US$199 quad core tablet - is it the end for handheld consoles?
- Thread starter gongo
- Start date
scooby_dooby
Legend
As a developer myself, Windows 8 looks extremely attractive.
It's true that iOS is where the majority of the cash is flowing, but the competition is also scathing. I think I read somehting like 40,000 iOS games were released in 2011, double the year previous, and double the year before that. Presumably we're looking at 60-80,000 new games in 2012, or around 216/day!
Often it's easier to stand out in a small pond. Smaller risk, smaller reward. For example, several developers I know and myself have found surprising success on Blackberry Playbook. Not get rich money, but pay your rent money maybe...
So, what you're really looking for is a small pond, with highly active and growing userbase. I'd say Windows 8 fits that to a tee. Being there on Day 1, as a quality game in a mass market genre, would be money in the bank. As opposed to iOS, which is more like money on the craps table
It's true that iOS is where the majority of the cash is flowing, but the competition is also scathing. I think I read somehting like 40,000 iOS games were released in 2011, double the year previous, and double the year before that. Presumably we're looking at 60-80,000 new games in 2012, or around 216/day!
Often it's easier to stand out in a small pond. Smaller risk, smaller reward. For example, several developers I know and myself have found surprising success on Blackberry Playbook. Not get rich money, but pay your rent money maybe...
So, what you're really looking for is a small pond, with highly active and growing userbase. I'd say Windows 8 fits that to a tee. Being there on Day 1, as a quality game in a mass market genre, would be money in the bank. As opposed to iOS, which is more like money on the craps table
Ah, misunderstanding as I thought by device you meant phone device. Yes, you're right, that you aren't dependent on them having a particular phone and could sell Win 8 apps to iPhone owners to run on their PC. That is a significant advantage.
The thread is about handheld gaming.
Win 8 as a viable handheld platform requires handhelds to run your Win 8 app, and the context of people questioning the economy of developing Win 8 apps (games) is within handhelds where iOS rules the roost. I don't see a situation in the next five years or whenever where Win 8 is the handheld platform that ends custom handheld consoles from Nintendo and Sony.The thread is about handheld gaming.
Then remove desktops from the mix...but the rest still apply as phones, tablets and laptops are all portable, and remember than many of the new Win8 laptops are hybrids where the screen breaks away and you can use that as a tablet to game on the go. Unless of course y'all feel that the only possible acceptable portable gaming form factor is a Nintendo DS, to which I'd vehemently disagree. Mind you it still doesn't change the financially advantageous point that a developer could also take their handheld gaming app and also get it running on the desktop as well for extra financial security, which makes old traditional "handheld gaming platforms" as you define them much less appealing.
The inclusion of a 7" tablet at the start of this thread shows that DS size as the only standard was never a position anyone was arguing. The question is what is going to stop people buying dedicated handheld consoles? Smartphones is an obvious one as that is carried around in the same form factor. Small tablets could also be someone's platform of choice. How many people who bought or would buy a DS, Gameboy, PSP, Vita or future handheld would choose to play on a laptop or notebook instead? Personally I doubt it's many, but there may be a compelling argument or stat to the contrary.
Odd phrasing. What's with the speech marks when I never actually said those words? And what other definition even is there for handheld gaming that you'd rather use? Are people going to be sat on the bus/train/plane handheld gaming on their 12" laptops in future, rendering dedicated console redundant?
I don't disagree at all that Win 8 is a great looking platform with loads of potential, so I'm not quite sure what you're arguing. Confusion about your position after saying:
...seems to explain the current discussion about Win 8's viability as a developer platform in the question about what's going to cause people to stop buying discrete handheld gaming devices. But even then, Win 8 is only good now because it's new. Once it becomes saturated like iOS and Android, it'll be no easier to make money there than any other platform. That's one of the few advantages to developing for a dedicated console with controlled content - far less competition and far more chance to get seen. But because controlled hardware is disappearing and everything's turning open-platform one way or another, success will eventually boil down to marketing no matter what you make.Joker454 said:
The quick answer...the thread title is "is it the end of handheld consoles?" I think it is and I used the Win8 universe as an example of why it's dead both for developers who can more cheaper target multiple devices by sticking with Win8 based code, and for users who will have multiple portable play options with Win8 devices, and not have to spend more money on dedicated hardware when what they already have fits the bill. That's it really. The idea of a dedicated gaming device will seem quaint one day in the not so distance future, and Win8 is part of the reason why. The reason I use Win8 as my example is that I don't think Android will do it because as far as I hear from developers it's not an appealing platform for various reasons...but if someone has evidence to the contrary on that I'd be interested in hearing it.
true, but windows phone has over 100k applications, so theres a fair bit competition
heres the approx numbers of applications
Apple 650k (including 250k ipad)
Android 500k
WP 100k
so ~7:1 but the thing is IOS devices outnumber WP devices by about 30:1 so statistically youre about 4x better off developing for IOS.
that and the fact are the average IOS owner prolly outlays more cash than android or WP owners
scooby_dooby
Legend
Such broad numbers are really useless. YOu would want to look at how many games are released currently, per day, in your specific target category, to get an sense of competition.
There's tons and tons of dormant games on all the markets, these "total apps" figures are grossly misleading. According to a study i read recently, up to 60% of iOS apps have never even been downloaded!
Plus, where are you getting the assumption that the Windows Phone 7 apps will work on Windows 8? First I've heard of this....