2 replies to this topic

[3Dude]

Despite the desperate narrative the gaming media is trying to weave with crap mobile games companies like pik pok games...

Indie devs who dont suck are finding far more success on Nintendos 3ds eshop than on either iphone or android platforms.

I have heard in various interviews and words passing by that devs that had a eshop and mobile release saw more sales on the eshop.

But it is a rare treat to have a freind on gaf document the course of his sales over the three platforms.

Member Beril, developer and self publisher of the title gunman clive (1.99 eshop, 3ds)
Has recorded the course of his sales for the three platforms he released on, and ive watched as the last version released (3ds) skyrocketed past the ios and android versions.



Here we see the eshop eclipsing iphone lifetime sales of the title (61 weeks) at just around 20 weeks.



And here it handedly eclipses the android sales as well. At the rate the android sales are flattening out and 3ds sales are still rising, its likely 3ds has eclipsed both combined by now.

Gamers buy dedicated gaming systems, and gamers buy games. Everybody buys smart phones because they are considered a necessity today. That doesnt mean that entire install base buys buys games at the same rate as gamers, and heres a case study of cold hard proof.

So next time you see a media site talking to a 'industry insider' about how mobile gaming is going to destroy handheld and console gaming, yet they refuse to state what company he works for... Google his name. Vegas odds say he works for one of those pisser mobile dev companies and is just trying to spread propaganda.

[CUD]

Of course a game like this wont sell as well on mobile platforms than on dedicated gaming platforms, casual games are what sell on mobile platforms. Gunman Clive doesn't look to be designed for touch controls which makes it no surprise it wasn't as popular on iOS/Android. An FPS on iOS is isn't going to sell better than some cheap puzzle games simply because an FPS isn't an appropriate genre for mobile platforms while handheld gaming devices, on the other hand, are; much like a platformer like Clive wont sell due to its controls and appeal not being suitable for the platform.

The eShop also gets far less games/apps than iOS or Google Play, this means that newer released titles on the eShop are often noticed by more 3DS users especially when the game is priced as low as Gunman Clive.

I'm also curious for some actual sales numbers to go with this.

[NintendoReport]

What it comes down to is polished and curated content/games. There is a lot of CRAP in IOS and Google Play stores that saturates the entire market place making it difficult to truly find anything worth while. Developers realize they need to submit a polished, quality, in-depth game to succeed on a dedicated gaming device if they want to make it succeed. On non dedicated gaming devices, there are more devs out there who don't have the experience, know how, or don't care to make a solid product. They instead insist on pushing out crapware in hopes to make a quick buck before receiving a lot of bad ratings, then onto the next project. I call it the "trash development mobile cycle". Create a piece of trash, make it look shiny, get it in store, then make a new piece of trash.

Edited by Sorceror12, 25 February 2013 - 06:40 AM.