How many of that install base don't own a console and just really want to play gtav with crap controls on a tiny screen?
Next-Gen iPhone & iPhone Nano Speculation
- Thread starter Arun
- Start date
How many of that install base don't own a console and just really want to play gtav with crap controls on a tiny screen?
First of all, you can send the video from that "tiny" screen to an HDTV. But tablets are selling in the tens or even hundreds of millions of units every year in part because people are watching videos on those tiny screens.
Second, Android supports controllers and iOS 7 does as well.
It's really up to Rockstar whether they want to further monetize GTA 5. Maybe they don't, since they made a crapload of money that they don't have the economic incentive.
A couple of years from now, this Rogue-class performance will probably be in $200 tablets as well as these premium ones. So there should be well over 100 million devices capable of pretty decent performance with games like GTA5.
Again, it's up to Rockstar whether they want to go after that market or leave money on the table.
Second, Android supports controllers and iOS 7 does as well.
It's really up to Rockstar whether they want to further monetize GTA 5. Maybe they don't, since they made a crapload of money that they don't have the economic incentive.
A couple of years from now, this Rogue-class performance will probably be in $200 tablets as well as these premium ones. So there should be well over 100 million devices capable of pretty decent performance with games like GTA5.
Again, it's up to Rockstar whether they want to go after that market or leave money on the table.
Problem is that you can't charge nearly as much as you can on a console. Maybe $5-$10. And only a much smaller percentage of A7-powered iPad owners will buy games like this.
Also I was only aiming for 2008's GTA 4, with minimum PC requirements of a Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz and a 256MB NVidia 7900 (obviously it could run much better with this hardware if it was exclusively ported/developed just for these specs).
Yes, 10 years later. By then a port should be quite easy and will probably even support then 3 year old devices (s. GTA3 and A5; sure, it runs on the A4, but very poorly). So I have little doubt that we will have GTA 4 on tablets by 2018 and it will run on 7th gen iPads and up ;-)
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Hmmm, almost like they did it to make me look bad !
So any devs out there, is gles3.0 referenced anywhere in the docs ?
I wonder, with such a large 2.0 only install base, where the incentive/reasoning will come from to develop apps that need 3.0 compliant hardware.
It's possible to create OpenGL ES 3.0 context in iOS 7 now. However, unless you only want to support A7, or you want to do multiple rendering paths, most are probably going to support 2.0 with extensions for now.
I'm now sure about Apple's current stance on apps supporting only A7 though... Apple does mention something like "if you want to support OpenGL ES 3.0, you must also provide a rendering option for 2.0 too" but I don't know if it's mandatory.
ltcommander.data
Regular
Does anyone have a reasonable estimate of how much it took to port say Vice City to mobile? I'm guessing 6 figures, low single digit millions at most, and I wouldn't be surprised if music licensing was a big chunk of that. For iOS, Vice City started as a top 10 app (reported min $47,000/day) and remains as a top 50 app (min $12,000/day). Between iOS and Android, Vice City will likely generate revenue between $5-10 million in it's 1st year, likely on the upper end of that. GTA III also remains in the top 50 on iOS even 2 years years and Vice City being available. So there is definitely a lot of demand for GTA on mobile and a 10x ROI is very attractive.
On the other hand, I believe it was John Carmack that said the concern with established developers doing mobile games is the opportunity cost. Yes it's a big market, it's good mind share to give people access to your game/franchise any time, wherever they are, and the ROI is attractive, but in absolute terms, 10s of millions of dollars isn't a huge financial gain when keeping the focus on consoles to increase chances of a hit there yields 100s of millions or billions in the case of GTA V. I'm sure Rockstar has enough on its plate right now focusing on bringing GTA V to PC and next-gen consoles, expanding GTA Online, and potentially expansions/major story DLC, which would all seem safer and more fruitful (no pun intended) than bringing GTA V to iOS and Android any time soon.
Rockstar has created made-for-handheld tie-ins for each console game except San Andreas. Given the momentum of mobile, unless Sony pays Rockstar for Vita exclusivity or perhaps Microsoft does it for Windows Phone, I wouldn't be surprised if GTA V's spinoff will be made-for-mobile with iOS as the lead platform. Building an engine and designing gameplay specifically for mobile should yield a much better game than just cutting back GTA IV or V to fit on mobile.
On a practical level, the App Store's 2GB file size limit prevents a port of GTA IV or V. Even San Andreas would be problematic. The 2GB limit hasn't changed since the App Store opened, does anyone know if there is a technical reason for this?
