Should NiGHTS into Dreams be on iphone/ipad and android?

[Knuckles Chaotix]

I'd like Vita, but Android and iPhone seem a bit much.

[Mushroom Hedgehog]

That depends. If the game seems small enough in memory then it could have a chance. Crazy Taxi seems like a plausible game for iOS and Android, but I haven't played any of NiGHTS' games, so I don't know. If both Jet Set Radio and NiGHTS into Dreams... can get an iOS release, so should Crazy Taxi and the original Metal Gear Solid.

By the way, I also agree with Alex Atkin UK. He's right that control pads on touch screens tend to have bad controls. It was one of the main reasons I had trouble with Sky Station Zone Act 1 in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II.

But if he's right about anything, it's that having too many games for the iOS and other mobile devices is a pretty big risk for console manufacturers, since mobile games tend to cost a lot less, even if they're essentially the same game. The prices for console games can be pretty outrageous for even the most dedicated gamers.

As much as I hate paying $49.99 or even $59.99 for just a single game, I'd hate to have Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony reach a possibly fatal financial crisis. Even if there's a chance of everyone going third-party for Apple, we can't take that risk. SEGA was just lucky, and we could have seen the last of them during the days of the Dreamcast if things didn't go well.

If they all can lower their prices for once, I'd actually have more of an urge to buy them. But seeing how SEGA and several other third parties have classic games for mobile devices at is normally in the low single digits, compared to games that normally cost half a hundred bucks, there's a bad chance our actions could have consequences.

On the other hand, unless they are used versions you'd find on eBay or such, Apple's devices tend to cost a lot more than even consoles and several handhelds like the 3DS. One report even says that before its release, there were estimates that the iPad could cost around a thousand dollars. Is a higher-priced device with lower-priced games likely to make more money than a lower-priced console with higher-priced games?

[Dr. BaconStein]

Oh yes please. I would love to finally play this game on my JXD. I'll willingly pay the full ten dollars for it, too.

lack of physical controls

>not knowing about JXD/Yinlips
>2012
I SHIGGIDY DIGGIDY BOOP BOOP BEEDOOP



Educate yourself, broseph. Unlike Japan (and Apple), China makes handheld/mobile devices that are actually useful. Anyway, even without physical controls, NiGHTS is the kind of game that could work really well with say, touch or tilt controls. You never know. In fact, if you've ever played Whale Trail, that's exactly how it can work. Simple, easy, and fun.

[CHAnga]

>not knowing about JXD/Yinlips
>2012

Personally, I'm not all that surprised. Anyway, isn't that device on pretty shaky legal ground?

[Dr. BaconStein]

Personally, I'm not all that surprised. Anyway, isn't that device on pretty shaky legal ground?

How so? None of it is actual PSP hardware (and thank goodness for that) and there's no law that says you can't make a system that looks similar. Just look at Wii U's Pro Controller:



Or the Classic Controller Pro before it:



Or even the original PS1 controller before it, which took influence from the SNES controller. Companies copy each other all the time. Sometimes it's part of how they learn and grow. Why is it such a big deal when China does it? Anyway, the sooner people stop looking at these as "knock-offs" and start looking at them as an actual viable platform for games, the better.

People always complain that mobile devices don't have buttons for games, but now that we have these, people dismiss them as junk just because it's not made by a big name manufacturer - even though the build quality and specs rival (and in some cases surpass) that of a 3DS or a Vita. Even though Sony made one too and SEGA has expressed a genuine interest in taking the mobile market by storm, people still pretend Angry Birds was the only mobile game ever made and we're still in the mid-2000's before iOS or Android existed.

[CHAnga]

The thing has Playstation buttons and N64 games hardwired into it.

[ShadiWulf]

Jet Set Radio is coming to iOS and Android, so i'd be really surprised if a smart device version of NiGHTS doesn't get announced. Digital is SEGA's future, and they aren't going to ignore the biggest digital platform.