iPad Games (and Apps) Catch All

I started playing Guardian Cross as well my team name is Rockford. My invitation code is BV89319.

SirRockford wrote:

I started playing Guardian Cross as well my team name is Rockford. My invitation code is BV89319.

I'll boot off one of the Randoms and add you into the slots with Cragmyre. If I nail any more Silver Slimes, I'll pass them your way.

I was able to recruit 10 friends ( actually have 13 now ) and get Cerberus. Now just 12 more to get the Lord of the Inferno

Cragmyre wrote:

I was able to recruit 10 friends ( actually have 13 now ) and get Cerberus. Now just 12 more to get the Lord of the Inferno ;)

Bastard

Question from the other side of the pond, where Apple devices are (relatively) a bit more expensive: How do people in US feel about iPad 1 not being able to play most of new titles already (and no iOS6 support)? Is it widely accepted that this is simply how (~2 years?) hardware cycle for iOS devices is?

And no, my friends, I'm absolutely not sour about Bastion.

UCRC wrote:

Question from the other side of the pond, where Apple devices are (relatively) a bit more expensive: How do people in US feel about iPad 1 not being able to play most of new titles already (and no iOS6 support)? Is it widely accepted that this is simply how (~2 years?) hardware cycle for iOS devices is?

And no, my friends, I'm absolutely not sour about Bastion.

Would you expect a 2.5 year old computer (or maybe I should say a 2.5 year old video card) to be able to play the latest and greatest games?

I agree that it sucks, but I don't see any way around it. Apple generally supports 2-3 years worth of devices... how else can you push the envelope with specs without leaving someone behind? 90% (my guestimated figure) of apps will still work with the original iPad.

SommerMatt wrote:
UCRC wrote:

Question from the other side of the pond, where Apple devices are (relatively) a bit more expensive: How do people in US feel about iPad 1 not being able to play most of new titles already (and no iOS6 support)? Is it widely accepted that this is simply how (~2 years?) hardware cycle for iOS devices is?

And no, my friends, I'm absolutely not sour about Bastion.

Would you expect a 2.5 year old computer to be able to play the latest and greatest games?

I agree that it sucks, but I don't see any way around it. Apple generally supports 2-3 years worth of devices... how else can you push the envelope with specs without leaving someone behind? 90% (my guestimated figure) of apps will still work with the original iPad.

I think that is the core of it. Apple pushes hardware all the way. It's not an xbox or ps3 that can still play today's new titles. Even a pc lasts longer, although even
3 years is quite old in pc terms.

Er, I like my iPad, but let's not pretend that Apple devices are powerhouses that push the envelope with power hardware. They're generally modestly powered and specced, especially for the price you pay.

LarryC wrote:

Er, I like my iPad, but let's not pretend that Apple devices are powerhouses that push the envelope with power hardware. They're generally modestly powered and specced, especially for the price you pay.

Of course, I meant to point out that they push their own line hard. Not saying they are better than a pc. Although they seem to have the power of an xbox these days?

I dunno, I haven't done a single upgrade to my PC in years. It's running a five year old processor and a three+ year old video card, yet it's still able to run current games at close to high settings. Even if it couldn't, I can't think of a single game that it couldn't at least run.

In contrast, a 2-year-old ipad is flat out unable to run a chunk of apps or even the new OS.

It's a really unfortunate fact that mobile devices are being built with an enforced expiration date. Because of that, my rule is to spend as little as possible on them. If they want me to pay a premium, they owe me some longevity, but they won't do that, so I'm willing to pay less.

I think the issue is that PCs and mobile devices are at different points on their respective progress curves. There's a lot less difference in today's PCs versus PCs from a few years ago than there is between a phone or tablet from a few years ago and a current model. CPU power and RAM densities are advancing less dramatically on the PC side, combined with the fact that most AAA PC games are either console ports or designed alongside console versions, which means that they're designed with less powerful hardware in mind and don't require the full power of a brand-new PC to run well.

