Epic Games Predicts Console, Mobile Convergence 104
An anonymous reader writes "After taking the stage at the Apple iPhone event in September, game developer Epic Games has finally revealed more about its plan to release Unreal Engine for the iOS devices. UE3 is incredibly popular on consoles, and its free UDK has been really great for us modders. In this new interview, engine boss Mark Rein says the developer envisions a future where all game devices are handhelds, with high-end processors inside: 'It feels like there's a great opportunity for game consoles to cease to be something you plug into the wall and rather become something you take with you. Of course it will be more than just your game console; you can have your productivity apps, your documents, and your media collections on it as well.'"
Re:Really? (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't think of it as a replacement for a console, but instead of a way for you to take your console game out with you wherever you go. That has the potential to be a powerful combination. A full console game you play as normal at home, but while you're out you can still work on character progression, or play with your friends.
Sure, the gameplay experience on the phone isn't going to be identical, but it doesn't have to be. The added convenience of having your games with you wherever you go means that people are more than happy to put up with a smaller screen. I was a huge fan of flight sims on the PC, now one of my favourite games is a space combat sim on the iPhone. Sure, the graphics aren't as good, and the controls are a bit more fiddly, but it has the all essential essence of the game, it's fun to play, and because I always have my phone with me, I can play it anytime I want.
Sure, this might not be for everyone. For a die hard console enthusiast, with plenty of time to stay home and play, they're always going to prefer native console games. However, there's a much bigger market of people for whom gaming is something they have to fit around their other commitments, and for that market, this could be huge.
Also, if your phone becomes an integral part of the games, imagine this: There's nothing to stop companies using phones as a wireless controller with a built in display, and built in storage. You can use the phone to display game elements distinct to your character, and to store your save games. So now you don't need to buy consoles with a bunch of controllers for multiplayer gaming, if you want to play with some mates you can head over to anybody's house with a console, you all have your controllers with you, and you all have your saved characters. Plus you could start the game while you're in the pub, not many consoles can do that :-)
And I'll leave you with one final bit of food for thought: Imagine what's going to happen if something like WoW were to adopt that platform... An immersive MMO that you can play online at home with your friends, or play with friends at somebody's house, or just play on your own anywhere you like...
I doubt phones will replace consoles, but there's potential for them to supplement them beautifully.
Need For Speed with Nokia N8, HDMI output (Score:1, Interesting)
Here's a nice example of mobile gaming setup that makes sense http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX2RB8jIm3k [youtube.com]
The phone works as a controller (orientation sensor + touch screen), while the graphics are outputted to TV via HDMI.
Re:Some current Smartphones have HDMI connections (Score:3, Interesting)
Ok but you miss one thing: No matter what a phone can do, a non-phone can do more. That is just life. You can't design a 1 watt (or less) GPU using current technology that will be better than a 10 or 100watt GPU also using current technology. Sure it might look good if you compare it to older tech, but that isn't realistic. I mean ok you found an old card that was low end when it was released that has the same theoretical fill rate (please remember those numbers often high BSified). How about a current card? Well a 5870 can do 108 billion anti-aliased samples per second, about 30 billion pixels a second. It can do this while pushing 850 million polygons per second. (FYI your link is broken)
Hmmm, the cellphones don't compare quite so favourably to that, do they? Wouldn't expect them to, it's idle power budget exceeds their total power budget by may times, but then it can do that, it isn't mobile.
You are looking at latest gen hardware, including some things that aren't even in the market yet (the A9 has been announced, it isn't in devices yet) and saying "Oh look at how powerful this is!" However you don't seem to do the same with non-mobile hardware. Look at the upcoming Sandy Bridge processor, which will be out when the A9 is. The A9 will be crushed by it (or indeed by a current Intel Core chip). No surprise, again massively different size, power budget, and so on but you have to consider that when looking at performance.