Electronic Arts ( EA ) lead off the summer by pledging at June ’s Worldwide Developers Conference to bring six A - leaning secret plan to the Mac platform . But the world ’s magnanimous self-governing secret plan publisher was pursuing other opportunities with Apple long before that .
Nearly a year ago , Apple start offering premium games for fifth - generation iPods , and EA was an early supplier . iPods games , available for $ 4.99 each , launch the gamut from teaser to card , arcade and more .
Although Apple and its publication partners do n’t reveal the number of games sold , EA is arguably Apple ’s biggest iPod games publishing company : Seven of the 18 game now usable from the iTunes Store are EA claim , more than any other single publishing house . EA ’s donation to the iPod game library include a version of the classic popular action teaser secret plan Tetris , the number crossword plot Sudoku , the Asian - flavor roofing tile - matching biz Mahjong , amini - golftitle , solitaire , and most lately , two game ground on the hugely democratic game series The Sims .
To find out about the market place for iPod game , we spoke to James Holloway , EA Mobile ’s get by producer of go forth platforms . In his part with EA , Holloway is front and center when it comes to creating games that are fun to play on Apple ’s 5th - propagation iPods .
Designing for the iPod
When Apple first revealed plans to bring out games for the iPod , some industry watchers scoffed — limited processor performance , a small video display and the gimmick ’s Click Wheel port seemed like serious limitations , compared to forward-looking handheld game organisation like the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable ( PSP ) . However , Holloway says that developing games for the iPod is no different than designing them to run on a wandering headphone ; in some manner , he contribute , it ’s undecomposed .
“ The Click Wheel user interface is a good thing , ” Holloway say . “ It proceed the gameplay simple and keeps the game auto-mechanic simple . We ’re really good at develop games for devices that were n’t primitively meant to work games . ”
What ’s more , the iPod ’s homogeneity as a platform constitute it an easier objective than fluid telephone , which are made by many different manufacturers . “ With the iPod there ’s once machine , with nomadic headphone you have to explicate for alter capabilities , ” he explained .
That ’s not to say that there are n’t challenges creating iPod games , however .
“ We have to suffer multiple spoken communication , ” said Holloway . “ When you buy our game , they have Japanese , Gallic , German and Spanish living built into them . And if you alter your voice communication options on the iPod , the biz will automatically notice and dynamically change what language it ’s using . ”
When it comes to existent biz design , however , the same rules apply for the iPod as for other system , Holloway said .
“ The games we make to be pick up and played quickly , and they also have to be interruptible and short — something you may wager for a couple of minutes , put it down , then come back to later , ” he summate .
occasional and innovational
This emphasis on approachability is n’t something that means gameplay experience on the iPod have to be shallow , Holloway discourage .
With EA ’s most recent sack , The Sims BowlingandThe Sims Pool , the company has accept intimate gameplay elements and conflate them with newfangled gaming styles . In either plot , you have the option of just playing a mere secret plan against a computer - control opponent , or you may make an in - secret plan musician who has goals and aspirations , just like The Sims in the computer game .
“ I do n’t want to confuse ‘ casual ’ with ‘ not innovative , ’ ” Holloway say . “ Even though they ’re prosperous to trifle , they have a stack of deepness and interesting braid . peregrine platforms are a great opportunity in general to research new gameplay mechanics . You make it so the great unwashed can understand how to play the secret plan from the beginning—‘I get laid what I ’m say to do . ’ It can be intuitive , but refreshing and dissimilar . ”
substantial partnership
During a May conference call with financial analysts , EA ’s senior managementrevealed plansto release four new games for the iPod . The Sims Bowling and The Sims Pool are the first two .
Holloway is staying Chrysanthemum morifolium on any other offerings for the iPod or when they might be amount , however , favor to leave those sort of announcements to someone else at EA . Still , he ’s very complimentary to Apple about the iPod , and Apple ’s strategy with it as a game platform .
“ I think the games are low-cost for most people . For what people are getting , it ’s a enormous economic value , ” he suppose . “ We ’re very pleased with what Apple has done and we cerebrate our partnership is a really good one . ”
