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The iPhone is more powerful than a Dreamcast...so what do we do with it.

mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
edited August 2008 in Games and Technology
I have an iPhone, and I bought Monkey Ball when the app store launched, and it's pretty cool. It's definatley worth $10 and has helped me kill a ton of downtime at work and traveling.

I'm tempted to try de Blob, but other than that, everything is a tiliting racer, or a sliding puzzle game. I had jailbroken the phone, and games that involved the 'button overlay' style, where a virtual controller was kind of translucently drawn onto the screen sort of worked, but were JUST frusteratingly inaccurate enough to never actually make me full enjoy playing anything.

So now I'm reading all about these developers saying its more powerful than a Dreamcast, a PSP, a DS, all sorts of crazy stuff. And I was thinking today - so what? It has no buttons, no triggers, Just an accelerometer and a touch screen. What can people possibly port to the iPhone to make use of it's gaming potential?

And so far only 2 things have hit me.

1 - Chu Chu Rocket. A Chu Chu Rocket DC port, with larger squares, could really be awesome. Swipe on a square in the direction of the arrow you wish to lay, and bam, there it is. Maybe limit it to 1 vs 1 rockets, because of the size.

and

2 - WORMS. Fuck yes worms. Worms could TOTALLY work with a tap and drag style in landscape mode. Tap once to bring up your weapons, tap and hold to charge them up and release to fire, tap a worm and drag them to move, double tap to jump...its actually very well suited for a port. Worms Armegeddon on the iPhone would be amazing, and would look pretty slick.

So, with the potential for some great graphics and processing power, but no controls, any ideas what games could be brought to the iPhone that would actually end up being fun?

PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
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Posts

  • BearcatBearcat Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    I was just fiddling around with the 3G iPhone yesterday at the Apple Store and was seriously impressed. I played that CroMag Rally game, and the steering was surprisingly smooth, and graphics exceptionally good, with high FPS to boot.

    I'd kill for Worms on my iPod touch though.

    Bearcat on
  • gunwarriorgunwarrior Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Some games they could release on it are House of the Dead, a racing game that plays like the cube runner game they already have on there, ping pong where you tap the ball to hit it back, or maybe a Kirby: Canvas Curse style thing.

    A lot of the early DS titles could works since most of em' centered on the touch screen.

    gunwarrior on
  • Captain KCaptain K Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    I haven't touched it yet myself, but I've heard good things about Galcon on 1UP Yours--you can try a shareware version on your computer and see if it floats your boat before you buy it on your iPhone.

    Captain K on
  • SheepSheep Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited August 2008
    Some one better answer with "port Zombie Revenge".

    Sheep on
  • Captain KCaptain K Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Captain K wrote: »
    I haven't touched it yet myself, but I've heard good things about Galcon on 1UP Yours--you can try a shareware version on your computer and see if it floats your boat before you buy it on your iPhone.

    Okay, I just tried out Galcon on the PC in the last ten minutes--you can learn the game that quickly--and damn it's catchy.

    It's kind of like real-time Risk with no dice rolling. Hard to explain it well, but it's a five meg download and the tutorial will only take you five minutes. Give it a shot.

    If I had an iPhone I'd buy this game immediately.

    Captain K on
  • BurtletoyBurtletoy Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Not often a moderator responds in a thread where the OP talks about using a NES emulator without handing out warnings.

    Burtletoy on
  • FremFrem Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Galcon is on the iPhone?!! Yes! Listen to your moderator. Purchase the game now!

    Oh, no multiplayer? Meh. It's still a great game.

    Alternatively, you can play it free on PC at Instant Action.

    Edit: As for games which need iPhone ports, it strikes me that Geometry Wars might work. Drag the little ship with one finger, use your other finger to fire. The game speed might need to be toned down a little bit, but considering that the horrible java cell-phone version where you could only fire in the direction you were moving got decent reviews, it's definitely worth someones time to give it a shot.

    Editedit: Also, the obligatory "Nethack" response. It was done with Jailbroken iPhones, but that's apparently a pain right now.

    Frem on
  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Burtletoy wrote: »
    Not often a moderator responds in a thread where the OP talks about using a NES emulator without handing out warnings.

    Thanks for the heads up - my bad, and I corrected the OP with what I was really trying to say. Sorry about that, won't happen again!

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    gunwarrior wrote: »
    Some games they could release on it are House of the Dead, a racing game that plays like the cube runner game they already have on there, ping pong where you tap the ball to hit it back, or maybe a Kirby: Canvas Curse style thing.

    A lot of the early DS titles could works since most of em' centered on the touch screen.

    I wonder how much fun House of The Dead on iPhone could be though -- tap to shoot? Isnt the fun of house of the dead flailing your gun around trying to shoot the enemies? I feel like tapping on thier heads would eliminate what made pulling off a headshot in HotD fun.

    Although honestly, I'd still buy it I bet.

    mxmarks on
    PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
  • FremFrem Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    mxmarks wrote: »
    gunwarrior wrote: »
    Some games they could release on it are House of the Dead, a racing game that plays like the cube runner game they already have on there, ping pong where you tap the ball to hit it back, or maybe a Kirby: Canvas Curse style thing.

    A lot of the early DS titles could works since most of em' centered on the touch screen.

