Thunderbolt: "While the iPhone has become just as legitimate a gaming device as Nintendo’s and Sony’s portables, Android still struggles to find its place. There are a few major reasons why Android is still lacking."
"Android struggles to find its place" lol what??? Android has the most marketshare of any mobile os and it continually goes up while others get smalller.
Gaming wise I think android will be behind iOS/apple because there is no hardware minimum and too many versions of android. I like that android has more choices when it comes to picking a device but I dislike the fact only a few phones can run med to high-end games. I got a LG ally personally its great for running low end emulators (snes,gbc&a,sega) and low-end games but everything else not so much.
What you are describing is called fragmentation and is a real problem that will continue to exacerbate. Do you notice a lot of freezing issues or bugs in apps that doesn't affect others?
From a user perspective, iOS device is by far much more user friendly than Android devices. From a consumer standpoint though, I can see to some degree Android being better.
I am typing on the asus transformer prime as we speak. The video i posted shows its gaming ability is much better than anything on iOS.
One of my favorite things to do with this tabet is to play Zelda ocarina of time with a high res texture pack on my hdtv in 1080p and a bluetooth ps3 controller. My ipad 2 is jealous of this android beast!
Many of the iOS video games are also on the android market like angry birds and cut the rope for example. Almost every game that I have on my iPad 2 is also on my Transformer Prime.
What set's the Prime above the iPad is the ability to play emulators and roms like SNES, Genesis, N64 and PSone. Not only that but the fact that I can tether a PS3 controller wirelessly with bluetooth or plug it in with the full size USB port on the keyboard dock.
If you disagree I would love for you to explain why so that I can see where you are coming from. I am all for having a real conversation about these devices and not just random fanboy disagrees.
Don't get me wrong, Android's fragmentation really doesn't help developers who are trying to ensure that their games run smoothly on most phones. Also, developing for iOS is pretty developer friendly. There's not much work to be done to ensure that your application is compatible across all iOS devices. Thus all in all, you get a very nice user experience on iOS. Fruit Ninja is a good example of a good experience on iOS, which I am afraid didn't transfer well over to Android.
However, I don't think the state of Android is that dire. In the Android 10p sale, I got some absolutely fantastic games, which were high quality. I hadn't purchased anything from the Android store until that sale and now I would be more inclined to. Jelly Defence for instance is a high quality game that I am enjoying. For reference state, I am running these on a Galaxy S2.
Hopefully Ice Cream Sandwich does what it is suppose to do and pulls together Android and reduces the fragmentation. I predict that you'll find much more high quality applications and games arriving on Android in 2012 as the big manufactures start pushing out their Ice Cream Sandwich devices and the uptake increases.
i think android gaming would do alot better if more phone adopted the playstation certified program (or something similar) because it would be a good store and would give some guarantees that the phone will run the apps they sell
There were thousands of Symbian and Java ME games long before the iPhone came along. Many of those have since been ported to iPhone and Android.
The main problem with Android with regards to gaming is the same as the problem that affected Java ME, too much diversity and fragmentation. If you want to make money you need to target the lowest common denominator which means not making the best use of the device.
I'm loving it. Sure the games aren't an uber premium standard...but with time they could be.
Also all my games are free. It's hard to complain about the quality of a free service.
In a few years when the phones do have ( as an average ) the minimal hardware required to do full 3d RPG games etc this complaint will go away. Also as the popularity of android phones increases the cost of the phone hardware per unit decreases and so we get better and cheaper phones for gaming.
It's only a matter of time until android gaming really takes off.
when it comes to a point where sony and/nintendo feel that they need to release a handheld with full phone capabilities they will. (im not talking about the xperia, i mean a real Playstation phone that is released as Sony's offer to handheld gaming in that current Gen.)
Regardless of if iphone or android gaming "takes off", how long can those apps...i mean "games" last. And ok, if the phone's become more powerful to play higher quality games, control is still an issue. On top of that, sony and nintendo have an immense library of 1st party IP's to choose from..............
I'm sorry but I just can't take these "phone gaming" articles serious. People who buy an iPhone don't buy it to play games, to them it's just an addition to having a nice phone. A 3DS/Vita's main reason for purchase is for gaming. Web browsing, media playback etc etc that stuff is just extra.....................
i have the xperia play and as a gaming machine its awesome, nearly all the emulators work on it and the mobile games themselves are getting better plus the controller makes it so much better to play most mobile games with.
phone-wise it does everything you expect from a modern phone except the camera aint too good. even my brother who has iphone4 wished he'd got one of these.but ios gets everything first and has some of the better exclusives (infinity blade).
I agree that there are too many versions of android tho. saying that i would always choose a 3ds or vita if i was just after gaming, mobile phones still cant touch em.
Oo! Now Android's getting a kicking, where does it end?
There's only Microsoft and Apple left, now which one is going to turn out to be in the pockets of the media?
Gaming wise I think android will be behind iOS/apple because there is no hardware minimum and too many versions of android. I like that android has more choices when it comes to picking a device but I dislike the fact only a few phones can run med to high-end games. I got a LG ally personally its great for running low end emulators (snes,gbc&a,sega) and low-end games but everything else not so much.
Don't get me wrong, Android's fragmentation really doesn't help developers who are trying to ensure that their games run smoothly on most phones. Also, developing for iOS is pretty developer friendly. There's not much work to be done to ensure that your application is compatible across all iOS devices. Thus all in all, you get a very nice user experience on iOS. Fruit Ninja is a good example of a good experience on iOS, which I am afraid didn't transfer well over to Android.
However, I don't think the state of Android is that dire. In the Android 10p sale, I got some absolutely fantastic games, which were high quality. I hadn't purchased anything from the Android store until that sale and now I would be more inclined to. Jelly Defence for instance is a high quality game that I am enjoying. For reference state, I am running these on a Galaxy S2.
Hopefully Ice Cream Sandwich does what it is suppose to do and pulls together Android and reduces the fragmentation. I predict that you'll find much more high quality applications and games arriving on Android in 2012 as the big manufactures start pushing out their Ice Cream Sandwich devices and the uptake increases.
i think android gaming would do alot better if more phone adopted the playstation certified program (or something similar) because it would be a good store and would give some guarantees that the phone will run the apps they sell
iPhone didn't do it first
There were thousands of Symbian and Java ME games long before the iPhone came along. Many of those have since been ported to iPhone and Android.
The main problem with Android with regards to gaming is the same as the problem that affected Java ME, too much diversity and fragmentation. If you want to make money you need to target the lowest common denominator which means not making the best use of the device.