Multi-touch could make iPhone/iPod good game machines
Thought about it for a little bit, and I'm beginning to think multi-touch on the iPhone and on a prospective iPod with OS-X & multitouch will enable them to be decent for mobile games.
Solitaire and card games are easy.
For things like arcade/action games that need a 4 directions (up, down, left, right) plus maybe a couple of action buttons (fire, jump, etc), I think a touch sensitive UI can emulate it decently enough with half the screen (in portrait mode) while the other half is the game screen (or variation/mix of the two). Mario, Tetris, fighting games, FPS, galazza, pac-man, whathaveyou. Driving games too.
For games that need a pointing device, I think the multi-touch can really come through. Zuma, Pipe, Bejeweled type games are possible. What I would really like to see are real-time sim games (or even turn-based games). I'm imagining Age of Empires on the iPhone, and yeah, with a bit of zooming, pinching, selecting and moving, yeah, I can see myself enjoying it very much.
Can't wait to see how the games will turn out on the iPhone to see how they implement them.
Solitaire and card games are easy.
For things like arcade/action games that need a 4 directions (up, down, left, right) plus maybe a couple of action buttons (fire, jump, etc), I think a touch sensitive UI can emulate it decently enough with half the screen (in portrait mode) while the other half is the game screen (or variation/mix of the two). Mario, Tetris, fighting games, FPS, galazza, pac-man, whathaveyou. Driving games too.
For games that need a pointing device, I think the multi-touch can really come through. Zuma, Pipe, Bejeweled type games are possible. What I would really like to see are real-time sim games (or even turn-based games). I'm imagining Age of Empires on the iPhone, and yeah, with a bit of zooming, pinching, selecting and moving, yeah, I can see myself enjoying it very much.
Can't wait to see how the games will turn out on the iPhone to see how they implement them.
Comments
However, the last six months have been entirely too busy for me to play around forums a lot. So my participation varied.
I am pretty curious about games and additional apps Apple will have for the iPhone. The multi-touch has got me curious since it can solve some problems with certain classes of games on a device with such a small screen. I'm quite curious on how virtual game controller pads will work. And RTS games would seem fun with the iPhone because of the pinching and zooming.
Traditional arcade games won't. The more fast-twitch the game, the worse I think this interface is going to be. Don't even think of a virtual game pad.
FPS could work if you stripped precise movement and shooting out of it, made it somewhat slower, and emphasized a multitude of tactical options available through gestures. Something like throwing a grenade might be really fun with an "analog" gesture that doesn't only trigger the action but directs it.
Some kind of arcade driving might be fine; driving games tend to have essentially two analog inputs and you could use both side edges of the screen for the two controls. That provides for a nice physical mapping.
Anything that works well with nothing but a pointer will work well with the iPhone.
Traditional arcade games won't. The more fast-twitch the game, the worse I think this interface is going to be. Don't even think of a virtual game pad.
FPS could work if you stripped precise movement and shooting out of it, made it somewhat slower, and emphasized a multitude of tactical options available through gestures. Something like throwing a grenade might be really fun with an "analog" gesture that doesn't only trigger the action but directs it.
Some kind of arcade driving might be fine; driving games tend to have essentially two analog inputs and you could use both side edges of the screen for the two controls. That provides for a nice physical mapping.
An opportunity for someone. A cradle to snap the iPhone into in landscape orientation, with game controlls on either side. Also w/ extra battery.
You're fired up about the iPhone. You've posted more in the last week than you have in the last six months, no?
And some people were bitching about Ron Paul posts.
Classic game emulation, anyone?
An opportunity for someone. A cradle to snap the iPhone into in landscape orientation, with game controlls on either side. Also w/ extra battery.
Yup. I had this exact same though. The cradle would have your typical portable game player controls, a larger battery, and a speaker.
An opportunity for someone. A cradle to snap the iPhone into in landscape orientation, with game controlls on either side. Also w/ extra battery.
Nah, that doesn't have a future. With zero market penetration, there's no reason to develop for it. With zero games supporting it, there's no reason to buy it. Remember, for roughly comparable price (it won't be cheap if it is good quality) and pocket space you could pick up a Nintendo DS, and DS is near invulnerable in that niche. The best you can do is sell games for the iPhone hardware people already have, playing to the strengths specific to that hardware.
Labyrinth. Using the entire phone as the controller. eh? eh?
That's a great fit.