Compare that to the iPad, where between the original model and the current generation iPad you've gone from 256MB RAM to 1GB, a single-core 1GHz CPU to a dual-core at the same speed, and a graphics chip that's 2-4 times as powerful (depending which performance benchmarks you look at). That puts a much bigger burden on developers in terms of building a game that takes advantage of the hardware in the 3rd gen iPad but will still run on the iPad 1. (I suspect the biggest factor here is the 4x increase in RAM, actually.)

Sparhawk wrote:

I think that is the core of it. Apple pushes hardware all the way. It's not an xbox or ps3 that can still play today's new titles. Even a pc lasts longer, although even
3 years is quite old in pc terms.

Okay, here's an example:

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/clear/

It's an app for checklists but it requires iOS 5.0 therefore anything that can't be upgraded to 5.0 will not run it. That isn't "pushing the boundaries of hardware." That's just lazy programming.

Chaz wrote:

If they want me to pay a premium, they owe me some longevity, but they won't do that, so I'm willing to pay less.

This was the reason I bought a 2 as they brought in the 3. I picked mine up for 2/3 the price it was the day before the announcement, with the larger storage capacity. I must admit to missing the retina in the visual work I do. Maybe next year, when money isn't as tight, I might spring for a 4. The wife can then have my hand-me-down, and the kids will be old enough to handle hers 'with care' and use it as a learning aid.

It's not a perfect analogy, but I think it's fairly apt all the same... The new models have different processors and different amounts of RAM. Not sure what the solution is, other than to gimp programs to work on all levels of RAM and processor speed... which wouldn't serve much purpose.

Not saying it's impossible... many apps most likely WILL work on an original iPad, but the publishers choose to limit the app for performance reasons.

Like I said, not saying it doesn't suck, but I don't see any way around it.

edosan wrote:
Sparhawk wrote:

I think that is the core of it. Apple pushes hardware all the way. It's not an xbox or ps3 that can still play today's new titles. Even a pc lasts longer, although even
3 years is quite old in pc terms.

Okay, here's an example:

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/clear/

It's an app for checklists but it requires iOS 5.0 therefore anything that can't be upgraded to 5.0 will not run it. That isn't "pushing the boundaries of hardware." That's just lazy programming.

This is another angle that *IS* totally fixable. Some developers have honestly said they just "didn't realize" what they were doing in this regard, and will often go back and fix it if people leave enough negative feedback. One of my biggest gripes with the LOST CITIES app right now is that it requires 5.1 to run... that's just idiotic.

edosan wrote:

Okay, here's an example:

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/clear/

It's an app for checklists but it requires iOS 5.0 therefore anything that can't be upgraded to 5.0 will not run it. That isn't "pushing the boundaries of hardware." That's just lazy programming.

Hey now. That one new OS call that saves the dev three extra lines of code is totally necessary!

I really didn't enjoy that guardian's cross game. i added someone, played for all of 10 minutes and deleted it. I'll stuck to Super (flashing lights) Hexagon.
Did anyone end up getting The World Ends With You?

The iPad 1 is kind of the worst case, because of its limited RAM (256MB). The iPad 2 is going to stay supported much longer I think because it's got twice the RAM, has been released in a cheaper version and shares a CPU with the iPad 3 and (if the rumours are to be believed) the forthcoming iPad mini.

In general Apple isn't bad at long term support - isn't the 3GS getting most of the ios6 features?

I just got Guardian Cross (well..I also just got an iPad!) my friend code is QC83353.

Zelos wrote:

In general Apple isn't bad at long term support - isn't the 3GS getting most of the ios6 features?

The details of exactly which iOS 6 features will be available on the 3GS are still up in the air. When iOS 4 arrived on the 3G it didn't have most of the sticker features (most notably multi-tasking) and actually degraded performance for many people. The fine print at the bottom of their iOS promo page suggests that, again, many of the new features won't be available on older devices.

edosan wrote:
Sparhawk wrote:

I think that is the core of it. Apple pushes hardware all the way. It's not an xbox or ps3 that can still play today's new titles. Even a pc lasts longer, although even
3 years is quite old in pc terms.

