How The Rise of the Mobile Device has Challenged Traditional Dominance

Screenshot from Epic Citadel on iOS, based on Unreal Engine

The release of the iPhone changed a game, but it wasn't a game mere mortals were playing. Big changes in the game space came from the releasing the SDKs for the various mobile platforms allowing even start-ups to get up and running in app development very quickly. Even then apps were initially fairly limited, and it wasn't until it was possible to use technologies like Open GL ES 1.0 and now 2.0 that we've started to see mobile devices like the Samsung Galaxy and the iPhone putting games in the hands of whole new audiences and I'm not talking Sudoku. People who had never played games before are definately playing them now, on the bus, on the train or even at home.

It wasn't too long ago that the dominant powers in gaming were Microsoft and Sony, between PCs and their respective consoles. Fast forward to 2012 and there were more iOS and Android devices sold globally than PCs and consoles, and more of the same is expected for 2013. Couple this with the lacklustre performance of Windows 8 both tablet and desktop and you've got Open GL running toward an open goal, with not even the keeper to beat because he's too busy trying to figure out what "metro" really means. Regardless of whether you're looking at Core Profile or Embedded Open GL, the reality is for indie devs it makes more and more sense.

Beyond this the next stage has to be the lounge room, I've been saying for a while that all I want is games on my Apple TV. Unfortunately the closest I can get to this is OUYA, initially a stupidly successful kickstarter project, it is basically an Apple TV with balls, or really a different focus. Sure with Apple TV you can airplay from your iDevice to your TV screen, but a purely touch interface in this environment is somewhat clumsy, like feeling around in the dark for a switch except all you can feel is glass. There are examples where this works and works well, but they're the exception and not the rule. The Ouya is geared towards the casual gamers, the price point is definately appealing against even the current generation consoles and there are set to be a good number of ports of successful titles from other Android devices and possibly iOS.

Ouya Console and Controller

The only problem I see with the Ouya as a developer is that I have yet another hardware spec to support, but it's one that should be supported for the sake of the Super Meat Boys of this world. Having said all of that I am still keen to see what may come from the Apple corner, and unlike many I don't hope for a TV as I've already got a few of them of the Samsung and Sony variety. I really don't see the need for a "smart TV" if it's already connected to smarter things, if I really want a crippled web browser on my TV screen I'll just use my X360 and the Internet Explorer app and despite having bought into Apple's ecosystem, I'm not a fan of a big chunk of glass forcing me into either UPnP or Zeroconf.

I'm more interested in the current STB, the Apple TV and whether it'll have apps and by extension games. I know even the ATV2 is capable of running OpenGL ES 2.0, the only thing absent from the picture is gaming peripherals, and even then you could do the old Fifa-like phone app to control the big screen action. Of course if you're a developer, all this is just a jailbreak away with the Apple TV 2 and a little effort. I believe the big winner of the next console war will closely align itself to mobile devices from integrating the devices themselves, to direct ports and an app store style approach where the next Angry Birds can be bought for 99 cents.

A Quick Look at ArmA 3 and DayZ

Introduction
ArmA 3 is the next generation Military Simulation from Bohemia Interactive Studio. On March 5th this year they released an Alpha of the game to their pre-purchase customers to assist in the testing phase. The plan is to incrementally release the different capabilities ArmA is known for, starting with Infantry, then progressing to wheeled and tracked vehicles and then finally air vehicles. This approach allows fans of the series to keep a close eye on the development of the product and while Infantry is the primary focus right now, some vehicles are already available.

New Feature - Clouds!
Well, not a new feature, they've suddenly become interesting. On the whole the graphics aren't too different from what ArmA 2 is capable of with a few config tweaks here and there, having said that they have overhauled the cloud system, no longer are they 2D objects rolling through the sky in the same direction, they actually look quite real as the video below shows. In addition they appear to have tweaked the atmospheric lighting to work with the clouds quite well.

New Feature - Infantry Stance

The single biggest enhancement at this stage is the stance system, no longer are you limited to prone, crouched and standing (yes CoD warriors, real people have more than two choices here!), in fact you can go all the way from prone to a seated static position, different levels of crouched and kneeling all the way up to a high stance to peek over stuff, and that's just scratching the surface. For a more detailed look, see this comprehensive video (content from: YouTube: Dyslexci): 

Future of Mods
At this stage it appears mods for the game will have a strong future as there is already a lot of work going on in this space with some users porting islands from ArmA2 and previous games. As for the scripting, the SQF language survives and it's quite possible the native code extensions will make a return to support the backend features seen in mod turned standalone game DayZ, there is also suggestion from the devs that they intend to support object-oriented scripting through Java.

If you haven't seen ArmA II, you can pick up a copy by clicking the image above, the game has recently seen a surge in popularity thanks to the hugely popular zombie survival mod, DayZ. As mentioned before it has now become a standalone developed by BI.

The Only Mod Worth Buying - DayZ

Normally I'm an excessively keen pure first person shooter player, have been since the original Counter-Strike days. The Walking Dead has probably contributed a little to the success of DayZ, as in my personal circumstances I started playing the mod after watching an episode of the show as there was something appealing about attempting to survive a zombie apocalypse in a massive open world with other live people. Whether you team up with others or go it alone the game experience has been quite rewarding and if anything I wish I had more time to play it. Fortunately, if you already own a copy of ArmA 2, you can currently get the mod for free via Play withSIX, which allows you to easily manage mods and other custom content, as well as browsing for servers.

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