iOS game reviews on Giantbomb?

Do you think Giantbomb should start covering iOS games? With the split from Tested (Will and Norm would at least give some of the games a spin and give out recommendations) I've lost a trusted professional assessment of these games. There are other sites that do cover these games (IGN) but I'd prefer to stick with our trusted team here at Giantbomb.

Now I'm not saying to go after every shitty game but it would be great if they would cover the big blockbusters. I know they've done the Infinity blades (I,II) but I wish they would cover more.

What do you guys think?

No.

No thanks.

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

I miss the highlighted user review on the front page from about a year ago. It was a cool way for games that normally wouldn't get reviewed by the staff to receive quality coverage by the site. That was also a great place for iOS titles to pop up every once in a while.

(...and no, I won't pretend that my first review on the site wasn't a highlighted iOS review)

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

Hell no. The crew only have time to cover the biggest of games at the moment - giving the shittier stuff to Alex - I'd rather they didn't take up that time with 79p iOS games instead.

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

yeah fair point. plus there are sites like Toucharcade that are dedicated to this and Eurogamer do a App of The Day that is very good.

Already started doing it with The Pinball Arcade. Obviously that had other versions as well, but the iOS version is given almost a full paragraph and reviewed as a legitimate version of the game (which it is). I'd be fine with it, as long as the Bomb crew thought they were significant enough experiences to warrant a review.

Sure; I agree that they should at least consider covering the bigger mobile games. They don't even necessarily need to do reviews; some mobile Quick Looks would be good. I would genuinely love to see a Draw Something QL.

Gamespot review iOS games.

Nope.

I don't think it should be on the regular, but I think certain iOS games could warrant their own review, like Superbrothers Sword and Sorcery.

Nah, there's really nothing to say about most mobile games. Plus it would dilute the quality of content here.

@Hunkulese said:

@Iron_Tool Can you no longer go to tested? If it was fine for you before why isn't it now?

They aren't really a tech site anymore. It's more of a science site now (right now for instance there are articles on the front page about electric airplanes, how to build an 8 bit CPU from scratch and how to transplant a 20-30 foot tree). I can't remember the last time they talked about phones. On last weeks podcast the subject of Apple's latest quarterly earnings was skipped because it was too boring when in the past it would have been a 40 minute discussion on what to do with so much money. App of the Day isn't daily anymore. They do it once or twice a week because there aren't 5 things a week worth covering. I imagine things will change once they are no longer working out of Norm Manor and get an actual office.

Never going to happen.

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

You're kind of missing the point that they're spreading themselves thinner regardless. Patrick played through Sword & Sworcery on his own and was singing its praises constantly, and finally felt justified in making a quicklook when it came out on Steam. That's a bizarre distinction to make, especially without Will & Norm in the corporate family anymore.

Games are games. Does it make any sense at all that even with the "limited resources," Jeff just opted to re-review Mortal Kombat's delayed release on the Vita? Did that really need a stand-alone review? They're going to play what they want to play regardless, they may as well not limit themselves when they generate content from it.

Edit: I'd also like to point out that Brad just did an unprecedented SECOND quick look on Trials Evolution. And this is after doing a TNT on it as well. Today's content is all a retread, basically.

If the staff doesn't have the passion for the medium and the types of games currently available for it, I can't really say I want them to force themselves. I know that my least favorite part of the Rebel.FM podcast is the mundane talk about phone games; mostly because I don't own a mobile device to play them, but also because the games I'm familiar with for said devices are the type I just can't see myself playing.

Only if it strikes a member of the crew's fancy. I don't think they need to go out of the way to cover mobile gaming, A focus on iOS wouldn't fit the site and there are others put there that'd do it better. However, I also don't feel they should avoid covering anything that piques their interest just because it's on iOS.

Zero interest.

They have no time. If they hired a guy that only covered mobile games maybe.

Nope.

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

They do when they feel like it.

