Comments on: Shadowgun Review

By: Justin Joseph

Justin Joseph — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 11:36:22 +0000

Thanks a lot for taking a moment to drop by and share your reaction here, it’s greatly appreciated :) I did enjoy your work as S.A.R.A., and am pleased that you like my opinion on it.

By: Danielle Crosbie

Danielle Crosbie — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 01:03:23 +0000

Just got word of this review recently. Thanks for the nod on S.A.R.A. not annoying you. I’m the voice of S.A.R.A. :-)

By: Justin Joseph

Justin Joseph — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:59:18 +0000

I’ve seen independent and third party products out there that serve as controller attachments for smartphones at least, but none of them support the actual apps as far as I know. It’s all the emulators that people use. The same thing with Bluetooth controllers. Some people are able to use a PS3 controller, or another device, but they support the same thing. Or, if any apps are supported, the list is very small.

I supposed this is ultimately what we get when 1/3 of the market is full of dedicated devices running one OS (iPhone/iOS), versus the other 2/3 that has hardware of all sorts, and varying interpretations of the OS (Android).

By: Jarrod Nichol

Jarrod Nichol — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:17:39 +0000

Indeed Justin. There are some devices I’ve looked into like the iCade, but that’s such a niche product it’s insane. It also wouldn’t help with the top tier games you mentioned, it’s specifically designed for the arcade games.

As for the article, it should be up tomorrow if all goes according to plan. I’m getting kind of into Xenoblade now though O_O I plan to get back on the editorial/feature bandwagon, and pump out some more video reviews. Our subscribers are taking a hit because I haven’t done one in a while.

By: Justin Joseph

Justin Joseph — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:11:14 +0000

A keen observation there Jarrod! I’ve thought about what you describe there as well, and I tend to agree. I would prefer in a heartbeat to play these games with a physical controller over the virtual controls. It’s impossible to reproduce sticks and buttons on a touch screen. Sure these sophisticated apps manage to be fun in spite, but I think Modern Combat 3, Infinity Blade and games like Shadowgun would find many more customers if a controller was able to be used. Even though I would’ve quit eventually anyway, I probably would’ve played MC3 online a bit more than I did if I could play with a physical controller. It’s not a good sign in my eyes when we’re sold attachments like the Fling/Fling-mini that claim to fill the desire for a more console-like experience. Well, you can stick whatever you want to a phone or tablet screen, but then you’ll as might as well have a 3DS or Vita. The difference? Pricing. People want to pay as little as possible for their games, and the mobile market allows that, but at the expense of the user experience. It’s just annoying to have to use the same finger to aim your weapon, and subsequently use it. That’s disconnecting. Auto-aim may be nice, but gamers want the satisfaction of performing these actions themselves. I definitely don’t understand why these device manufacturers don’t see the gold mine of opportunity in allowing controller peripherals to be paired or plugged in. It does hurt games like these.

I look forward to your article.

By: Jarrod Nichol

Jarrod Nichol — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:44:57 +0000

Excellent review Justin. I’m currently planning on writing an interesting article asking readers whether or not hardcore games are truly wanted on mobile devices. Games like this, Infinity Blade, etc. look phenomenal, however now that Republique has failed to generate the funds required to develop the game through Kickstarter, the developer has been forced to include a PC and Mac version of the game in hopes of achieving their goal of $500,000 within the next few weeks. To me that speaks volumes. It basically says there aren’t enough hardcore games out there willing to invest in a hardcore mobile offering of this calibur. So I really wonder what it will take to bridge the gap between these hardcore mobile offerings and the typical console gamers we know and love. If these devices had more support for controllers I think tablets could really make an impact on the portable and even console scene, but until that happens I doubt the tens of millions of hardcore gamers will be willing to give up their controllers anytime soon.