Evolving Markets and Target Platforms

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I know there's been a big fuss over the whole fragmentation business and now people are saying that it doesn't exist. But then you have things like Flash for example. It is listed as available for all Android versions 2.2 and up - but the reality is that there are many Android 2.2 phones without the necessary hardware support. And not long ago there were a lot of phones that could've been capable, but ran only 2.1 or older versions of Android because the hardware manufacturer chose to edit each version of android to suit their image. This 'editing' apparently takes months, yet the active community can whip up new roms in a matter of days, usually.

A guy I sit next to at work has been waiting about a year for Sony to release the 2.2 upgrade for his Xperia so this aspect is part of the limited knowledge I mentioned earlier which makes it seem a bit of a mess.

I appreciate Google wanting to keep things open, however I do think a bit more regulation would be hugely beneficial to everyone. Google themselves, the hardware manufacturers, developers and the end user who gets a more uniform and less frustrating experience. However....

Things are looking better now as Google is starting to ask more from the manufacturers - they are being pushed towards supporting the phones they sell for at least 18 months and maybe setting some time limits as to how fast the update process (= the editing done by the hw manufacturer) should be.

...I wasn't aware of that.  Well if they are reacting to the current limitations and have manufacturers support then that can only be a good thing.

We all know it will eventually dominate the market in terms of software revenue and not just hardware sales and I'm definitely keen to develop for it because it's much more accessible than iOS is for me right now.

That'd be why I love Android so much; I just bought a Huawei Ideos X5 a few weeks ago. XD

And we have our first playtester lol

[JDog053]

Does Monkey compile to the Windows Phone? my HD7 could do with a workout

[las6]

I can playtest too with my Android, although it's pretty lowend phone specs-wise. I think it has a ARMv6 cpu, which is ancient tech compared to the ones they use now. Other than that, it's a sweet phone - stylish too to boot (single-piece aluminium body & OLED display).

That'd be why I love Android so much; I just bought a Huawei Ideos X5 a few weeks ago. XD

Congrats on the new phone, that one's a steal. I hear it's beating down some 500+eur phones in many benchmarks. I think a friend at work got that one too, but it's his third Android phone already so I might remember wrong.

speaking of which, I basically got my whole workplace to use android. We bought 3 cheap android phones for business use and pretty much everyone got a personal one too. It might've had something to do with the operator deals (about 7-15eur / month for a regular android / top-of-the-line HTC phone & unlimited, full-speed data on two-year contract).

We designed an app for Android that works as a automated SMS message sender that is connected to our sales system. Now our customers get SMS messages whenever their order is ready to be picked up. And best of all, we don't have to use some expensive service for this - Just 120€ for the phone (any android phone running at least 1.6 will do) and I think about 10€ month for a "unlimited sms" -plan. You can also use the phone as a phone while the service is running, so that's nice too.

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Does Monkey compile to the Windows Phone? my HD7 could do with a workout

Yes.  It outputs XNA code which of course you can compile for PC, 360 or W7M

I can playtest too with my Android, although it's pretty lowend phone specs-wise. I think it has a ARMv6 cpu, which is ancient tech compared to the ones they use now. Other than that, it's a sweet phone - stylish too to boot (single-piece aluminium body & OLED display).

Cool   I haven't written much code yet so testing is obviously some way off, although I will need to test various aspects of my game engine on various platforms as I build them to see how they perform before I work on any actual game.

And a "pretty lowend phone specs-wise" is exactly the sort of hardware I need to test on really.  I think I'll pick myself up a cheap second hand one just for that purpose

[JDog053]

Does Monkey compile to the Windows Phone? my HD7 could do with a workout

Yes.  It outputs XNA code which of course you can compile for PC, 360 or W7M

Colour me interested, not that I wasn't already

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Colour me interested, not that I wasn't already

The only drawback with using a language that targets multiple platforms is the amount of testing necessary so I'll be more grateful than ever of any help.

And even if the code does behave exactly the same on every target, I still really need hardware I can test on myself to fine tune any control issues, text readability etc.

[TheKhakinator]

I am yet to play a decent android game; would be AWESOME to have a BZ one.

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I am yet to play a decent android game; would be AWESOME to have a BZ one.

It would.  Maybe I could find somebody to write one. 

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Another sign that things are a changing...

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/01/games-mentioned-in-google-plus-source-code/

Given that Google+ is a rival for Facebook it was inevitable it would feature games given how successful they have been on there.  Zynga!

It doesn't appeal to me right now, however if G+ takes off, which it will, it's a potentially huge market that would dwarf iPhone, Android and a whole bunch of other platforms put together.

[TheKhakinator]

Another sign that things are a changing...

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/01/games-mentioned-in-google-plus-source-code/

Given that Google+ is a rival for Facebook it was inevitable it would feature games given how successful they have been on there.  Zynga!

It doesn't appeal to me right now, however if G+ takes off, which it will, it's a potentially huge market that would dwarf iPhone, Android and a whole bunch of other platforms put together.

I'm on G+ now, PM me if you'd like an invite, anyone.

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I'm on G+ now, PM me if you'd like an invite, anyone.

Is it any good?  Doubt I'd bother for personal use, although I might set up a Binary Zoo account assuming it's suitable for that sort of thing?

[T_M_C]

Yeh, it's ridiculous how succesful Farmville has been.

I've never used Facebook or Myspace.

And i only have a few contacts on Msn messenger, compared to the hundreds i used to have.

In fact, i hardly do any social networking now, apart from posting here.

So, any new Social Networks hold little interest for me, but anything Google related is almost guaranteed to be succesful.
They have acumin and financial clout.

TMC

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Yeh, it's ridiculous how succesful Farmville has been.

There's a good lesson for us to learn from that and a quick glance at the highest grossing games on iPhone/iPad shows the same thing.  Give the full game away for free and make your money through completely optional in-game purchases and unlocks.

Most importantly, don't cripple the game for those that don't want to pay. Even if they aren't spending money, they can help spread the word to those that might.

Just restrict your in-game purchases to shortcuts (or cheats as we would have called them).  Use them for buying in-game currency, unlocking weapons, buying XP etc.

[T_M_C]

More and more games are using the Micro transactions revenue model now.

Even World Of Warcraft is free to play up until level 20 now.

I thought i would never see that.   
Given that Wow monthly revenue is still in the multi millions.

I don't see it being the way all games will go, but it does look like it's becomming more mainstream.  Especially for those platforms you mention.


It's quite an effective way to beat piracy.

Give the game way free, which can be freely copied and played but get your income from other means.

And i much prefer micro transactions over in game adverts as a revenue stream.

The issue then becomes, is the game crippled by leaving out the paid for options.


I quite like the Wow model.

Which is basically a 'Try before you buy' model.

Play up until level 20 for free, then purchase the game if you want to continue playing at higher levels.
Which opens up more content and options.


The free to play model for Mmorpg's is fast becomming the mainstream now.

It seems every few weeks, an announcement is made that this or that Mmorpg is going free to play.

TMC

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It's quite an effective way to beat piracy.

You know I'd never even thought of that and it's obviously a huge benefit now you've mentioned it.

Whatever the reasons it's great to see the industry trying new pricing models rather than sticking with the old fixed retail prices.