iPad / iPod Mobile Version

[LAKingsGeek]

I just read the news after not visiting this site for a while. Good to hear although with only one person working on it most of the time I'm not holding my breath for a super polished game the first time around.

I'd also like to point out that I think it would be a smart move to develope the game for the ipad instead of the PC. I know it would suck to lose the community customizations that a PC brings but let's face it, they'd have a better chance of making money if it were an ipad game. It would expose the game to a much larger audience. Iphone/ipad games are practically impulse buys.

I don't have an ipad (I do have an iphone). I've thought about buying one but there doesn't seem to be enough benefits when I already have a laptop for me to drop $500 on it. If there were a good hockey text sim similar to iOOTP I would buy one in a heartbeat. A hockey text sim on the ipad (or any tablet) would be the perfect travel companion for long flights or when I was or when I'm sitting up bed on a week night.

Anyone else agree?

[Ogilthorpe]

Anyone else agree?

[YZG]

Anyone else agree?

Thumbs down from me too. I'm sorry, but they have way more to lose by releasing their game on that platform only. Via PC, they reach a very wide audience, since most if not all of the people owning an iSomething also own a PC/laptop. The opposite is much less true; loads of PC/laptop owners do not own an iSomething, and a large percentage of those who don't have one don't even intend to buy one either. I fall in this category. Personnally, iPads/iPhones and the various related iGadgets rank very high on my list of "useless stuff I won't waste my money for" (that's my very personnal opinion of course), and therefore, I sure as heck wouldn't be satisfied if this game was released on iPad only. I'm sorry, but paying $500 to buy an iPad only for a text-based sim that will itself cost perhaps $40 isn't exactly a sound investment, given that since you already have a laptop, you only have to pay $40. See what I mean? I do bring my laptop with me on long intercity bus rides for instance and can play EHM or whatever else I want using it, with a better-sized screen and better graphics to boot. iOOTP and the likes are a great idea that has become a must, but not at the expense of PCs - as a supplement.

I sense that you do not realize the importance of community customization, either. You can create awesome text-sim games for a smaller retail cost if you do not buy pro leagues' licences. But that means your game will come with a fake db so to not infringe copyrights. Such fake dbs are easily and usually fairly rapidly fixed by communities. Would you have as much fun playing with what you know should be your Kings, but are named like "Los Angeles Royals", with your star players named Matija Kuntar, Dylan Connolly or Michel Boudreault, and which is based out of the "Los Angeles Center"? You won't relate to them, and there's no way to fix that.


- YZG

[LAKingsGeek]

I fully understand what the community brings. I understand why tablets are a tough sell. I haven't bought one yet either, but if there are more games like iOOTP on it then it could be worth it. I can see myself playing civ revolution, sim city, iOOTP, and a bunch of the games i already play on the iphone. I can and do bring my laptop on long trips. I probably wouldn't do it if I commuted by train or bus to work. I'd just prefer something smaller and lighter.

I think you might be underestimating the popularity of the ipad. People are eating it up like mad. 25 million sold is the most concrete number i could find, and that was from June. No doubt it's gone up quite a few million more. Yes, more people have laptops, but how many of those people buy games at all?

All I'm saying is that the writing is on the wall. The general public, maybe not you specifically, but your average joe wants an ipad and once they own one they are more likely to buy apps on impulse. An ihockeytextsim game could be a featured app and get tons of sales in a matter of days, and from there word of mouth spreads. In an ideal world I'd like to see the game developed for both platforms, but they obviously have very limited resources. I'm just thinking it might be better for the long term popularity of the game to start out on the ipad.

Either way i'm looking forward to this game.

[Tasku]

Yeah, I'm also going to have to go with the other two here. I don't even really know what an i-whatever is. I'll stick to my puter and play my EHM on my puter.

[Gretzlaf]

Yeah, I think it would be a pretty awful idea to release the game for just the iPod/Pad. I'm one of those people that doesn't really see the point of owning things of those nature when you have a perfectly good laptop that has more space, a bigger screen and better graphics. But that's just me.

Looking forward to the game.

[archibalduk]

I completely agree - it would be a huge mistake if it were to be released solely on the iPad. I don't mean to be rude, but I do think LAKingsGeek is way overestimating the popularity of hockey management text sims. EHM was axed because there simply weren't enough people buying the game. Sure, if it were on the iPad you'll get some users who impulse buy it, but you'd really be cutting out a huge proportion of users who would have otherwise bought the game had it been released for PC. I personally am not willing to pay £500 on an iPad when I could buy a much better PC/laptop for the same price - I'm sure there are lots of others who would agree. And then there's the issue of no customisation options and being able to create your own roster updates. Games like EHM, FM and OOTP revolve around their ability for users to modify the game as they please.

Sure an iPad/iPod version would be great as an addition to a PC version - but not instead of.

Anyway, this is all moot as it has already been announced for the PC.

[Sebastian Palkowski]

Hey guys,

Just want to drop in and comment on the PC/Mac versus iPhone/iPad issue: the main focus will be the PC/Mac, the same as with OOTP. But as you all know (or not?) I do the iOOTP version(s) so a later port of the hockey project to iPad/iPhone is very likely (depth should be comparable to iOOTP). If it will be in 2012, 2013 or later has to be seen.

[moore4807]

Good to hear that, Sebastian!
I have high hopes for the hockey series being as successful as OOTP, while keeping myself grounded with the reality it must grow and evolve over the years just like the OOTP franchise did too!

[geckon]

I do agree with those who support the PC version. Enough reasons have been written for that. I just would love the possibility to have Linux version of FHM. Since OOTP has one I hope FHM will have one as well with future versions. Or I hope at least it could be played with Wine.

[archibalduk]

To be honest, I reckon you could probably get FHM running on Linux via CrossOver or Wine. I did that with EHM very easily. FHM isn't a demanding game compared with your typical 3D game and so you could try running the trial Windows version of the game on Linux that way.

Btw, both Stinson and I found that EHM actually worked quicker on CrossOver/Wine in Linux that it did running natively in Windows.

[geckon]

I have no experiences with CrossOver but EHM run with Wine flawlessly. I didn't compare it to Windows version properly but on the first sight I haven't noticed any big differences.

I'll buy FHM anyway but I would be a lot happier if I could play it on Linux. I have Windows installed too but I use it merely as a game launcher and rebooting isn't the most favorite part of my life so sometimes I prefer to play something what can be played from Linux directly.

[archibalduk]

I'll buy FHM anyway but I would be a lot happier if I could play it on Linux. I have Windows installed too but I use it merely as a game launcher and rebooting isn't the most favorite part of my life so sometimes I prefer to play something what can be played from Linux directly.

Yeah, I have always hated dual booting. I've always wanted to go purely with Linux, but I still need Windows for some things. Not that I have Linux installed at the moment - the last time I tried it on my new laptop, it wouldn't install because it didn't like my dual video cards. I really ought to try it again though.

Out of curiosity, what Linux OS do you use? I'm an Ubuntu person myself.

[geckon]

I'll buy FHM anyway but I would be a lot happier if I could play it on Linux. I have Windows installed too but I use it merely as a game launcher and rebooting isn't the most favorite part of my life so sometimes I prefer to play something what can be played from Linux directly.

Yeah, I have always hated dual booting. I've always wanted to go purely with Linux, but I still need Windows for some things. Not that I have Linux installed at the moment - the last time I tried it on my new laptop, it wouldn't install because it didn't like my dual video cards. I really ought to try it again though.

Out of curiosity, what Linux OS do you use? I'm an Ubuntu person myself.

I have been using Arch Linux now for something like two years. I had used various distributions with Debian, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, etc among them.