In 1983, the video game market crashed headlong into the ground. The crash was brought about by an excess of poorly developed software - mostly badly implemented knock-offs of successful ideas. Thankfully, recovery was swift, publishers learned that consumers aren't (all) stupid, and now we've come full circle and find ourselves in the era of the App Store, a mechanism that has played a huge part in reinvigorating the single man team so common 30 years ago, and its associated vim. But with the barriers to entry so generously lowered, a torrent of lazy programming was also assured - one which has all but drowned the market with plentiful bespoke and copycat tat. Though increasingly mitigated by improving search functionality, the App Store remains a precarious place to navigate for the uninitiated.
Apple’s asperous approval process doesn’t help: so flustered are they over the removal of crudity and ‘pinch to zoom’ mechanics from third party submissions, there appears to be no concern whatsoever for the proliferation of libellously comparable, bug ridden, or simply unfinished software on their servers. Spend some time with Karnak Attack or Kick-A*s: The Game (their star, not I Am The Manta’s) and you’d be forgiven for vowing never to pay for another App again. One would hope that the discerning audience Apple aims to court with their a*pirational products would be somewhat less offended by profanity or mammarial exposure than they would by the loss of even 59p to yet another game unfit for release.
Of course, canting from his soapbox, Jobs might well point out that user reviews, featured apps, and Lite versions offset the risk of a duff purchase, and for the most part he’d be right. But both of the aforementioned app disasters were featured, and neither offer a Lite version. Despite such disparity, the mine field can be navigated easily by a seasoned gamer, aware of shovelware tropes and traps – casual convertees may not be so lucky, however. And that market continues to expand apace, showing no signs of waning, having already propelled Apple to the position of most valuable tech company in the world.
This huge success is due in no small part to desirability of Apple branded products, which place far less feet wrong than their third party applications do (indeed, you could only prise I Am The Manta’s 3GS from his cold, dead hands). The upshot of such popularity is a captive audience, resigned to autocratic governance, who, having made their hardware decision, are locked into using one service (witness too, iTunes apparent disdain for its users).
Whilst the App Store is partitioned from the rest of the retail sector, Apple would do well to consider the events of ’83 and take seriously the possibility of their own microcosmic crash. The rapid ascension of Android to the position of genuine competitor, along with Apple’s insistence on first party dev tools and refusal to embrace flash, could well see jaded users and developers alike migrate to other pastures. Market dominance, no matter how assured, is never a guarantee of continued good fortune (even Sony managed to fall from grace five years ago), and despite the iPhone’s genuine contribution to the gaming landscape with titles such as Rolando, Drop7 and Flight Control, the deluge of substandard alternatives devalue Apple's achievements.
In the wake of the iPhone 4's announcement, and the iPad's building momentum, there is still a sense that Jobs rates games somewhere between porn and flash (you can decide for yourself which of these resides lower on this barometer) - indeed, Game Center wasn't even mentioned during the WWDC keynote yesterday. Despite the famed stability of their products, Apple may well be heading for turbulent times in the gaming sector if they don't display greater respect for the consumers so enamoured of their potential.
With Arkane Austin no more and Lyon living for who knows how long, the superb Dishonored is in serious danger; Microsoft cannot be trusted.
I love the Dishonored series so much and really want Dishonored 3. Microsoft better not screw this up.
I mean, I think the fans will probably kill Arkane Lyon by cooking up reasons to hate whatever they do next without playing it. I've never seen a game so artificially disliked as Deathloop.
Lol, why don't we just say, we are worried about all studios owned by MS now. They will keep closing studios until they have none left ...🙄
A renowned industry insider has suggested the rumored PlayStation May 2024 showcase featuring Silent Hill 2 could happen this week.
Bogus!
Why would Sony do that and how would this benefit them?
1) It would piss off their media partners (IGN, Gamespot, Edge, etc.) since they would have to allocate resources fast to cover the event.
2) Risk of not having great coverage or proper coverage from the various source
3) It could give the impression that they are not confident in their own stuff.
4) They would miss the chance to hype the event losing viewers and losing free marketing time.
Again I'm calling it bogus unless it's a small showcase before the big one or because they want to announce that Hellbalde 2 is also coming on PS5.
As far as I can remember, they typically give a week heads up for these sorts of things.
Last year it was a weeks notice.
https://blog.playstation.co...
May 17th announcement for may 24th show.
Nintendo always tweets that a direct is happening tomorrow but no one cares.
Sony gives a week or days of notice and we get anti sony type fake outrage like this.
But good luck trying trying to get some Sony hate going...
You just mention it!
Sony gives a week in advance NOT just a couple of days.
So I fail to see what Sony's hate movement I'm trying to start when it's a basic business strategy to not piss off your partners (ask Sega).
And I doubt it's hate to ask how it would benefit Sony in doing so.
@Versus
Huh? What?
Bro you really should relax, if what you read was some kinda negative against Sony.... seriously, is that what you got from the comments?
Bro, he was debunking the rumor, and gave perfectly good reasons why it would be unlikely, and your Nintendo Direct comparison is different, as this is supposed to be a BIG Sony showcase, not a surprise 20 min direct, and Sony 's pattern has been one week.
Slow down warmonger.
@thesoftware730
"1) It would piss off their media partners (IGN, Gamespot, Edge, etc.) since they would have to allocate resources fast to cover the event."
That is implying Sony is preventing them from doing their job properly therefore negatively affecting their business...but i guess that's a reach in your mind?
And it's not like they need that many resources to cover the stream. They just need 3 people to react to the stream live and make some easy articles made up mostly of summaries of Sony provided press releases. They would have enough time to "prepare" if it was announced with one days notice.
@Versus
" That is implying Sony is preventing them from doing their job properly therefore negatively affecting their business...but i guess that's a reach in your mind"
No, it simply implies that some media all over the world might (keyword MIGHT) not properly cover the event like having proper articles for each game announced, or having a proper preshow. maybe some popular YouTubers won't have time to prepare or simply your local newspaper doing an article on tech and game.
So why would Sony take a chance?
What benefit would that give them?
Before I get tons of replies for Sony given a week in advance, my initial comments are related to the notion that the Show could happen this week as the title mentions.
Now to be fair the complete article mentions that Jeff said the Show could happen later in May giving time for Sony to give the normal 7-day notice.
Again not trying to start a negative thing here just thinking that it's bogus that Sony will have a show this week
Yeah as much as I’d like to hear what sony’s 1st parties have cooked, it’s not their style to shadow drop a showcase.
Still waiting for ghost of tsushima 2, I’m ready whenever man..
Going in with no expectations but likely will see something that resonates with me.
Here is a look at the new Joker Trailer. Warner Bros. Games today released a new MultiVersus trailer revealing the first look at gameplay for The Joker, who will join the roster as a playable character when the upcoming free-to-play platform fighter videogame launches on May 28th.
I'm interested in your point but i don't know economics well enough to understand how Apple having shovelware could lead to instability... if people buy apps and have enough bad experiences with them, they will eventually lose confidence in the app store leading to investors doing the same? Is that what you're saying?
Hi aj2009,
Yes, that is a good summary of the situation. Obviously, it would take a great deal of bad experiences to generate something as big as a downturn in Apple's fortunes, but it is not outside the realms of possibility.
At any rate, they certainly need to start looking more closely at their approval process.