Want to keep up with the latest and greatest on the iPhone? You'd better be ready to upgrade every year. But how long can a market like this last?
Whenever a company like Microsoft or Sony whips up a new peripheral like the Move, you hear the same thing, "It's a bad idea to split the market."
That was what was running through my mind as newly-minted Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the iPhone 4S, and Epic showed off Infinity Blade 2. It was one line in particular that stuck with me, "[Infinity Blade 2] is only going to run like this with iPhone 4S."
Now imagine if Microsoft or Sony released a new Xbox 360 or PS3 SKU with an upgraded chipset, and Gears of War 3 was sub-30 frames per second on everything but the system with that chipset. There would be riots in the street, right? Accusations that Microsoft is trying to nickel and dime us to death?
Well, that scenario is somewhat similar to what's happening with Infinity Blade 2 and the iPhone 4S (and the iPad 2 before it). Epic rightly wants to push the hardware to its absolute limit, but that limit changes with each new hardware SKU. That leaves Epic in the awkward position of choosing between making the best-looking game possible, and a game that a large number of people will be able to play without having to deal with a significant performance hit.
Keeping up with the latest and greatest in hardcore iOS gaming often means shelling out some serious cash for annual upgrades, which can be a tough pill to swallow in this lousy economy.
It's the sort of problem that's plagued PC developers for decades, but it's even more pronounced on iOS platforms. A high-quality gaming desktop can frequently be built for less than a thousand dollars, and can last years with the right upgrades. But the performance characteristics of the iPhone and the iPad have changed pretty much every year, which can be problematic if core game development wants to get a real foothold on the platform.
Yeah sure, I can pick up an iPhone 4S and a copy of Infinity Blade 2 for $199; but in two short years, we'll probably be up to the iPhone 5S or something similar. Keeping up with the latest and greatest in hardcore iOS gaming often means shelling out some serious cash for annual upgrades, which can be a tough pill to swallow in this lousy economy.
As it is, the distinctions between the various platforms have made things a bit of a mess for iOS gamers. For instance, the recently-released Machinarium is only compatible with the iPad 2, but that didn't stop owners of the original iPad from trying to purchase it. It was enough of a problem that Amanita Design had to put up an explicit warning that Machinarium only runs on the iPad 2.
And did I mention that there was only a one-year gap between the release of the iPad and the iPad 2? Or that the original launched at $499, which is almost enough money to build a mid-range gaming PC?
Want to play Machinarium? You're out of luck if you own the original iPad
Obviously, this is a non-issue for the majority of iOS owners. Many iPhone games are comparatively simple experiences that will run on pretty much everything. But if you want to keep up with the latest and greatest games like Infinity Blade 2, you'd better be ready to shell out some serious cash on an annual basis, as the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 are now demonstrating.
For now, iOS gaming continues to boom. Epic managed to make some $20 million on the first Infinity Blade, and plenty of other games have seen similar success. But on a platform where the latest and greatest can end up obsolete in less than a year, I wonder whether the growth of core game development on the iPhone and iPad has a ceiling.
For the sake of gaming as a whole, I hope not.
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