Okay, here's an example:

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/clear/

It's an app for checklists but it requires iOS 5.0 therefore anything that can't be upgraded to 5.0 will not run it. That isn't "pushing the boundaries of hardware." That's just lazy programming.

as someone starting in iOS development, that's not fair or accurate.
There are various reasons for a dev to limit their targets. Laziness may be one of them, but it's not the automatic answer.

While I understand the frustrations that could occur for people's whose phones are hitting EOL. We are discussing how much an update a 3 year old phone is going to get. Comparing to the available alternatives, how many Android Phones are getting Jelly Bean.

The cell phone industry is on a two year turn over cycle, as dictating by the prevalence of 2 year contracts at the major carriers, I'm kind of amazed there is any support at all for the 3GS in iOS6

I think your point still stands, but isn't as strong when we think of this in terms of the tablet device instead of the phone.
Personally, the extra year of support I got by purchasing this last gen iPad at launch (rather than an iPad 2 at the lower price) was just as big a factor as the nicer screen in my decision.

psoplayer wrote:
Zelos wrote:

In general Apple isn't bad at long term support - isn't the 3GS getting most of the ios6 features?

The details of exactly which iOS 6 features will be available on the 3GS are still up in the air. When iOS 4 arrived on the 3G it didn't have most of the sticker features (most notably multi-tasking) and actually degraded performance for many people. The fine print at the bottom of their iOS promo page suggests that, again, many of the new features won't be available on older devices.

Short answer: yes, the 3GS is getting most of iOS 6's features.

Long answer: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09...

As the oldest supported device, the 3GS misses out on the largest number of features: it can't use the 3D Flyover or turn-by-turn navigation features of the new Maps app (restricted to the iPhone 4S and newer), Panorama mode (iPhone 4S or newer), or the offline reading list feature (iPhone 4 or newer).
Aside from the growing list of features restricted only to newer phones, the iPhone 3GS actually gets most of the new OS's tweaks and refinements—iOS 4 set expectations low on the iPhone 3G by excluding some of that version's best improvements, so it's nice to see the older handset so well-supported in this case. With the exception of the Siri and Maps sections, just about everything mentioned in our main iOS 6 review applies to the 3GS, including Passbook support, Facebook integration, shared Photo Streams, revamped sharing menus, Do Not Disturb, iCloud Tabs in Safari, the new Find My iPhone tweaks, the Camera app's exposure lock, the new Mail features, and the new call features, among others.
iOS 6 doesn't make the iPhone 3GS any slower or more difficult to use than it was before, which should be good news to anyone who keeps theirs around as a secondary or backup phone—indeed, it's pleasantly surprising how many of the refinements and improvements make their way down to Apple's oldest-supported piece of iOS hardware

I recommended to my wife that she go ahead and install it on her 3GS to play with shared Photo Streams—even though her iPhone 5 will be here next week.

AppShopper is pleased to alert you of a Wish List Price Drop ($6.99 -> $2.99) for the “Horn™” App.

AppShopper: http://appshopper.com/games/horn-3

iTunes: http://appshopper.com/link/horn-3

The Magic 2013 expansion was released yesterday. It includes 5 new two color decks and costs $4.99.

Rayman is out, and it is beautiful.

It really, really is.

*I'm using this double post to reinforce.

spider_j wrote:

Rayman is out, and it is beautiful.

Finished the first set of levels. Very happy with it so far. It's actually a lot closer to an authentic Rayman experience than I expected.

spider_j wrote:

Rayman is out, and it is beautiful.

I'm guessing it doesn't run on iPad 1, does it?

UCRC wrote:
spider_j wrote:

Rayman is out, and it is beautiful.

I'm guessing it doesn't run on iPad 1, does it?

Turn that frown upside down, grumpy clown!

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.