On the other hand, I believe it was John Carmack that said the concern with established developers doing mobile games is the opportunity cost. Yes it's a big market, it's good mind share to give people access to your game/franchise any time, wherever they are, and the ROI is attractive, but in absolute terms, 10s of millions of dollars isn't a huge financial gain when keeping the focus on consoles to increase chances of a hit there yields 100s of millions or billions in the case of GTA V. I'm sure Rockstar has enough on its plate right now focusing on bringing GTA V to PC and next-gen consoles, expanding GTA Online, and potentially expansions/major story DLC, which would all seem safer and more fruitful (no pun intended) than bringing GTA V to iOS and Android any time soon.
Rockstar has created made-for-handheld tie-ins for each console game except San Andreas. Given the momentum of mobile, unless Sony pays Rockstar for Vita exclusivity or perhaps Microsoft does it for Windows Phone, I wouldn't be surprised if GTA V's spinoff will be made-for-mobile with iOS as the lead platform. Building an engine and designing gameplay specifically for mobile should yield a much better game than just cutting back GTA IV or V to fit on mobile.
On a practical level, the App Store's 2GB file size limit prevents a port of GTA IV or V. Even San Andreas would be problematic. The 2GB limit hasn't changed since the App Store opened, does anyone know if there is a technical reason for this?
I think you can just download additional assets from your server though. For example, you can make your app with art assets from the first level only, to limit its size. Then when the user is playing the first level, start downloading assets for the second level (with the user's consent, of course). This should allow you to overcome the 2GB limit. You can also provide only low resolution assets and let the user to download high resolution assets if they choose to.
Another way is cloud gaming, but of course that'd not require any fancy 3D hardwares anymore.
ltcommander.data
Regular
If Epic can get UE4 to run on ES 3.0, besides the better graphics, the more efficient development environment and cross-platform compatibility with next-gen consoles would be a draw. Then if you have an existing UE4 game, some ES 3.0 devices would still look attractive as an additional platform even if no ES 2.0 devices are supported.
If you were deliberately building a mobile game though, I agree that ES 2.0 will be critical for several years. It's a good thing that Apple launched 64-bit and ES 3.0 together since the combined boost in performance and features will make a stronger case to go A7 only and require 64-bit and ES 3.0 earlier than if they had shipped in different SoC generations.
It just doesn't seem as user friendly to finish installing the game and then have to download large amounts of additional content on first run. Is that content backed up with an iTunes computer sync or does it need to be re-downloaded even when re-installing from computer? I suppose it can fit with GTA's style if they bring back the locked map and not all islands are available at the beginning of the game.
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Indeed. iOS game revenues alone is double that of all portable game consoles put together. (And that doesn't count in app purchases which is HUGE.)
It is left as an exercise to the reader to extract the proportion to all stationary consoles put together.
Sure.
That said, the real heavy hitters on the App store aren't warmed over games and franchises from other platforms, but new content made for iOS. A look at this weeks chart does show minecraft on the number four spot, but the next game that first appeared on another platform GTA III, is down at position 47!
So while there is money to be made selling ports, original content sells far better than warmed over old leftovers. Who could have guessed?
Edit: Missed GTA Vice city at position 25.
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Yeah, I completely agree. What I meant to say was that I wanted more AAA titles developed exclusively for touch interface, rather than getting thrown a bone now and then.
I still don't get why they haven't made more board games and RPGs for tablets, they are ideal for a touch interface.
Yes for me this is the biggie.
Until I sold it my ipad 3 (650 grams), I used to often use it in bed lying down holding it, its OK for about 10 minutes then becomes a bit weighty. The new ipad 5 at 450 grams is a huge improvement
One word, controls
I think the more relevant chart for return of investment would be top grossing. GTA III is the 142th top grossing iPad game in the US App Store right now.
interesting quote from Cook from the results Q&A.
What products can we be expecting to see by the end of the year ? I assume "new" means just that, not product refreshes.
Haven't most people at this stage pushed back thoughts of an iwatch til next year. ? Can't be a refreshed itv, unless it is such a major re-think of the product that they are launching it as something new, like a mini-console ? Full blown Apple Television ?
What products can we be expecting to see by the end of the year ? I assume "new" means just that, not product refreshes.
Haven't most people at this stage pushed back thoughts of an iwatch til next year. ? Can't be a refreshed itv, unless it is such a major re-think of the product that they are launching it as something new, like a mini-console ? Full blown Apple Television ?
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If it was that close to launch, wouldn't they have announced these new products on Oct 22nd along with iPad Air and new Macs?
You mean THIS year, or next? This year you had ipad air, retina mini pad and the new mac pro. Yes, they qualify as "new" even though similar products existed in the past.
Next year... Who knows? I am still hoping for an iwatch myself.