Op Ed

[Jan 25, 2013, 10:08 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Gamasutra - PC is not dead and mobile is shit (with Charts!).
Well the article title says it all: PC is not dead and mobile is shit.

Of course I make a certain type of game and the market is more geared up to sell PC copies of those, and indies releasing PC games on Steam certainly find they can do pretty well on there too compared to other platforms. Other developers are having great success on mobile - good for them. But I would urge caution in the mobile market. It's HUGELY over-saturated and hard to get noticed. I got my existing games ported to mobile as a low-risk approach, but there are teams of developers out there spending 6-12 months on mobile games and I personally think that's a recipe for disaster in most cases.

Looking at my numbers, perhaps I'd be best sticking to PC only? Putting all my energy into that and not buying expensive Macs (and constantly upgrading the OS and Xcode, and farting around with provisioning profiles and certificates) and not buying an ever growing army of mobile devices to test on. Most devs have a PC anyway, even if they just play games on it! For me anyway, PC is the clear winner.

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15.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 26, 2013, 18:16

Quboid

NetHead wrote on Jan 26, 2013, 14:14:
The PC is not dead, well thanks for that information.

Seriously anyone who said "PC is not dead" is a moron. It's like running around saying "They sky is not falling on our heads", really thanks for the news flash, now go put corks on your forks before you stab yourself in the face, or not.

It looks like the same sensationalist hit-magnet stuff that comes by every so often. This time it's sensationalised in our favour (as PC gamers, although many of us of consoles/smartphones/etc) but still bullshit.




- Quboid

14.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 26, 2013, 14:14

NetHead

The PC is not dead, well thanks for that information. Seriously anyone who said "PC is not dead" is a moron. It's like running around saying "They sky is not falling on our heads", really thanks for the news flash, now go put corks on your forks before you stab yourself in the face, or not.

13.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 18:53

Orphic Resonance

this guy isnt making games, hes making shovelware - and hes bitching about the market not being "fair"??? no shit man, make some fucking real games and then we'll talk.. if you want to swindle people out of their money, you gotta act like a swindler, live like a mercenary and quit whining like a baby

12.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 14:52

JeffD

InBlack wrote on Jan 25, 2013, 09:44: This guy is my hero... no.. no..I came away from this article dumber. He consistently makes excuses that X has sold less then Y because it was released much later, platform didnt like the genere, or flat out wasnt released. In the case of mobile version, they both suffered from late releases and missing games. Oh yea.. and I've never even heard of the game and I am a mobile gamer, so this guy failed on the promoting your game part.

11.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 14:06

jdreyer

Orogogus wrote on Jan 25, 2013, 13:46:

In this specific anecdote the games are $3 on PC anyways. I think the mobile market may be saturated with match-3 games, which are fairly well suited to a touch screen. And I don't know who would want to play them with a gamepad.

Good point.




Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

10.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 13:46

Orogogus

jdreyer wrote on Jan 25, 2013, 13:33: It's a great anecdotal article. If you looked at the entire industry, I think you'd find mobile had a larger share, but that it still would be dwarfed by PC. There's also the price expectations issue. Mobile gamers only expect to spend a couple of dollars on games, while PC gamers willingly shell out $10-20 for a solid title. PC games might also sell better b/c getting on Steam or GoG is more difficult than getting into the app store, so there are fewer to choose from. In this specific anecdote the games are $3 on PC anyways. I think the mobile market may be saturated with match-3 games, which are fairly well suited to a touch screen. And I don't know who would want to play them with a gamepad.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 13:45

4D-Boxing

I'm kind of surprised the match-3 games this guy made were able to generate that much revenue, honestly. $53K over about 6 yrs, granted, but still. I know this board is all rah-rah PC, but do people really care about these games or what their developers have to say? This is sub-Angry Birds material, on par with hidden object games. Well people care enough to read the comments sections and sometimes post comments. Sometimes without reading the associated article! Why would they not care about this article?!

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 13:35

Verno

Shit I'll spend $100 on a good game if the value to fun proposition is good. Mobile gamers, good luck getting them to spend more than $5 on anything unless your name is Square, that's the whole reason microtransactions are so prevalent - preying on the average idiot who is really bad at math.




Playing: Animal Crossing, Sleeping Dogs, Tales of Graces F Watching: Survivorman, Justified, Silent Running

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 13:33

jdreyer

It's a great anecdotal article. If you looked at the entire industry, I think you'd find mobile had a larger share, but that it still would be dwarfed by PC.

There's also the price expectations issue. Mobile gamers only expect to spend a couple of dollars on games, while PC gamers willingly shell out $10-20 for a solid title. PC games might also sell better b/c getting on Steam or GoG is more difficult than getting into the app store, so there are fewer to choose from.




Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 13:31

Orogogus

wtf_man wrote on Jan 25, 2013, 10:39: I'm not sure how a small indie Developer that had 3 games that averaged 53k of revenue... and only one of those games were released for the console... is relevant data. And XBLIG may not be the distribution answer needed for indies. I mean, even in the casual / indie sector, that's kind of slanted against consoles. (Not that I'm complaining... just doesn't seem all that truthful) As for the PC being dead... we've all heard that before... so I'm not all that worried. I'm kind of surprised the match-3 games this guy made were able to generate that much revenue, honestly. $53K over about 6 yrs, granted, but still. I know this board is all rah-rah PC, but do people really care about these games or what their developers have to say? This is sub-Angry Birds material, on par with hidden object games.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 13:05

LesCaster

mobile is shit.

Unless, of course, you happen to make something that isn't shit. Keep in mind he's talking about sales, not quality.




I once prayed to god for a bike, but quickly found out he didnt work that way...so I stole a bike and prayed for his forgiveness.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 10:39

wtf_man

I'm not sure how a small indie Developer that had 3 games that averaged 53k of revenue... and only one of those games were released for the console... is relevant data. And XBLIG may not be the distribution answer needed for indies. I mean, even in the casual / indie sector, that's kind of slanted against consoles. (Not that I'm complaining... just doesn't seem all that truthful) As for the PC being dead... we've all heard that before... so I'm not all that worried.

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 10:21

sauron

Great article - thanks for linking!




Kittens!

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 09:52

Kajetan

InBlack wrote on Jan 25, 2013, 09:44: This guy is my hero... Just think ... in his article the PC has all the advantages consoles were said to have over the PC. Simple. cheap, easy to use. How has the world come to that! O tempora, o mores!

Re: Op Ed

Jan 25, 2013, 09:44

InBlack

This guy is my hero...




I have a nifty blue line!

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