Gameloft Comparing iPhone to Android.

cababah said:

that's interesting, i wonder if it has anything to do with the graphics chip?

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scaredpoet said:

WHAT graphics chip?


Android as a platform has limited (if any) control over what handset vendors use for their graphics chips. And what HTC uses may be different from what Motorola or LG uses. Vendors can (and are) making the modifications to their installation for their handset to make it work they way they want it to. And so are carriers.

And therein lies a huge, huge problem for developers. You can't rely on every Android phone acting similarly enough for your app to work flawlessly, every time. It may not be so big a deal if all your app does is balance a checkbook, give you an rss feed or make funny fart noises. But if it's a game, well, things get a little more dicey because you don't know where the buttons are going to be from one handset to the next, or how one handset's interface tweaks will affect what you're trying to do when rendering polygons.

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nateo200 said:

This. While I LOVE android they need to set what hardware they want for the software....It only makes sense. And it's present as some android apps are having trouble rendering to the droids new resolution.

Click to expand...

scaredpoet said:

WHAT graphics chip?


Android as a platform has limited (if any) control over what handset vendors use for their graphics chips. And what HTC uses may be different from what Motorola or LG uses. Vendors can (and are) making the modifications to their installation for their handset to make it work they way they want it to. And so are carriers.

And therein lies a huge, huge problem for developers. You can't rely on every Android phone acting similarly enough for your app to work flawlessly, every time. It may not be so big a deal if all your app does is balance a checkbook, give you an rss feed or make funny fart noises. But if it's a game, well, things get a little more dicey because you don't know where the buttons are going to be from one handset to the next, or how one handset's interface tweaks will affect what you're trying to do when rendering polygons.

Click to expand...

mkrishnan said:

Yeah, I think if your app is Facebook or Twitter or Google Maps, it doesn't really make a big difference. But Gameloft is clearly in a very different space.

I think Microsoft's claim that apps will not differentiate platforms will be true in the very limited sense that things like Facebook will be available at comparable levels of quality across most major smartphones. I think it's not true in the sense that development of creative new app ideas and of games in general will not commoditize unless there are significant changes in the structures of the WinMo (if it continues to exist) and Android worlds that would allow developers to have a reference platform against which to design sophisticated games.

Even besides Gameloft, one of the prominent things about the games on the iPhone are that there are numerous runaway successes by independents, both inside the industry (e.g. ngmoco which was started by veterans but as a new project) and from relative outsiders (iDracula, Soosiz, etc). That buzz of excitement around development is not going to commoditize unless it dies out on the iPhone (in which case I guess conceivably it could in the sense that no one would have any creative games on their devices). I don't see that happening though.

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