Posts Tagged ‘iPhone’

I am sure that soon ‘DoFuss’s games of 2010’ will draw to a close but until then I have another one of these prefaces to write explaining exactly what is going on. It maybe late, but having finally put the emotional turmoil of last year behind me I was gripped by a need to revisit it in gaming form and recall the titles that had an impact. No, they may not be the best games (but they could be, as in this post) but they are the games that affected my year beyond being simple distractions.

Some games are wonderfully addictive. Complex or simple when a game has that right mix of ‘I get it’, ‘just a bit more’ and ‘damn I was so close’, they can be very hard to put down. Introducing Game Dev Story, the fascinating and addictive game development simulation game, which (and this is important later) I played on my iPhone.

Welcome to the tiny world of Game Dev Story.

It is such a simple concept it is amazing that Game Dev Story was the first to do it. Creating a game with the same addictive hook as Roller Coaster Tycoon but skinning the whole experience with videogame production, it provided an instant hook for thousands of life-long gamers who believe that they could do better (which for the record they probably couldn’t). Adding to this the cute little characters in their isometric office, a range of controllable and random variables, and a scoring systems that sees your creations rated by magazine critics, gave Game Dev Story all the elements required to keep me totally enthralled.

With a simple menus leading the action, helped no end by the touch interface of Apple’s short cut to your wallet, it was hard to play Game Dev Story for less than every second I possibly could. That was until reality struck. With the best will in the world, using an iPhone as anything other than a phone will see the battery dead long before is optimal. This is especially true of games that place a high demand on the little machine demanding pretty graphics or (as is the case in Game Dev Story) with a lot of number crunching quietly taxing the processor.

Studios grow in size as you put out more and more games, until eventually you can make your build console.

Yes, you may well be screaming the obvious solution at me ‘if you need your phone don’t play the stupid game, Alex’, but anyone familiar with this kind of game will tell you it isn’t that simple because I was addicted. Given the choice of playing for thirty minutes on my commute or being out of power, I would chose my half hour fix every time. And while most games would allow me to play and leave me a little power to reach the end of the day Game Dev Story drained the battery faster than I believed possible.

I do not exaggerate when I say that after waking at eight one morning my phone was dead by ten because of Game Dev Story. Between my addiction driving me to play on my journey to work and my phone’s crappy battery, I became disconnected from the world until I got home that night at eleven o’clock. Now it’s not that anything especially important happened this day, but try forgetting your phone one day and see how naked you feel.

Hiring new talent can be vital to a studio's success.

The loss of my phone made edgy and irritable because of what I might be missing and I felt a sense of dependence that made me uneasy. Truly it startled me and so I began making a conscious effort only to play Game Dev Story at home.

Strangely, having to control my addiction broke me of the habit. Rather than just being able to dip in at anytime, the necessary restrictions I had to place on my time made it feel like a bind rather than a treat. Despite perfect the Game Dev Story was my inability to steal illicit moments with it drowned the pleasure of it.

Much like my time with Limbo where having to review it on a short time schedule ruined my enjoyment, finding restrictions that were antipathetic to the dip-in-when-you-are-bored design of Game Dev Story broke the magic. It is still incredible, but I just don’t have the nerve (or perhaps the self control) to put it on my new phone. I still recommend it, but stay well clear if you ever want to receive a call.

Darren and I are back again, and just in the nick of time to fulfil our twice-monthly commitment, although we both still seem dead set on declaring that the show is weekly. We aren’t, and I will leave it for you to decide if that is a good or a bad thing.

This show’s unintentional theme is cultural divides. With me returning to the UK later this year Darren decided to prepare me for re-entry with terrifying snippets from the British tabloid ‘The Sun’. While this is an apt reintroduction to the state of my home nation, I cannot help but feel there is a veiled message from Darren to stay in the land of sushi and fun that is Japan, rather than heading back to the doom and bombed out Woolworths that now seems to be the hallmark of my home nation.

Beyond this new ‘scare Alex off coming back to the UK’ segment we hit all of our usual topics. Heaven and Hell see Android phones and Word Press taking pride of place in discussion. This is swiftly followed by some games we have been playing (Jump Ultimate All Stars, Final Fight and Super Street Fighter 4) and a few highlights of news from the last two weeks. To top off all this game discussion we visit the topic of game design and how Japanese and Western methods inform each other, or not, and the results of such collaborations.

Also of course there is Darren’s Old Games, which I am determined to rebrand as ‘Darren’s Good Old Games’. This week he imparts his vast array of Mario knowledge.

If you enjoy the show, have an idea for features, or just want to scare me off my return to England, please let us know. See you in two weeks.

The DoFuss Show – Trying To Bridge Cultural Divides. [ 1:14:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We did it, two shows in one month. Darren and I are back in the saddle and ready to take you on an hour of gaming and sandwich exploration.

Kicking it off with heaven and hell, we visit the KFC Double Down (pictured above) and the problems with Japanese sandwiches. Darren reveals his new found love of Robot Unicorn Attack in what we have been playing, while I do some quick hits on a number of my recent distractions. News features a few choice topics from the last two weeks, which I hoped would enable Darren to engage in conversation about contemporary games. I wasn’t very successful. Games as art is the subject of our main discussion. Inspired by Robert Ebert recent post that declared they could never be, we talk at length about the merits of games and where we think they sit within the spectrum of art and design. And, as always, we wrap up with Darren’s Old Games.

Enjoy the show, please leave comments if you have any and feel free to get in touch if you have any suggestions or questions for us here at DoFuss. Remember to check back for the next show in two weeks.

I Don’t Let Friends Have a Bite of My Sandwich. [ 1:07:34 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Darren is back just in time for a semi-festive show. We spend most of our time catching up on the last few months events and our respective holiday breaks but in the process we do touch on lots of games in-between our stories.

As I said last show do not expect Dans wonderfully detailed show notes every week, and this week serves only to reaffirm that declaration. I can tell you that you can expect us to talk about all the games we played recently, Red Dwarf, bad commercials, me pissing myself, me being taunted by hordes of nerds, the upcoming 2010 releases and our vacations. Unfortunately even with Darren back there is no Frakkers this show, but we do have some music and the return of Darrens Old Games.

Hopefully 2010 will mark a more regular schedule for The DoFuss Show as we stream line the formula, but we make no promises. Enjoy the show and keep an eye on the site this month for some gaming memories of the last ten years.

I am trying to get back in to oil painting, Darren insists on Twitpic updates so keep an eye on that if you care.

Craig Charles had far too much to do with it. [ 1:11:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download