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Post by peregrinus on Jul 28, 2009 5:03:55 GMT -5
Hello! I saw a sugestion to come here in another forum, guess this one has a good reputation  Im thinking of starting my own business in creating games for mobile platforms, smartphones to be exact, which I havent decided yet. Found the Edgelib API www.edgelib.com/ so im thinking on using that, any comments or sugestions regarding it? I'll also welcome any advice you may give me in ways to make a profit  Should I contact a network like Vodafone, or a game company, and present a demo when I have something done? I have programmed before, in other languages, but never in C++ or java, but im sick and tired of my current job and have a goal of making something on my own, so I will learn! |
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Post by Adam Schmelzle on Jul 28, 2009 9:08:41 GMT -5
I've got no experience with edgelib, so I can't really help you with that. It won't support all smart phones though, so make sure it'll at least be able to produce a binary/executable for the devices you plan on supporting. Porting from edgelib to non-edgelib supported devices would likely require a 100% rewrite, since it looks like it compiles a native binary and many smart-phones use j2me. Honestly the best mobile market at the moment is iPhone/iPod. I find android better from a development standpoints, but apple certainly has the edge in market size. Also, if you want to make money using an ad supported model, there's nothing reasonable for android yet, but on iPhone you can use greystripe.com for in game ads. It's not all rosy for the iPhone though, which you'll see if you search around a bit(even on my board). As for making a reasonable business out of it... Don't bother contacting phone companies. Networks ONLY deal with large publishers/distributors that they have pre-existing relationship with. Most dev companies(except on iPhone) make games because their publisher gives them money to do so, and the publisher already decided to distribute it. Publishers generally won't even open your email. On iPhone there are literally hundreds of new games EVERY DAY. It's stupid. The only way to make money on sales with iPhone is if you get super lucky or have an amazing 'lite' version to advertise you full game with. this is 'cause most games never even get seen by phone owners because the games are never at the top of the new releases list. When 200 games get released on the same day, 175 of them are off-screen release day, and 99.999% of users won't look past the first page. You could make money using ads on iPhone, since free games get downloaded about 20x more than paid apps usually. Most free games won't make enough per download to justify any marketing budget though, so again you'll have to have some luck, or be super-awesome. Ugh. Last year before the US economy tanked, I would have said something completely different. In game ads were making 10x as much money, and I was doing well. Now I can't cover my bills. ...You could always get lucky and make a zillion dollars off a stupid fart app on the iphone though. What do I know. Man, I get gloomy these days when I talk about the mobile game market. |
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Post by peregrinus on Jul 28, 2009 9:56:32 GMT -5
Whoa, thanks for the advise, have some thinking to do But its not like im starting tomorrow or next week. Maybe I could have better luck starting in a more restricted platform like Symbian, at least until I get some experience. From what i've seen starting for the IPhone may not be a very good idea, like you wrote, it sometimes takes a lot of time to get something authorized, and the other stuff you just said. And although Edgelib is supposed to work with iphone too, I dont think it will work with androids, not right now anyway, so im not sure if I should focus on C++ or Java. Any good maket for Symbian? |
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Post by Adam Schmelzle on Jul 28, 2009 10:43:18 GMT -5
If you want to make money from sales, your best off with iPhone or maybe android(don't know yet). It's really hard to get any sales with off-deck systems, like what you'll be facing with Symbian.
It's really not an easy thing to do, making money off smart-phone games. I'm hoping android will have more devices soon, and some good advertising partners will be on board. Then there'll be money to make in the android space.
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Post by peregrinus on Jul 28, 2009 10:58:29 GMT -5
It seems we're going to start seeing a lot of android devices comming out in the near future, so I would bet there's a good future there Whats easier, Java or C++? |
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Post by Adam Schmelzle on Jul 28, 2009 11:44:25 GMT -5
Java is ten thousand times easier to write solid code in. Given the choice I always use java. People that don't know what they are doing or talking about will say java is slower, but they are simply misinformed |
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Post by peregrinus on Jul 28, 2009 11:54:47 GMT -5
Ok cool, one last question, I think Suppose I'll start with Java, forget Edgelib, what tools do I need or do you recommend for me to get started? And do I really need an Apple to make something for iphone? |
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Post by Adam Schmelzle on Jul 28, 2009 11:59:05 GMT -5
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Post by peregrinus on Jul 29, 2009 2:54:19 GMT -5
Ok Adam, thanks for all your advice If I make any progress I'll let you know |
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Post by Adam Schmelzle on Jul 29, 2009 7:12:57 GMT -5
Have fun!
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Should I contact a network like Vodafone, or a game company, and present a demo when I have something done?
