I have:
Android phone
Kindle Fire HD tablet
iPad
Multiple Windows laptops/workstations
If I buy an app/game on any device, I want the equivalent version on every device (that the app/game is available on), regardless of platform.
The world does not seem to think this way, and I'm annoyed.
Yesterday, a bought a Humble Bundle simply because it included both PC and Android versions of the game. Do I like the games? No idea. I just liked the idea that if I got them, I could use them on either platform.
Reminds me of when there was >1 platform in the 1980s, and sometimes you'd buy a game and it'd have the PC version and the Apple version, or such. Need some way for that to come back for devices.
I guess Steam is kinda an answer, in that if you buy a game, you get the *nix and Apple versions as well (if they exist?) right? Maybe Steam will bring that sanity to the mobile world.
Multi-Platform Fragmentation
I agree Catt, and honestly, it makes sense for developers to move in that direction.
The argument will be, "When they buy another device, they'll have to buy our game again. Cha-Ching!!!"
However, I don't believe that's true. Will it happen? Yes. Still, I think more folks will be pissed about being forced to spent more money to buy the same software just because the technology changed. It will make them look for alternatives, and especially in the case of games, they'll abandon the original game and/or skip sequels or other products made by that company.
Several companies in the business world allow their software licenses to transfer between different devices. The gaming industry and those who write apps for mobile devices need to put on their big boy pants and follow the business world's lead.
The argument will be, "When they buy another device, they'll have to buy our game again. Cha-Ching!!!"
However, I don't believe that's true. Will it happen? Yes. Still, I think more folks will be pissed about being forced to spent more money to buy the same software just because the technology changed. It will make them look for alternatives, and especially in the case of games, they'll abandon the original game and/or skip sequels or other products made by that company.
Several companies in the business world allow their software licenses to transfer between different devices. The gaming industry and those who write apps for mobile devices need to put on their big boy pants and follow the business world's lead.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
Not quite sure what you are asking.Malcolm wrote:Is compatibility guaranteed to be possible across all those devices for every app you got?
I mean, obviously an Android game won't run on an iPhone. But the developer usually makes a version of each. I'm saying if I buy the Android one, I want the iPhone one too.
It's not me, it's someone else.
As a developer, I will say I fucking hate cross-platforming. Even if thing X can technically run on platform Y, X's implementation might suck on Y when it was originally developed for Z.
Just making websites work for most browsers is a pain in the ass. I could go on with issues I've uncovered trying to code equivalent functionality in: Windows v. *nix, x86 v. 64-bit, various flavours of SQL and Linux, ad nauseum. There is a cost. Perhaps if they were forced to bundle everything together for all the platforms or not go to market, the price would shove it out of the comfort range of the masses (who are still content with one purchase = one platform).
Just making websites work for most browsers is a pain in the ass. I could go on with issues I've uncovered trying to code equivalent functionality in: Windows v. *nix, x86 v. 64-bit, various flavours of SQL and Linux, ad nauseum. There is a cost. Perhaps if they were forced to bundle everything together for all the platforms or not go to market, the price would shove it out of the comfort range of the masses (who are still content with one purchase = one platform).
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
GORDON wrote:So the challenge is to write a compiler that will work on the same code base but can also handle each platform's architecture?
That's one way to see it.
That challenge always comes when you go from code -> assembly -> binary. Code and binary look pretty much the same (respectively), in terms of symbols used, regardless of environment. A print line command in a high-level language looks pretty much the same on a Mac as a PC as a cell phone OS, syntactical differences notwithstanding. So do the 1s and 0s.
The assembler language is what's usually hardware customized. And there are some fucking stupid differences, like whether to read bit strings from the left or right, and there are huge differences. Java (and other such bullshit "cross-platform" languages) weasel around these and all other problems by using environment-specific virtual machines that handle all the ugliness. But then someone has to make one for each platform you give a shit about.
What Catt wants is enough copies of a product such that when he buys it, it works for all the platforms he owns (right now, at least). There's nothing that would prevent them from doing a deluxe edition of whatever with that condition attached. They might charge a higher price than for just one platform, though, due to the inherent bullshit involved in developing for everything.
Edited By Malcolm on 1362755473
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
1. Thanks for the rehash of my Mainframe 311 class. 
2. Yes, catt wants his stuff to play cross-platform free and seamlessly. I agree, and I don't think it is too much to ask for in 2013.
3. The challenge is indeed in the compiler. Apparently it takes a lot of time and money to port software from the PC to console, or vice versa. In my opinion, it shouldn't be that hard. Any genius coder like me could, given the correct CPU architecture and system specs, for each system on which you want your software to run, code a Rosetta Compiler for it. A couple input fields for your from ---> to systems and you're off and running.
Of course, you can't hard code your game to require 5 GB of hardware space of you want it to run on a Nintendo DS, so you need to plan for that ahead of time when writing the code. Graphics are scalable, though, and for the most part that is 75% of the scalability challenge between platforms. The code, at compile time, should recognize that if it is for a PC, sky is the limit, AND offer a few resolution settings for video cards that haven't been invented until next year, yet. If it is for a Sony PS3, plug in their top-end resolutions (I don't know what they are offhand).
Multi-core CPUs are also something to consider.
In my opinion.
Also I just realized I am talking out of my ass, and I got bored with myself about 80% of my way through the post.
Edited By GORDON on 1362757118
2. Yes, catt wants his stuff to play cross-platform free and seamlessly. I agree, and I don't think it is too much to ask for in 2013.
3. The challenge is indeed in the compiler. Apparently it takes a lot of time and money to port software from the PC to console, or vice versa. In my opinion, it shouldn't be that hard. Any genius coder like me could, given the correct CPU architecture and system specs, for each system on which you want your software to run, code a Rosetta Compiler for it. A couple input fields for your from ---> to systems and you're off and running.
Of course, you can't hard code your game to require 5 GB of hardware space of you want it to run on a Nintendo DS, so you need to plan for that ahead of time when writing the code. Graphics are scalable, though, and for the most part that is 75% of the scalability challenge between platforms. The code, at compile time, should recognize that if it is for a PC, sky is the limit, AND offer a few resolution settings for video cards that haven't been invented until next year, yet. If it is for a Sony PS3, plug in their top-end resolutions (I don't know what they are offhand).
Multi-core CPUs are also something to consider.
In my opinion.
Also I just realized I am talking out of my ass, and I got bored with myself about 80% of my way through the post.
Edited By GORDON on 1362757118
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I just purchased Minecraft for the 3rd time.
Bought it for the kid to play on my wife's Samsung Galaxy. $7.
Then he wanted to play networked with friends, so I got it for his PC. Something like $25. He plays it but has never connected with a friend, because they all apparently play it on the XBox like a bunch of little loser turds.
Just got him a Kindle Fire so the wife doesn't need to share her Samsung Galaxy, so that was another $7 to put it on the Kindle.
Bought it for the kid to play on my wife's Samsung Galaxy. $7.
Then he wanted to play networked with friends, so I got it for his PC. Something like $25. He plays it but has never connected with a friend, because they all apparently play it on the XBox like a bunch of little loser turds.
Just got him a Kindle Fire so the wife doesn't need to share her Samsung Galaxy, so that was another $7 to put it on the Kindle.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I have three iPads and an iPhone that all share the same account. Only I know the password. That keeps the kiddies from buying shit.
Edited By Leisher on 1363725742
Edited By Leisher on 1363725742
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell