Still not convinced of the iOS as a handheld?

[gtmtnbiker]

Don't you think that's a bit closed minded?

Agreed. A good game is a good game whether it uses touch controls, Wiimote, PS2 controller, or whatever.

[fastbilly1]

in some games, a controller would never beat nice touch controls.

Can you give some examples? I will admit, my knowledge of iOS titles is low, past the very prominent ones. Odds are I wont own an iOS device, but if a potential job goes through, I will have to have one. There is no version of Pcam for Android, and it saves a couple hours of work each day.

[dsheinem]

in some games, a controller would never beat nice touch controls.

Can you give some examples? I will admit, my knowledge of iOS titles is low, past the very prominent ones. Odds are I wont own an iOS device, but if a potential job goes through, I will have to have one. There is no version of Pcam for Android, and it saves a couple hours of work each day.

There's obvious stuff like Angry Birds, the Dark Nebula games, Tiny Wings, Zombie Apocalypse, Jetpack Joyride, and Cut the Rope as well genres which traditionally work well with a mouse (RTS, Castle Defense, etc.). Then there is less obvious stuff like Rage, Dead Space, and the Cave ports which are built with the iOS in mind. Dead Space and Rage are not ports of the original games, they are entirely new games which really take advantage of the touch interface. For other genres...RPGs like Highborn and Swords and Sworcery really do well with touch, and I have enjoyed some tilt-based racing titles (the NFS games are excellent) as well. The idea that any of these aren't up to par with games on NDS or PSP is laughable at best - they are all excellent entries in genres that also appear on those platforms.

[dunpeal2064]

I think the controls are spot-on for the Cave games. You don't have to put your finger in the play area, and you have precision control. I've tried to get the 1cc on Dai Fukkatsu on the 360 port at least ten times and failed. Before ever playing that port, or any other version of the game, I managed to 1cc it on the iPhone using Bomb-style.

So, for people that might find these games a little on the tough side, those ridiculously spot-on controls would be welcome. The only problem with them is that you can move at whatever speed you like, which almost breaks the game. Still, tons of fun, and still not easy to score well in.

Oh, and the first game they are bringing over should be Espgaluda 2. I think this because the iOS mode is now called the "smartphone" mode.

I'm ok with just getting what the iPhone already has though. Mushi Futari would be awesome though.

[YoshiEgg25]

in some games, a controller would never beat nice touch controls.

Can you give some examples? I will admit, my knowledge of iOS titles is low, past the very prominent ones. Odds are I wont own an iOS device, but if a potential job goes through, I will have to have one. There is no version of Pcam for Android, and it saves a couple hours of work each day.

As one that works better with a touchscreen, Elite Beat Agents/Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. There's a freeware PC/iOS (jailbroken) version that someone developed and moving that distance to click with the mouse is a lot tougher than you'd think.

[Inazuma]

Ouendan & Elite Beat Agents were excellent games, but it really was annoying how your hand blocks the screen and you end up missing some notes and failing. You are basically forced to memorize the notes in order to beat that game.

They really should have had a mother fucking practice mode. Even still, those games were the most fun I've ever had with touch screen controls.

Touch screen controls are like motion controls. Generally they are terrible, but depending on the game, they can be superior to pressing buttons.

[fastbilly1]

in some games, a controller would never beat nice touch controls.

Can you give some examples? I will admit, my knowledge of iOS titles is low, past the very prominent ones. Odds are I wont own an iOS device, but if a potential job goes through, I will have to have one. There is no version of Pcam for Android, and it saves a couple hours of work each day.

There's obvious stuff like Angry Birds, the Dark Nebula games, Tiny Wings, Zombie Apocalypse, Jetpack Joyride, and Cut the Rope as well genres which traditionally work well with a mouse (RTS, Castle Defense, etc.). Then there is less obvious stuff like Rage, Dead Space, and the Cave ports which are built with the iOS in mind. Dead Space and Rage are not ports of the original games, they are entirely new games which really take advantage of the touch interface. For other genres...RPGs like Highborn and Swords and Sworcery really do well with touch, and I have enjoyed some tilt-based racing titles (the NFS games are excellent) as well. The idea that any of these aren't up to par with games on NDS or PSP is laughable at best - they are all excellent entries in genres that also appear on those platforms.