    I wonder how much fun House of The Dead on iPhone could be though -- tap to shoot? Isnt the fun of house of the dead flailing your gun around trying to shoot the enemies? I feel like tapping on thier heads would eliminate what made pulling off a headshot in HotD fun.

    Although honestly, I'd still buy it I bet.

    Typing of the Dead!

    Frem on
  • gstaffgstaff Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    It would be cool to see ChuChu Rocket. So far, the most addictive game I've been playing is the MotionX poker game. Not exactly pushing the hardware though.

    gstaff on
    Ron says war never changes. Snake says it does. What gives?
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    The iPhone is more powerful than a Dreamcast...so what do we do with it.
    Make a fucking phone call?

    Also, Dreamcast > iPhone until they can provide games proving me wrong.

    PeregrineFalcon on
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  • BurtletoyBurtletoy Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Everything in life would be better with Chu Chu Rocket on it. If my toaster had Chu Chu I'd eat toast while playing. If my mirror had Chu Chu, I'd play while brushing my teeth. If my condoms had hu Chu on them, I'd play while fucking. Why hasn't Sega put this on my 360 yet?

    Burtletoy on
  • OremLKOremLK Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    You can theoretically do a lot with a touch screen, you just have to do it right. (That's the hard part.)

    I wouldn't want to play any kind of game requiring fast reflexes and precise control on the iPhone, but I could see a lot of things working pretty well on it.

    One thing I think a lot of developers would need to do is implement a two-tap system--when doing any kind of action, you'd have to tap and then confirm before anything happened. Like, say you're playing an RPG--tap once to highlight the enemy you want to attack, tap again to actually attack it. Would help avoid problems with precision.

    I could also see throwing a couple of big modifier buttons on the bottom corners or something (wherever would be easily reachable by a thumb). Make 'em really oversized and visible, and whenever you rest a thumb on them it changes what action tapping somewhere on the screen triggers (like holding Shift, Control, or Alt on the PC).

    OremLK on
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  • SzechuanosaurusSzechuanosaurus Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited August 2008
    Szechuanosaurus on
  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Galcon is awesome, everyone with an iPhone should buy it. It doesn't just show how good the iPhone is at playing games, it shows how useful and intuitive touch screens can be for controlling a relatively complex game. It plays a bit like risk in space, but theres more to it than that.

    tbloxham on
    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
  • SzechuanosaurusSzechuanosaurus Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited August 2008
    I can't really seem to figure out what you're supposed to be doing there, but heck, I've got six quid to spare, I'll pick it up and see what's what.

    Szechuanosaurus on
  • TheUnsane1TheUnsane1 PhiladelphiaRegistered User regular
    edited August 2008
    The iPhone is more powerful than a Dreamcast...so what do we do with it.
    Make a fucking phone call?

    Also, Dreamcast > iPhone until they can provide games proving me wrong.

    Yea for real if the Iphone can give me a Superior version of MvC2 then we can talk. Truely I should get an Iphone... Then work can't bring the hammer down on my websurfing even tho all my work is done in a timely manner.

    TheUnsane1 on
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  • TrevorTrevor Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    This does bring up an interesting question. Are on-screen controls for conventional games in any way viable? I haven't had a chance to try any iPhone games, but I don't see many things beyond tilt-controlled games to be very intuitive. Would this mean that Apple would have to have some sort of peripheral that plugs into the bottom in order to get this to feel right or am I not giving the little shiny thing proper credit?

    Trevor on
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Trevor wrote: »
    This does bring up an interesting question. Are on-screen controls for conventional games in any way viable? I haven't had a chance to try any iPhone games, but I don't see many things beyond tilt-controlled games to be very intuitive. Would this mean that Apple would have to have some sort of peripheral that plugs into the bottom in order to get this to feel right or am I not giving the little shiny thing proper credit?

    If you're faking mouse control, sure.

    If you're trying for the instant-response tactile-feedback goodness that can only be found with a true button, no.

    PeregrineFalcon on
    Looking for a DX:HR OnLive code for my kid brother.
    Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
  • FremFrem Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Hey, the iPhone has bluetooth, yes? So, would something like this be possible? A wireless controller? Yes?

    Frem on
  • TK-42-1TK-42-1 Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    please to be making advance wars for iphone k tia

    TK-42-1 on
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  • GrimReaperGrimReaper Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    So, I own an ipod touch and work has just ordered about 12 3g iphones for various persons (sales guys, management etc.. I'm the goddamn IT Manager and I don't get a company iphone? Fuckers.).. anyway, we'll getting a new firewall just for the iphone. Essentially so people can connect to our exchange server remotely via the vpn for their calendar, email etc.

    You know the really annoying thing? (apart from me not getting a company iphone) Is that they wouldn't be bought if I hadn't showed my boss my ipod touch when I came back from holiday.. he was all "oooh, pretty.. the iphone is like that?" and i'm "yes, identical apart from it being a phone" and he's all "i'm off to buy an iphone!"... </high school bimbo talk>

    Sigh.

    GrimReaper on
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  • BlueBlueBlueBlue Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Rhythm Heaven DX


    But really even with the latest firmware I've had applications continue to crash for no reason, so it is kind of like playing games on a gameboy with low battery. It can turn off any second!

    BlueBlue on
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