GDC '09: EA - 'Keep things simple and sexy / Learn from Apple's lead'
‘It’s an adaptation, not a port’, should be the dev’s mantra
The iPhone promises massive scope for any game company with even a meagre back catalogue, but for a giant like EA it could see the platform out without ever creating any new IP's again.
But speaking at GDC, EA Mobile's associate producer Mike Pagano has given a speech about the challenges and successes of porting games to the iPhone. His advice? They should be adaptations, not ports.
As semantic as this argument might appear, Pagano went on to explain his developer’s mantra, and raised some excellent points along the way.
“How do you design a game to accommodate the world’s fattest fingers?”, he asked the crowd when discussing EA’s reworking of games such as SimCity, Spore Origins and Monopoly. He also handed out three free tips to anyone getting in on the iPhone action.
1) See games not as ports, but as adaptations
2) Keep things simple and sexy
3) Learn from Apple's lead
Pagano delved into EA’s initial approach as to how to best plunder its massive catalogue of games. Four key elements were drawn up to help them decide: brand recognition, proven mechanics, fast time to market and high profitability.
Again, these initially sound pretty obvious, but as a production plan that takes the EA Mobile team from concept to market, it’s a refined and responsible system to follow.
“Why re-create the keyboard, when Apple has done it so well already?” he points out, before adding, “Whatever you do, simplify the controls. Every time you create a button, make sure the user knows he or she is tapping that button.
"The iPhone is touch sensitive, but you can't feel feedback so you don't know when a button is pressed. You have to make that visually clear, which is something we could have done better with Yahtzee. Give gamers a visual cue when they tap, preferably above their fingers, not below.”
What Pagano’s pointing out here is that the initial honeymoon phase of the iPhone as a gaming novelty is over. Quick, rushed, direct ports will no longer cut the mustard on a platform that - despite some resistance from the games community - is a fully fledged gaming system.
All great advice, coming from a company that’s survived longer than any gaming platform.
