iPad As Important As PS4 In Next Gen, Says UK's Biggest Independent Studio

TechRadar: ''Jagex, creator of the enduringly successful MMO game Runescape, said it believes that developers need to stay open-minded about developing games across platforms.

CEO Mark Gerhard told TechRadar that exclusivity is becoming less of an option, and that game makers need to keep an open mind when it comes to choosing platforms.''

[majiebeast]

If somebody from the critically acclaimed studio that made Runescape. The mmo that can run on everything imaginable at this point, it must be true...

[3-4-5]

Why aren't people all over their TV screen touching it and swiping things back and forth whilst watching said program ?

Because it's f ing annoying.

[Majin-vegeta]

Nuff said.

http://youtu.be/_n5E7feJHw0

[JunioRS101]

You're an IDIOT. Please quit your job. I'm so SO SOOO sick of iphone and ipad games.

Sure, that's where the money's at. BUT THAT'S NOT WHERE THE REAL GAMERS ROAM, BUDDY. GO PLAY A REAL GAME AND QUIT SELLIN' OUT.

[extermin8or]

Its not even where the monies at... When the generation isn't suffer ring fatigue like atm-its the big publishers and devs that taken in the £££.Remember the iPad games etc are either f2p or pence they either sell ten million or make a pittance-yeah they cost less to make but...

[caseh]

Mobile games are BIG money earners for many companies. Not all but many, Gamevil for example are solely IAP which nets them a sweet $30mil a year from a handful of games which cost the user nothing to buy.

Puzzle and Dragons is the real eye opener though, a single game nets between $50mil - $75Mil...a MONTH across both iOS and Android platforms.

Mobile gaming can be highly profitable, I don't believe its as important as console/pc gaming but for companies that wouldn't get a look in on these formats, its incredibly important.

[iceman06]

There IS money to be made in that market. It is there to nickel and dime the way to millions. However, these millions aren't usually reinvested into the product that helped create them. They are used for the company to move to the high stakes table, eventually. Not a bad strategy at all...less risk than jumping straight in to consoles...demand (at this point) is greater than supply...market is expanding with every smartphone purchased.

[extermin8or]

Yeah there is money, but for a select few companies-the rest will never make the millions of $ a year. I think if you start out as a fairly big dev it's generally easier to make money of a larger game if you an get the funding and advertising even if it just be mainly word of mouth at a higher price point. The IOS and such marketplaces are full of the same things-oversaturated even. So only a few companies are the ones that do well out of these games because for every one game released there's about 20 other versions available on the store.... So one does well generally based on their early releasesin the devices early days the rest go under.,

[Ripsta7th]

They are going after little kids, they are the buyers, they just persuade a friend and he tells his friend to download and soon you have everyone going after it

[iamnsuperman]

I play ipad/iPhone/android apps and games. Yet I am here writing user reviews and blogs, keeping up with the latest news, playing the latest games..... Does this make me any less of a 'real gamer'? No. These games are still very enjoyable. Don't be so ignorant

[Snookies12]

They are however taking revenue away from console/handheld games. That's what I have a problem with. I don't want them to be the primary source for gaming. I REALLY don't want to see one of my favorite series return only as a phone game. (Which I've seen a lot of lately with older game series'). Most of the time, developers make these games as a quick and easy sell that has no work put into it.

We're already seeing things like Breath of Fire most recently getting its next installment on phones. People can't seriously be okay with that over a console version can they? I know I'd be pissed if a new Chrono Trigger came out for phones instead of console or at least handhelds.

Bottom line is, phone games are cheap fun that people will play for ten minutes then put down. That's the kind of design they have, and that's how they're going to be made by their developers. Which is no place for notable gaming franchises.

[caseh]

@Snookies12

"Bottom line is, phone games are cheap fun that people will play for ten minutes then put down."

That isn't strictly true, i've been playing a game called Fishing Superstars for about a year now. Invested many, many hours into that game.

I also have a PS3 and about 80 games so the fact I play several mobile games doesn't detract from my core gaming platform.

The fact mobiles are versatile is a huge selling point. I missed out on the original Chrono Trigger, had a corrupted save file when playing on an emulater...however, its available on Android.

I would never have gone back to this on a PC emu, and consoles just don't offer things like this so i'll undoubtedly pick it up on Android when i'm stuck on a 12 hour flight later this year. :)

[GameCents]

Such anger in this one.
People don't seem to like it when their precious consoles are put on the same level as mobile devices it seems.

[JunioRS101]

you are correct, I definitely dislike that

[Hicken]

That's because they're not on the same level.

Mobile gaming has its place, but it won't be the same as consoles. The tech will never catch up, and the interface will always lack, in regards to dedicated devices(as long as they don't have buttons, which are will will continue to be a far better interface than touch for gaming for quite some time; adding buttons is a reverse evolution for these devices, and isn't likely to ever catch on).

