Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Xboxs and PS3s are still flying off the shelves. I can't foresee the death of hardcore gaming.

People who say that iOS/Android/Windows Phone 7 and Flash-based browser games are the future probably never played "hardcore" titles before.
 
Around the corner ? Sony has been shipping one for months now :

xperia-play-01042011.jpg


Sony is committed to Android and even has a "Playstation" certification program for its devices that run on Android. They are now even shipping a "Playstation" tablet :

http://store.sony.ca/webapp/wcs/sto...0803&langId=200&productId=8198552921666378720



So for one, Sony is fully embracing this revolution and Android doesn't have it "around the corner", it has it right now.

OK, I get it, it is now, not "around the corner", you don't have to repeat yourself my compression is quite good still ;) .

I blame Sony marketing for me not knowing this was on the market now.

Regardless, it is more proof that portable gaming as we know it, is continuing to advance into the mobile phone space. I am sure we will continue to have handheld-consoles for some time, however I doubt their populairity will rival the smartphone market much going forward.


Xboxs and PS3s are still flying off the shelves. I can't foresee the death of hardcore gaming.

People who say that iOS/Android/Windows Phone 7 and Flash-based browser games are the future probably never played "hardcore" titles before.

I wouldn't consider those hardcore either. True, mindblowing gaming experience still rests in the hands of PC gaming. Though, the point of discussion I am involved with , is the handheld-consoles not PC / or home console gaming.
 
OK, I get it, it is now, not "around the corner", you don't have to repeat yourself my compression is quite good still ;) .

I blame Sony marketing for me not knowing this was on the market now.

I'd blame myself if I didn't know about it by now. Seriously, this thing has been all over the tech press, Engadget had access to an early prototype before it was announced and did about 20 articles and hands-on on it, it's on billboards all around here and carrier deals have come with a lot of publicity. ;)

Don't stick to Apple sites alone. This thing is already old and worn, it was the big news back in January/February.

I wouldn't consider those hardcore either. True, mindblowing gaming experience still rests in the hands of PC gaming. Though, the point of discussion I am involved with , is the handheld-consoles not PC / or home console gaming.

I've done both in my life. PC Gaming in the 90s (with the endless, yearly upgrade cycle. I saw the birth of 3D Acceleration as it was known back then and was one of the early adopters with my original 4 MB 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics card) and I can tell you PC or Console, both can be as hard core. PC gaming was mostly about hardcore money. Console games were as complex and rich (if not richer sometimes, with the advent of the FPS, PC Gaming took quite the nose dive in complexity and richness of the titles) and yes, as hardcore.

I knew this one guy who played through the original Phantasy Star on the SEGA master system. Now you'll tell me it wasn't hardcore, but really, this guy wrote, litterally, the hint book. In the span of a month or so he played through the entire game and documented every dungeon, drew every map, calculated hit point values for bosses, documented their attack patterns, etc...

Now you want to tell me this guy wasn't hardcore because he had a gamepad in his hand rather than a keyboard ? Hardly. Hardcore games are simply complex and rich games. They can be made for any gaming device, be it the good old wooden table top (yes, board or P&P RPG gaming is gaming), the small dedicated hand held device, the home console, the PC/Mac or heck, even iOS and Android. There is really nothing stopping someone from writing a complex and rich game for our mobile phones.

I just got done playing through Phantasy Star II on my iPhone. I had done about 50 attempts on my Genesis to finish this POS title since I've been 12, never having the patience to sit through it (you think Final Fantasy requires grinding ?) yet I finally did on my iPhone this last winter. Grinding sitting in the bus makes it much less of a patience eroding act. Then there's the Zenonia games which are pretty long winded and complex themselves, with rich story lines. Really, there is no limiting factor for hardcore gaming on iOS or Android.
 
Last edited:
Don't stick to Apple sites alone. This thing is already old and worn, it was the big news back in January/February.

That explains most of it right there. That time of the year is usually really busy for me personally. So my exposure to tech news is limited to a few podcasts I listen to, and (shockingly) this site ;) . That said, I usually frequent Engadget and Giz, but somehow missed that item.

I don't recall that phone being marketed heavily here, but MN can be a strange state I am told. :eek:

I've done both in my life. PC Gaming in the 90s (with the endless, yearly upgrade cycle. I saw the birth of 3D Acceleration as it was known back then and was one of the early adopters with my original 4 MB 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics card) and I can tell you PC or Console, both can be as hard core. PC gaming was mostly about hardcore money. Console games were as complex and rich (if not richer sometimes, with the advent of the FPS, PC Gaming took quite the nose dive in complexity and richness of the titles) and yes, as hardcore.

I knew this one guy who played through the original Phantasy Star on the SEGA master system. Now you'll tell me it wasn't hardcore, but really, this guy wrote, litterally, the hint book. In the span of a month or so he played through the entire game and documented every dungeon, drew every map, calculated hit point values for bosses, documented their attack patterns, etc...

