Why are Games for Iphone so much nicer than for Android?

[Isthmus]

Hi everyone. to start let me state that I'm a big Android fan, I own a moto droid, I have owned an Iphone, and no, this is not a troll post, but rather an honest question. Now that all those ready to scream troll are settled down, here is my question.

I was wondering why it is that so many games available for the Iphone seem to be much more nicely rendered than those available for Android. Yes I understand that Iphone has had people developing games for it longer than Android, and yes I understand that in apple the OS and all programs are stored in the large hard drive (which means that the programs can be larger files), and yes I know that flash should go a long way toward improving android games once it becomes available. Still I was wondering if I was missing something, since it seems like even simple puzzle games are rendered more nicely and are more fluid, than on android (even on the higher end machines that run 2.0 or higher.

Is there anything I'm missing? Is there anything inherent in android or the machines that run it that limits game rendering in any way?

I'm not a big gamer, but I have noticed the difference and was curious.

 

[mudrock1000]

I noticed that too. The N1 is easily more powerful than the iphone and many of the graphics are kind of meh to me.

 

[gogol]

Unless Android can install app/games on the external memory (sd-card), I dont think there will be a very good games in terms of content.

Good content requires good graphics, good graphics requires quite a lot of space.

Relying on memory only will limit the content size.

If you check big games review sites like:
Gamespot.com, IGN.com

They have dedicated iPhone section, but no Android

Probably, we need only TIME ... another 1 year? 2 years?
Then the Android market will grow, Google sorted out the running app/games on sdcard ... and big game studios will commit more resources on Android platform.

To be honest, I will not surprise that even Windows Phone 7 Series will easily beat Android on games ... It has Xbox integration

Oh well, I always thought that I get much more on Android already (freedom, sdcard access, multitasking, etc.).

 

[mrmojoz]

Unless Android can install app/games on the external memory (sd-card), I dont think there will be a very good games in terms of content.

Games for awhile now have been able to store the executable on main memory and store the game assets on the SD card.

Also the native C SDK hasn't been out that long and Open GL 2.0 support has just been recently released. I keep seeing these same questions and they get answered every time, how do people still not know these things?

 

[saltorio]

It comes to development. The more money and resources are put into developing a game, the better the game is going to be. Though not a guarantee, this tends to be the case regarding all aspects of a game, including graphics.

So far, the iPhone has been most larger game developers have been putting their money regarding the mobile market. As Android grows, that'll bring more developers to the platform.

Remember, it took a while for the iPhone to become the game machine it is now. I think it wasn't until the 3G that it's games market really started to grow.

 

[gogol]

Thanks for your info. And to be honest, this is my first week actively on Android. I still need to learn and read everything.

Jumped ship from WM6, ordered HTC Desire, because I dont like WP7.

So like I said, basically, we just wait 1 or 2 years for Android to catch on ...

Games for awhile now have been able to store the executable on main memory and store the game assets on the SD card.

Also the native C SDK hasn't been out that long and Open GL 2.0 support has just been recently released. I keep seeing these same questions and they get answered every time, how do people still not know these things?

 

[TheSultan]

checkout Replica Island...I was pretty impressed!

 

[kalas1973]

I think one of the big deals is multitouch. I would like to see a lot more in the way of FPS games, but because they can't make games just for droid (using the keyboard for controls) we're kind of screwed. Another big deal is that one of android's biggest strengths is also it's weakness. Apple makes people jump through hoops so only the serious games get in. Android doesn't which means there could be a really dedicated programmer with a great app, but it's hidden under 5 crappy ones that people found first. I dunno, it's a thought.

 

[acp]

it's funny someone can't ask a question like this without feeling like a troll, too many biased idiots on these forums that cause that feeling.

it's a great question, I have read that the iphone has a better GPU, I'm sure it will continue to outperform Android phones as long has they keep building beefy CPU's without dedicated GPU's. I believe the Pre has a similar GPU as the iphone, so that is why there is a push to get EA games in their market. I am simply speculating, but this definitely annoys me a bit because I really like gaming on my phone, it is a great feature on-the-go

 

[grainysand]

Both the Droid and the N1 have dedicated GPUs.

 

[takeshi]

it's funny someone can't ask a question like this without feeling like a troll, too many biased idiots on these forums that cause that feeling.

it's a great question, I have read that the iphone has a better GPU, I'm sure it will continue to outperform Android phones as long has they keep building beefy CPU's without dedicated GPU's. I believe the Pre has a similar GPU as the iphone, so that is why there is a push to get EA games in their market. I am simply speculating, but this definitely annoys me a bit because I really like gaming on my phone, it is a great feature on-the-go

Every forum has biased users.

It's certainly not just a matter of hardware, as discussed above. You have to have quality game developers as games don't just naturally occur on hardware. The few good games out there demonstrate that Android and certain Android devices are certainly up to the task.

 

[mrmojoz]

Multitouch, GPU power and lots of avaliable programs are not the issue. As I stated above, the proper SDKs for the games that require the horse power being discussed here just recently came out. Couple that with a smaller market audience to attract the big money developers and there you go. The solutions are time and requests to game developers to let them know the Android market is going to make them money if they give it attention. Apple's horrible treatment of developers doesn't matter as long as their platform makes the most money.