Simply put: current gen console games(regardless of when it happens to be) will never be available on a mobile device, so they will not replace them.

So why should the two be on the same level?

[AceBlazer13]

The most popular tablet games are free though so that should say something about your market over on those platforms.

[porkChop]

Says the makers of Runescape...

[SolidDuck]

Right, like how phones are taking over and there's no room for consoles or handhelds. I've been hearing that for at least 5 years now. Sorry but cut the rope is never going to replace a mass effect, battlefield, or whatever big games your into. I think smartphones and iPads have cut into other forms of entertainment more than core games. People use there phones and tablets to play games and watch netflix instead of sitting and watching TV or movies. Most the people I know that are really into mobile games were never into core games to big with.

[Hicken]

Sorry, but it's not.

[SpecialK]

I find it weird how so many people disregard phone games as something for the casual gamer.

I know some people who play games more so than myself, and then play games on their mobiles all the time such as RPG's and turn based strategy games. There's actually some really good ones on mobiles.

So yeah I can see more hardcore games coming to mobiles. You only have to look at the wave of shooters getting more impressive every day, with decent online multi player.

Its not going to take away from consoles though, the biggest games will always need more power and a big screen. Not for the enforceable future anyway.

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

as dedicated gamers i think we dismiss this claim far too quickly. the fact of the matter is that there is a huge market in the mobile industry. interestingly enough, this market doesnt actually affect the hardcore side of the industry. doodlejump may have had 800 billion downloads by now, but it doesnt change the fact that the 3ds is on fire. years after the supposed "mobile gaming takeover" came about, people are still buying consoles, handhelds and software in record numbers. by now us gamers know that the mobile gaming market and the hardcore crowd can in fact coexist.
now in respect to the actual article, i think the point about next gen consoles not having more market because of a of there being too many platforms is kind of bogus. i dont feel like any sort of market share plateau would be because of overcrowdedness. more likely, its about the fact that theres only a certain amount of hardcore gamers in the world. in the hundreds of millions they may be, but it IS limited nonetheless. people choose to game on a mobile platform were never going to be the ones to pick up a controller had mobile gaming never existed. think about it: playing around with a few apps you download makes you a "mobile gamer", whereas being a more conventional "hardcore" gamer involves dropping several hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over the years. a lot of people who are gravitated toward mobile gaming exclusively were probably never going to drop half a grand on a next gen console.

[Grimhammer00]

Wtf! BoF new installment is a mobile game?! Oh go f yourselves! Lol

[PablitoPaperito]

Why are you people so elitists towards mobile gaming?

I like to be able to play everywhere no matter what.
And the only device I always carry with me at all times (same as 90% of the world) is my smartphone.

[drizzom]

There are a number of issues that will never put smartphone games on the same level or relevance as console games in my eyes.

The thing about mobile gaming for me is that it will never have the same capability of the consoles. Because of things like the lack of actual tactile button controls and immediate feedback there is simply a limit on the types of games it can create. For example I can never hope to see a fighting game on the level of Street Fighter 4 or an action game like Bayonetta on smartphones. Sure they can "put it on smartphones" but the engaging experience would be so severely nerfed because of the flat touchscreen UI. It wouldn't be entertaining anymore.

Its true that there is a large market for smartphone games. This means that developers will go where there is a huge market so they can profit. But the reason many gamers are against it is because they dont want to see their favorite devs leave consoles and make games for a device that is limited in the types of engaging games it can create. We'd like to keep a wider range of possibilites for the types of games that can be created. Skill based games like Street Fighter and Devil May Cry would be impossible.

However all this is just from one angle of the picture. Theres the whole monetization issue with smartphones thats a whole nother can of worms. "Free to Play" pretty much means that there will be a "Fee to Pay". With consoles, gamers put down money for a game and never have to see that cashier again. They are free to enjoy the game without any interruptions. With Smartphones, that cashier is now living inside your pocket and goes with you wherever you go. The moment something catches your fancy it'll pop out and say "Gotta pay for that.". Some games are built around this horrible practice and because of it, you can never truly enjoy the game because you KNOW sooner or later its going to ask you to buy something. You just dont know when. So you change your playstyle to avoid it...You shouldn't have to do that with a game.

Its not elitism. Smartphone games have real problems that the devs are hoping will just vanish if they ignore it.

Years later the problem hasn't budged an inch.

[Ngai]

iPad? lol i think he meant Mobile Gaming.

[BattleTorn]

Any developer who would say that is clearly more interested in $$$ and not interested in how deep their experience is.

[Agent_hitman]

Funny, he compare a Tablet powered by a mobile processor to a Cnsole powered by powerful APU 1.84TF computational power lol.