Now you want to tell me this guy wasn't hardcore because he had a gamepad in his hand rather than a keyboard ? Hardly. Hardcore games are simply complex and rich games. They can be made for any gaming device, be it the good old wooden table top (yes, board or P&P RPG gaming is gaming), the small dedicated hand held device, the home console, the PC/Mac or heck, even iOS and Android. There is really nothing stopping someone from writing a complex and rich game for our mobile phones.

I just got done playing through Phantasy Star II on my iPhone. I had done about 50 attempts on my Genesis to finish this POS title since I've been 12, never having the patience to sit through it (you think Final Fantasy requires grinding ?) yet I finally did on my iPhone this last winter. Grinding sitting in the bus makes it much less of a patience eroding act. Then there's the Zenonia games which are pretty long winded and complex themselves, with rich story lines. Really, there is no limiting factor for hardcore gaming on iOS or Android.

All valid points, that I totally respect. My comment was my personal opinion (hence the I) as my experience with what I would consider hardcore games also differs. Having grown up around people that built, and upgraded systems for the sole purpose of maximizing gaming potential, I have just labeled them hardcore, as compared to me (a gamer), who simply loves his consoles. To me, a dedicated gaming PC has always been the pinnacle of a video game experience. That said, you make a great point that you can get equivalent levels of immersion across the board in many other formats. Perhaps I need to look into changing my definition of hardcore just a little. ;)

In the end, it appears we both agree in there being a big future in Smart Phone gaming, despite what some have said on this forum.
 
To me, a dedicated gaming PC has always been the pinnacle of a video game experience. That said, you make a great point that you can get equivalent levels of immersion across the board in many other formats. Perhaps I need to look into changing my definition of hardcore just a little. ;)

Don't mistake the hardcore wallet openers with the hardcore gamers. I knew people who built rigs so expensive you were left to wonder why they lived in a rat infested appartment, yet the only title their rig ever ran was some version of Quake on the lowest settings possible so as not to harm their online performance...

That's not hardcore gaming, that's just hardcore being brain dead.

Gaming is about the game, not the rig that runs it. In fact, the "PC Gamers" that are just about building rigs are not hardcore gamers, they're just hardcore PC part buyers. I learned after a few years wasted in that circle. Now I'm much more modest in my choice of hardware and if I really want to play a complex title, I usually just buy one for my 300$ console. It's as immersing and sometimes much richer (the Japanese really make better games than Americans) than the PC titles that require these massive rigs.
 
Why so condecending? It has been clearly obvious for the last 10 years or so that people aren't interested in video calling. The feature has been around for about that time but people haven't been using it. Not even Apple will be able to change that.

Yeah except people are using it all the time on iOS devices now... Amazing eh?

Phones did a lot of things before the iPhone came out just nobody used any of those things.
 
Wow, your denial is on a truly stunning level if you think Apple offers value and doesn't 'over charge' for it's products! I bet you believe every Apple product has some magic in it that makes it cost more then the equivalent competing product?

I'm not sure I understand this...at all. You get what you pay for, and Apple is priced just fine. It's not like the freebie, and BOGO android phones are upto par with the iPhone, and it's not like the dual core 4G android phones are cheap...

In fact, the Android tablets (LOL), are ridiculously overpriced and that explains their paltry, anemic sales. iPad is priced just right. People who want to hate on Apple for zero reason often bring up this overpricing crap.

Is the bionic really worth $300 subsidized? And $650+ off contract? Not sure how people can be so misinformed.
 
I'm not sure I understand this...at all. You get what you pay for, and Apple is priced just fine. It's not like the freebie, and BOGO android phones are upto par with the iPhone, and it's not like the dual core 4G android phones are cheap...

In fact, the Android tablets (LOL), are ridiculously overpriced and that explains their paltry, anemic sales. iPad is priced just right. People who want to hate on Apple for zero reason often bring up this overpricing crap.

Is the bionic really worth $300 subsidized? And $650+ off contract? Not sure how people can be so misinformed.

Oh dear god. Please tell me not everyone on this forum is this much of a fanboy.
 
I'm not sure I understand this...at all. You get what you pay for, and Apple is priced just fine. It's not like the freebie, and BOGO android phones are upto par with the iPhone, and it's not like the dual core 4G android phones are cheap...

In fact, the Android tablets (LOL), are ridiculously overpriced and that explains their paltry, anemic sales. iPad is priced just right. People who want to hate on Apple for zero reason often bring up this overpricing crap.

Is the bionic really worth $300 subsidized? And $650+ off contract? Not sure how people can be so misinformed.

Why wouldnt it be? It's got better components than an iphone.
 
And what subset of components makes it overpriced?

I never said it was. I was just answering a question.

But whether something is overpriced depends on what people are willing to pay for it, not the quality of a subset of its components.
 
Oh dear god. Please tell me not everyone on this forum is this much of a fanboy.

Odd there was nothing at all fan boyish about his post. It was an accurate analysis of the mobile market. Instead of an ad hominem attack, why not tell us what you disagree with?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.