I looked at those and titles and they all look like they could be fun. But most of them could be done with a controller just as well as touch pad. ie Angry Birds could easily be done with a controller - it is similar to Scorched Earth and/or DeathTank. However since I have yet to play the titles, I guess my opinion on them is a bit of bunk, so I will try to get to play demos of them next time I am near an iOS device.

However on tilt controls you have lost me. Any game that requires tilting the screen makes me sick to my stomach. This is especially true on the 3ds.

[xan_racketBOY_fan]

I looked at those and titles and they all look like they could be fun. But most of them could be done with a controller just as well as touch pad. ie Angry Birds could easily be done with a controller - it is similar to Scorched Earth and/or DeathTank. However since I have yet to play the titles, I guess my opinion on them is a bit of bunk, so I will try to get to play demos of them next time I am near an iOS device.

However on tilt controls you have lost me. Any game that requires tilting the screen makes me sick to my stomach. This is especially true on the 3ds.

They could be done with controllers, but are they just as intuitive as the touch screen? Angry Birds for example is a downloadable PSN game and playing it on a PSP (haven't played on the PS3) doesn't provide much comfort as its' touch screen counterpart. Just to zoom out and fling your bird across a level requires both shoulder buttons to be pressed, aim with your analog stick, and then the press of the X button - that's four digits versus one. Even games like Dead Space on the iOS play incredibly smooth and responsive (and surprisingly doesn't block the viewing area on my aging iPhone 3G). Granted, I'll choose a traditional controller over touch screen, but when done correctly, the latter can prove comfortable and intuitive.

[fastbilly1]

I looked at those and titles and they all look like they could be fun. But most of them could be done with a controller just as well as touch pad. ie Angry Birds could easily be done with a controller - it is similar to Scorched Earth and/or DeathTank. However since I have yet to play the titles, I guess my opinion on them is a bit of bunk, so I will try to get to play demos of them next time I am near an iOS device.

However on tilt controls you have lost me. Any game that requires tilting the screen makes me sick to my stomach. This is especially true on the 3ds.

They could be done with controllers, but are they just as intuitive as the touch screen? Angry Birds for example is a downloadable PSN game and playing it on a PSP (haven't played on the PS3) doesn't provide much comfort as its' touch screen counterpart. Just to zoom out and fling your bird across a level requires both shoulder buttons to be pressed, aim with your analog stick, and then the press of the X button - that's four digits versus one. Even games like Dead Space on the iOS play incredibly smooth and responsive (and surprisingly doesn't block the viewing area on my aging iPhone 3G). Granted, I'll choose a traditional controller over touch screen, but when done correctly, the latter can prove comfortable and intuitive.

That just sounds like a terrible port. You could easily map Angry Birds to a stick for angle and two button pushes for power - one to start the meter one to stop it. Hey that sounds very familiar to another trajectory game:

[wootcube]

I recently bought an iPhone - was reaaaally leaning towards an Android phone (because of emulators) but finally decided to go with iOS and just enjoy what mobile gaming had to offer (I'd never really tried any "mobile" games before so I was a little apprehensive that it would all be like farmville). I'm so glad I did! I've found a LOT of stuff I enjoy - not just great ports, but exclusives as well.

I thought I would miss the buttons, but I don't. None of the games worth playing feel awkward with touchscreen controls.

The only bad part is navigating iTunes. I hate the fact you can't browse with tabs, and there is virtually no "sort" features if you're trying to search for new games to try. The genius recommendation tool is pretty useless as well (Since you like Game Dev Story...you might like Pretty Pet Salon! wtf?) My favorite games I've found pretty much by chance - #1 time waster for me is Goat Up, which I found only because I decided to search for "goat" in iTunes to see if there were any games about goats. It only had 32 reviews, while the top reviewed (and therefore most popular) games are often really crappy. There doesn't seem to be any well known go-to review sites either - everything is really outdated or too general.

Wasn't there an iPhone game recommendation thread a while back? I can't find it through the search function or bing/google.