Imagine if Sword & Sworcery EP had been out on Windows Linux Mac. Yes, no fancy number 3 in the charts –charts and grades… I think we could live without them- but the same amount of buzz on Twitter and at least, EVERYBODY would have been able to buy it and play it.
I realize that there’s this idea that the gameplay needs a specific device. But as we’re seeing more and more because we have a lot of ways to control a game available on multiple platforms –joystick, gamepad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, stylus, keyboard, remote, nothing- the idea doesn’t really hold up.
Magical experience that I could get on my laptop, on my couch.
I don’t really believe in the “unique experience” of a device. I played Braid on the 360 and on my laptop, it wasn’t different. The mechanics, the ambiance are still here and working. Same with Everyday Shooter. I think that you should be able to play a game using whatever you want to control it, at some extent. I don’t like the “put your finger on the screen” in a game that really doesn’t need this to be enjoyable, like Sword & Sworcery EP. It’s just a matter of creating an artificial scarcity when software can be virtually available anywhere. The scarcity is that you need an iPad to play this game. It profits Apple and nobody else.
But back to the input in games. It’s a matter of personal preferences. Some people can’t play a fighting game without an arcade stick. Some play with the “insane” Reverse Mouse setting in first person shooters (the variety of configurations from people jumping with the thumb or with the pinky is remarkable). Some people are comfortable playing a driving game on the keyboard etc. I didn’t really like Crayon Physics with the mouse but with a Wacom it’s perfect, even more than with your finger on the iPhone. Same with World of Goo. I love playing shoot’em up on a keyboard and I’m really bad with a gamepad. It’s endless.
So why would developers absolutely try to make people believe that you need the “real” deal? There’s none. It isn’t a meaningful goal for most players to quote Daniel Cook again. It’s like music or movies, even if there’s a “perfect way” to enjoy them –the bigger the better?-, people listen to mp3s in noisy environments or some watch movies on their computers. But you know what? They’re happy. It’s not that I don’t want to push them to have a better experience but if it fits for them, if it fits their lives then I’m happy that they listen to my music in any circumstance, even at a funeral with shitty headphones.
In the case of games, devices are damn expensive. Comments about game exclusivity are telling these days. People are like “dude, I can play Street Fighter IV on my netbook, why couldn’t I play your 2D game on it too? I need to buy a useless 600$ tablet to do that? Seriously? Well no then”. Some people do everything on their laptop, it’s a really convenient device, it’s quite expensive. The next digital expense will probably be a newer laptop for them, not a device that is going to cost the same price just to play a few apps and show off to their friends how cool it is. And developers I know it’s hard but learn to say no to the hype, snobbery and the platform diktat. Sword & Sworcery EP is exactly in this case, Mashable interview:
Why iOS and not PC?
I go way back with Apple. After messing around with things on the Commodore 64, I really got into art and animation on the Mac Classic with Hypercard. When Jobs got things back into gear and they launched the iPod, I really dug it. I remember thinking, “this is the form factor and these are the designers to create the mobile video game console of the future.” When they launched the iPhone, I was in the video game industry doing PS3 type stuff, but I was conscious that the iPhone was “it” — a design that would last — and their high level approach to the App Store was a revelation compared to the licensing, publishing and distribution headaches on other platforms.
I don’t see where it’s a nightmare on PC. Geez, people are not even afraid to sign up for Minecraft or worse, pay obscure strangers for items on eBay. There is no business justification. It’s just a matter of personal nostalgia mixed with grabbing attention by releasing a game exclusively on the iPad. Further in the answer:
Personally, I don’t spend any entertainment time on desktop machines or laptops, and of course, the expectations are quite different on those platforms.
Personally, I know a lot of people spending their entire entertainment time on computers. Personally, I don’t know a lot of people owning an iPad. People are like “the iPad sold 15 million units in a year” but it’s nothing compared to the amount of other devices. Laptops are selling at about 250 million units a year. Developers need to not be dependent on one platform and yet everybody falls into this trap. If now Superbrothers can’t satisfy people asking for S&S EP to be released elsewhere because of their contracts with Apple, I think it’s hurting them. Developers need to be strong.
IF YOU ARE A GAME DEVELOPER YOU NEED TO READ THIS SHIT BELOW UNTIL YOUR NOSE BLEED. THEN PRINT p 53 ON YOUR FACE.
I get the bet of selling less at a higher price within a walled garden for an overhyped device. It doesn’t last long, usually.
Fuck elitism. I want games to spread out, not to be intellectual products for rich people. If a game absolutely needs a device to be playable then fine: golf games can be kind of Wii exclusive, I understand. But if it doesn’t and that you’re snubbing me with a point & click retro-nostalgia game at 5 bucks that would still work perfectly on my laptop experience-wise, I’m like no.
ps: nothing against this game at all –I hope it makes them rich, great AudioVisual design, indie game love etc-, it’s just that it’s in the news and a perfect example of how game developers don’t think long term and are driven too much by their nostalgia (platform, art-style, theme, game mechanics, retail-like business) rather than innovation. S&S EP is a great example of execution done well but I fear that it’s going to make other young game developers believe that there’s a future in exclusivity.
There isn’t son.