I think there are plenty of companies that try things out on the mobile OSs. Square-Enix released an entirely new IP (Chaos Rings) on iOS, and it's actually not that bad of a game. Unfortunately, I don't think they ever leveraged the A5 well enough, so it won't look remotely as good as the game could look.
GameLoft has also ripped off plenty of good IPs to make more console-like games on iOS and Android. The games are certainly large as I downloaded an update for Gangstar Rio that was ~900MB.
I'm actually a bit surprised that Apple hasn't tried to capitalize on the gaming market even more. I'd imagine that creating a small controller to go around the iPhone wouldn't be terribly hard to do. It could come in two pieces, you plug one piece (half of the controller) into the dock connector and plug the other half into the first half.
I think the only problem that you run into is that you can segment your market into a group of haves and have nots, which is usually a dangerous thing to do. It's the equivalent of why they don't let the PC gamers stomp all over those silly console FPS players.
I'm keeping my eye on a thread that I saw on Amazon about it.
The problem is that they charge too much for the same content. Plants vs. Zombies costs $6.99 for the iPad (higher resolution than the Vita), but the Vita costs $19.99? The PC version is only $9.99! It's even worse if you look at something like Dungeon Hunter Alliance, which is cheaper on the PSN for the PS3. Comparing the iOS version isn't fair since it is the same game story-wise, but doesn't include co-op (DH2 does).
Yeah, I think Square deserves some credit. I'm shocked that they ported FFTactics. And its good to see that they're even trying some new IP with some depth. I didn't mean to infer no one was trying, but there's just not much. I mean, Angry Birds is probably the biggest mobile IP we've seen thus far, and while I enjoy it, its not exactly one of my absolute favorites.
I think that's a big part of the problem. Many companies feel they could release a game on there and then someone will just rip it off, change bits here and there and then sell it for half the price if not less.
I am as well. Considering Microsoft has just done basically nothing in the mobile gaming space, Apple could really make a big splash. They could use something like that to differentiate the iPod Touch. I hate to say it, but I think Apple and Nintendo would make a great team. Well they would if both companies weren't so adamant about their own way of doing things, which I think would actually make a pairing of them turn out worse than the Sony-Nintendo partnership in the 90s.
True. That's why I said EA would be perfect since people already dislike them, so its not like that would ruin their rep or anything and they've already pulled similar stuff.
Be sure to post any updates, I know I'd at least be interested.
Yeah, exactly. Its why, despite the current problems, I think a lot of gamers should be happy about the advent of mobile platforms, as its doing more to shakeup the industry (that is, in my opinion, in desperate need of some shakeup) than anything I can remember. It and the indie game scene on PC are two or the more interesting gaming areas.
I felt that way early on with Live Arcade/PSN/Nintendo Network, but they kinda stagnated some I felt . Still good, just didn't take off and improve as much as I was hoping they would, where we'd see a lot more intermediate titles in the $20-40 range. I think personally that intermediate level would be the sweet spot for me. Really these portables (DS/3DS/PSP/Vita) kinda take that role, but I'm not totally keen on buying a $200 console for that, when there's a lot that you tradeoff. I'd gladly go for old school graphics if it meant games with depth and solid gameplay. Likewise, if I could get those intermediate games on a platform I'd already own for other reasons, then I'd probably buy more games.
Sorry, I know this is really derailing this thread. I'm just jealous that I don't have a Vita.