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Interview: Indies Weigh In On iPad's Magic Factor
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC]
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January 28, 2010
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[Gamasutra spoke with indie game developers behind Spider, Minigore, Earth Dragon, and Critter Crunch about Apple's latest hype device, the iPad -- and feelings weren't quite as "magical" as Steve Jobs might hope.]
Apple chief exec Steve Jobs touted the newly-unveiled Apple iPad tablet as something more intimate than a computer, even borderline supernatural -- or as he put it more than once during yesterday's briefing, "magical."
But while game makers in general seem to appreciate and even take part in the enthusiasm and the hyperbole that swirls around the typical Apple product announcement, they have practical questions, even doubts, about the iPad.
What about the cost of making games for the iPad? Will the gaming audience be there? Who exactly is the audience? Will it facilitate new types of gameplay? Is this thing just, as some suggest, a giant iPod Touch or iPhone? We surveyed iPhone indie game makers on the new device, and while the excitement was there, it was tempered by real-world concerns.
"The iPad is exciting, but it doesn't strike me as 'must have,' not to the extent the iPod and iPhone were," says Randy Smith, co-owner of Tiger Style games and the designer behind the Independent Games Festival Mobile nominee Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor.
However, he speculated, "If I'm wrong, and the install base is huge and hungry for games, then that's an exciting opportunity for us game developers. The iPad is positioned closer to a gaming console than any other Apple device, and it makes higher production values possible with its larger screen and other technical specs."
Smith notes that the usage of the iPad, with its 9.7 inch multi-touch screen, will be markedly different from the iPhone from a gaming perspective. He expects "more thoughtful, sit-down play," allowing developers to create touch-enabled games that are more than time-killers for use in the grocery store checkout lane. "We can explore a wider range of concepts," with the iPad, he says.
The sheer size of the iPad can also give game makers more space for design, says Kimmo Vihola, managing director at Mountain Sheep, developer of the popular iPhone and iPod Touch game Minigore. Local multiplayer is one element that a few developers already have in mind. "Where iPad may just seem like a giant iPod at first, it actually opens up a host of new possibilities for gaming," he says. "It is going to be great for some of the more casual concepts as the bigger screen makes locally-shared experiences more accessible--imagine gathering around the iPad for board or trivia games."
He adds, "Also, on the iPod you needed to design for simplicity to keep the visual elements both readable and accessible. The iPad makes it possible to put a lot more detail in and together with better handling of large, sweeping gestures, makes genres such as real-time strategy really come to life."
Chaim Gingold, the former Spore team member who released the charming App Store game Earth Dragon, says he has high hopes for the larger touch screen. "The iPhone multi-touch, honestly, was a little disappointing to me as a designer after having played with some larger scale systems, like the perceptive pixel one," he admitted. "Hopefully we can do some more multiple users on the same device multi-touch, see what we're doing, and have more room for playing with stuff. That should be fun to design for, and hopefully lead to some fun software."
Vihola expects that with the price being so competitive with netbooks, Apple is shooting for a wide audience, one that he thinks will "undoubtedly" have a significant impact on the App Store market as a whole.
But while such excitement about the possibilities of gameplay and widening audiences are present among indie developers, there is still that shadow of apprehension, even some jadedness about App Store development, brought on by none other than the iPhone and iPod Touch themselves.
"I'm a bit hesitant about making big statements about the 'revolutionary gaming possibilities' that the iPad may or may not offer for designers," says Kris Piotrowski, creative director and founder of Critter Crunch developer Capy. "When the iPhone and iPod Touch came out, I was absolutely nuts about what the device could do, and what types of games I'd be able to make and play on it."
"But I've had the iPhone since day one and I've downloaded around 200 different games on it, and I'm pretty jaded when it comes to games based on touch controls, and games created for a 99 cents-$2.99 marketplace. I hate nearly every app I own, so the idea of playing bigger, more 'touchy-er' iPhone apps on a shinier iPad isn't incredibly appealing to me at the moment. It's still appealing, but not drooling-type appealing."
But even somewhat iPhone-jaded indies like Piotrowski can't resist the magnetism of a sleek Apple product. "If the touch controls are actually much more responsive, then the possibilities for game creation are quite exciting. Plus it's so shiny and it has an Apple logo on it, so they had me at 'Hello,' basically."
Maybe Jobs really does know a little bit of magic.
[UPDATE: Gamasutra has posted an extensive new feature with more impressions from iPhone game makers, from indie to mainstream.]
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But what excites me more about the iPad is that it's not just a phone, and if I want to write a "grown up" App it doesn't have to be a Twitter client. The iPad might actually make me write an Application and not just a game or an "App".
And who are these guys kidding anyway (the one's acting a bit coy about it all in the interview)? Hmm? They were all downloading the SDK at silly o'clock (just like us), and looking at porting opportunities the next day (just like us).
And we'll *all* be putting our current most popular products out there on the iPad on day one.
Most of us are just bitter we didn't get invited before time like EA. And know that had we been invited with even just 2 weeks notice we would have done a little more than regurgitate rescaled versions of existing iPod games.
:)
Equally, while the iPad will make a nice steering wheel, 3d maneouvering is liable to be less ergonomic on several levels!
This mobility coupled with this usage made the 2 platforms a real must have.
Beside this, appstore was just an additive feature that people could consume without any constraints (except a few bucks). Just like this sweet Martini you're always taking before a gorgeous dinner. You're not looking forward a gorgeous dinner just for the Martini, am I right ? ;)
But now, iPad is totally screwing it all : Jobs is putting these additive features to the foreground, expecting them to become primary. And cherry on the cake, taking off any real mobility.
That's it, he wants the iPad to be the ultimate home portable multimedia device.
Home + ultimate + portable + multimedia is not what everybody needs, unlike a phone or a music player.
That's why I think the appstore won't find that much of audience with the iPad.
And worst of all, I really don't think the majority of gamers would bother playing iPad games, because a 10 times stronger PC / console is just standing 3 meters ahead.
In short, I don't think the profit on the iPad will be made with games.
Who wants to write that app for me? I have $.99! Thanks.
Will traditional AAA games or traditional casual games work with the iPad? No. This is a whole new device, like the iPod, and requires special thinking about this whole new audience. The iPad throws a wrench in it even further, with 50 year old housewives with no interest in an iPhone suddenly trading their Kindle in for a full-color fuller-function iPad. All people need is one reason to start using it, then they'll find themselves using it all the time after they get it. I didn't think I needed my iPod Touch, but now I can't imagine living without one for its handy portable-computer features. Apple's tech is sticky, and they know that. eBooks are one way to get people onto an iPad. Comparisons to notebooks and netbooks are another way, which is where their Office-rivaling software suite plays. And games are an obvious way given games' success in the App store.
Consider the Microsoft Milan (aka Microsoft Game Table). It's essentially an even bigger iPad but fashioned into a table. Primarily for corporate customers, even if the price point dropped and it reached the level of being consumer targeted, you're not going to play Call of Duty on it, but that doesn't mean it's unsuitable for games, quite the contrary, you just have to design games to the strength of the platform that are targeted at the appropriate market for the audience. Imagine four kids sitting around the table with paintbrushes all painting a virtual scene with their creativity and skill and getting points, or a game like Risk with 4 people playing around it but the computer handles all the automation and rules and even adds special effects and tiny cut scenes for important events to dress things up. The iPad isn't quite big enough for those activities, but think more along those lines than traditional shooters with virtual buttons.
Whether it's on iPod, iPad, Milan, or XBLA -- it's all about doing the work to find the right design for the platform and audience. In other words, business as usual.