 phone. TegraZone and Sony's Play line are pushing some serious incentives for developers to get on board with their respective platforms, this comes at the expense of others but such is the benefit and drawback of a more open system.

EA gave the iPhone the NBA Remake, killer game. On Android we got the a port of the Genesis version with god awful controls. I'm done with Android gaming.

Can you link up this EA NBA game that you are talking about on Android? I know EA came out with a port of Jam for iOS, but I haven't seen it for Android anywhere. Since you stated there is a Genesis version with god awful controls I'm sure you can link that up, I'd be very interested in checking it out.

- Battery life for gaming is pretty pathetic on all HTC devices

Fixed that for you :)
 

Puddle Jumper

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,835
1
0
the problem is angry birds isn't even smooth on my droid/milestone.... You can blame all the hardware fragmentation you want, but is it that hard to get some decent performance on a simple game? Yes the game runs damn smooth on my iPod Touch 4G which is clocked lower than my Droid (800mhz vs 1ghz overclock), and even the older iPod Touch 1G runs it fine.

First your iPod has a A4/Hummingbird processor which are faster clock for clock than generic Cortex A8 processors like the one found in the Droid. Also the iPod Touch has a PowerVR SGX 535 gpu which if I'm not mistaken is faster than the SGX 530 found in the Droid.
 

BenSkywalker

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,140
67
91
Also the iPod Touch has a PowerVR SGX 535 gpu which if I'm not mistaken is faster than the SGX 530 found in the Droid.

The SGX 535 should be roughly twice as fast the 530, PowerVR's technology scales incredibly well and the 535 has double the theoretical throughput of the 530(same clock speed, double the functional units). In simple terms, the iPhone4 is running a 'SLId' version of the single GPU found in the Droid. There are many people on these forums that seem to be under the impression that an i7 with integrated graphics should wipe the floor with an Athlon x4 running SLId GTX 580s running games- if it doesn't that proves the Athlon is a superior CPU :p
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,992
5,888
126
because there is more money in the iOS market and developing on iOS is a lot "nicer" of a whole process thand Android.

<-- has devved a few apps on both platforms, and yes the above is from my own pesonal experience.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
iPhone user here.

Have you guys actually played these poster boy games Infinity Blade and Rage? They look great, but the game play is so poor it's not even funny. It's ridiculously simple minded; I felt like I was playing a game designed around a 6 year old's capabilities. They are nothing more than fantastic looking tech demos.

It's not just limited to those games either, it's a running theme with a lot of mobile games. Fruit Ninja? Again, it looks and sounds nice, but even my 10 year old sister got bored of it pretty quick. Don't even get me started on all those racing games that either auto accelerate and/or turn for you...

Smartphone gaming is highly overrated, regardless of platform.
 

SAWYER

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
16,742
42
91
I haven't played rage but i disagree about IB, I thought it was one of the best touch games I have played and was made really well.
 

smartpatrol

Senior member
Mar 8, 2006
870
0
0
Wow, it seems like Android fanboys have more in common with Apple fanboys than they would like to admit. "If my platform doesn't have it, then I don't want it and neither should anybody else."
 

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
Android gaming lacking?

Games I'm playing now:
Hex Defense
Dungeon Hunter 2
Asphalt 6
Eternal Legacy
Grave Defense
Meteor
Starfront Collision
Fruit Ninja
Angry Birds Rio though I can't really get into Angry Birds games, it was free.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
iPhone user here.

Have you guys actually played these poster boy games Infinity Blade and Rage? They look great, but the game play is so poor it's not even funny. It's ridiculously simple minded; I felt like I was playing a game designed around a 6 year old's capabilities. They are nothing more than fantastic looking tech demos.

It's not just limited to those games either, it's a running theme with a lot of mobile games. Fruit Ninja? Again, it looks and sounds nice, but even my 10 year old sister got bored of it pretty quick. Don't even get me started on all those racing games that either auto accelerate and/or turn for you...

Smartphone gaming is highly overrated, regardless of platform.

this

even Chaos Rings got boring after a while since it was the same thing. Square is bringing the real final fantasy games to iOS but it's taking a while.

most games on iOS are crap and last a day or so. a few like the Lucasarts games can be played for a long time
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
What exactly are you looking for for gaming? I'm kind of curious as my gaming library is significantly larger for my Android devices then my iOS devices. Right now I'm playing FinalFantasy7, DragonQuest7 with a little bit of Fruit Ninja HD when I need some dumb mindless fun. It's nice to immerse myself in a nigh 100 hour long RPG, playing it on the go and able to pop it up on the big screen using a blue tooth controller when I have time to get a bit more immersed. I also like the fact that the hundreds of games I have acquired over the years that are largely in boxes now I can go back and replay on a portable device. Really a nice setup.

For newer phone exclusive type games, if you are looking for anything impressive, get a Sony or Tegra2 phone. TegraZone and Sony's Play line are pushing some serious incentives for developers to get on board with their respective platforms, this comes at the expense of others but such is the benefit and drawback of a more open system.



Can you link up this EA NBA game that you are talking about on Android? I know EA came out with a port of Jam for iOS, but I haven't seen it for Android anywhere. Since you stated there is a Genesis version with god awful controls I'm sure you can link that up, I'd be very interested in checking it out.



Fixed that for you :)

this is about the official games available. not "pirated" games for emulators

apple reaches out to game devs. not sure about google and htc
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,810
126
It's improved leaps and bound. Emulators used to be about the only games worth playing on Android. Not anymore. If you have been downloading the free app a day games from Amazon you would have known there are good games on the Android.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,992
5,888
126
Wow, it seems like Android fanboys have more in common with Apple fanboys than they would like to admit. "If my platform doesn't have it, then I don't want it and neither should anybody else."

haha i was thinking the same thing when reading the replies in this thread.