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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Android is about to become king of mobile gaming. (OnLive & GREE)

iOS started off with by far the best selection of games, just as they did with apps. However, once Android became more common and secured a much larger marketshare, all those same apps are now in the Market. However, at this point in time iOS still was king of game variety, when you exclude the possibility of emulators on Android as they are not available to those who don't know how to root.

In 2012 that all changes with major additions coming to the Android gaming space.

1) Playstation brand is already making major inroads to Android this year with the inclusion of a Sony Playstation Suite and its many games as well as other content. A lot of which is exclusive to Android.

2) GREE Brings Major Gaming Studios To Android – Capcom, Konami, Square Enix and Sega All On Board. This introduces a slew of 3rd party games into Android's universe.

3) OnLive Officially Announced and Now Available For Android – Brings Full Console Gaming To Android Devices. That's right now ALL of onlive's content, which is really nearly all 3rd party games on any system or PC, will also be on Android. (granted this will eventually probably be on iOS and WM as well)

At this point you not only have all 3rd party, but a good portion of Sony first party too (something definitely not on iOS or WM). This console level of play combined with all the regular mobile offerings definitely pushes Android well into the forefront of mobile gaming.

All you need to do is snag a Wiimote or other bluetooth enabled control pad and you have yourself an instant console. Hell, given that most of the phones and tablets can easily output to a TV, you have the best of all possible worlds.



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spurgeonryan said:
Data is taking over mobile gaming!

Wasn't there a twiitter story the other day saying some odd billion amount of apps were purchased? It is just amazing that these numbers are real! Get those game priced higher and still have people pay for them, then you really have a gold mine! They have one now, but this is America..let's be greedy.


10 billion Android apps.. that's why they are doing 10 days of 10cent apps. Pretty good deal really.



Onlive is releasing on IOS as well 

http://kotaku.com/5866154/play-batman-arkham-city-la-noire-and-other-aaa-games-on-your-ipad

Google needs to release an game community app like Microsoft and Apple does with the achievements and all, most websites don't consider Android as a gaming platform for this reason alone, which is stupid.



I havent tried this yet so I can't be sure if its the case, but on the PC you need a very good internet connection (aka "wired internet") to run OnLive smoothly. Even then there is slight lag...

The only purpose I see for this is using it to game when you're on the road...and I really can't see any 3G or hotel wifi connection is going to be enough to run Onlive smoothly.

And if you're not on the road, why wouldn't you just play with a PC or laptop on your TV or monitor...

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't see the point for this app other than just seeing what it looks like on a tablet.



I bought a lot of android apps. They all cost $0.



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GREE and OnLive are both coming out for iOS as well. iOS is still easily the better gaming platform compared to android...way more games. There is nothing on the horizon that makes me think Android will surpass iOS for gaming anytime soon. iOS has the advantage of having locked platforms instead of hundreds of different phones, tablets, etc with fragmented parts that can cause all sorts of performance worries etc.



Some of you keep saying iOS is getting GREE and OnLive as well.. I know that, I even said that in the OP. However, what iOS is not getting is playstation suite. That gives Android the one up.

As for the why on a phone question... well, if you follow the links there are people who have already tested it on wifi (works great) and 4G LTE (also works great as LTE is faster than most people's home internet in US).

True that it wouldn't work well on 3G or most any hotel wifi tho.



btw, I just installed OnLive. I believe there is some form of free trial and out of curiosity I will test it on my Samsung Fascinate on both 3G as well as wifi, when I get home.

Granted, my Fassy isn't one of the devices they state they have tested on already, so who knows what will happen.



I tried onLive on my PC through wireless (around 20mb), wired (50mb) and my Sony Tablet S on the wireless

They all looked fairly rubbish, but definitely playable. Stuff was nice and smooth and quite impressive (though I need a controller for the tablet really)

The issue at the moment is lack of choice, and the fact that the experience is not really close to console quality, but I think it could happen within a few years



Galaki said:
I bought a lot of android apps. They all cost $0.

Yep. Until Android can figure out a way to convince its userbase to spend money like the typical iOS user, Apple is going to rule mobile gaming.

Not to mention that iOS is relatively unfragmented, making development much easier while Android is fragmented beyond belief. Android is a pretty good OS (I have an Android phone) but I spend virtually nothing on apps for it. Whereas hardly a week goes by where I don't drop some money in the App Store to install something new and shiny on my iPad.

Not to mention that Android is getting its ass kicked in the tablet market and the Fire is only going to hurt them in the long run. Why buy a full-featured tablet for $400 when you can get a locked-down version from Amazon for $200? It's a bad move by Google to continue to allow companies to clamp down on their operating system like this. It gives them a huge install base but it also fragments the OS to hell and makes people reluctant to buy into the platform wholesale like people have with iOS (there is a lot to be said about consistency from device to device). I can pick up any iOS device and figure it out in ten seconds. I've owned an Android phone for a year and unless the device is made by HTC, it takes me fucking forever to do anything on another Android device. That's bad business and Google fucked up big time by letting it continue for as long as it has. Google is creating zero brand loyalty with Android right now.




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