They've basically said that they avoid covering iOS games, partially because the community throws hissy fits whenever they do.

iOS games don't have much substance yet to warrant a review. 99cents-$3 for a game isn't a huge risk to take that requires reading a 1 page review. These games are all usually fads that last a week or two anyways.

If they stubble across something they like then fine. But I don't think it should be a major thing.

If they want to review an iOS game, then sure. I just don't want them to spread themselves too thin.

@onan said:

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

You're kind of missing the point that they're spreading themselves thinner regardless. Patrick played through Sword & Sworcery on his own and was singing its praises constantly, and finally felt justified in making a quicklook when it came out on Steam. That's a bizarre distinction to make, especially without Will & Norm in the corporate family anymore.

Games are games. Does it make any sense at all that even with the "limited resources," Jeff just opted to re-review Mortal Kombat's delayed release on the Vita? Did that really need a stand-alone review? They're going to play what they want to play regardless, they may as well not limit themselves when they generate content from it.

Edit: I'd also like to point out that Brad just did an unprecedented SECOND quick look on Trials Evolution. And this is after doing a TNT on it as well. Today's content is all a retread, basically.

There's a difference between them spreading themselves thinner because they feel they want to (re)cover a game and making mobile games a mandatory part of their coverage. But hey, I'm not dealing in absolutes here. I'm merely pointing out how I feel about potential ios coverage.

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

I share the sentiment that theres no need for iOS game reviews on the site - but that "slack" getting picked up by the community comment just rubs me the wrong way. Up until now I wasn't aware that as a consumer I have a responsibility to write articles "the crew" doesn't have time for? Until GB gets rid of paid memberships I don't think anyone needs to pick up any of THEIR slack. I love the site and love the guys (hehe except Patrick, you know hehe that guy hehe THAT guy..oh boy!) but I think it's time to finally put all that limited resources, need to help the guys out, support the site talk to rest. The days of Building a Bomb, sitting in a dark, dusty, tiny, cramped basement are long gone. They are funded now, none of the equipment or whatnot comes out of their pocket - it's cool guys, were safe, were safe now. They might not be living the life of rockstars but they're no longer the small indie startup they once were.

Sorry for the rant.

@Humanity said:

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

I share the sentiment that theres no need for iOS game reviews on the site - but that "slack" getting picked up by the community comment just rubs me the wrong way. Up until now I wasn't aware that as a consumer I have a responsibility to write articles "the crew" doesn't have time for? Until GB gets rid of paid memberships I don't think anyone needs to pick up any of THEIR slack. I love the site and love the guys (hehe except Patrick, you know hehe that guy hehe THAT guy..oh boy!) but I think it's time to finally put all that limited resources, need to help the guys out, support the site talk to rest. The days of Building a Bomb, sitting in a dark, dusty, tiny, cramped basement are long gone. They are funded now, none of the equipment or whatnot comes out of their pocket - it's cool guys, were safe, were safe now. They might not be living the life of rockstars but they're no longer the small indie startup they once were.

Sorry for the rant.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I think you misunderstand what I'm trying to express. I said the lack of ios coverage could be mitigated through our wonderful community. We have some very gifted writers here and a stronger than average community, I think. That doesn't mean that it is our (or your) responsibility to write about stuff the crew isn't writing about. All I'm saying is that this site offers resources that reach beyond the editorial staff and we could--as far as it isn't done already--benefit greatly from this. I don't know about you, but I don't just read what the staff writes; I look to some of my fellow GB users for input on the quality of games. Now if only the site redesign will offer a way to highlight worthwhile reviews, that'd be fantastic. But that's just my take, anyway.

@onan:

I'd also like to point out that Brad just did an unprecedented SECOND quick look on Trials Evolution. And this is after doing a TNT on it as well.

This isn't true. In the event that a member of the staff wishes to Quick Look a part of a game, usually late game stuff, that has not already been showcased before and does not want to do a Video Review they'll do a second Quick Look as seen with Dark Void and other games.

@RVonE: I too have high hopes for the site redesign. Highlighting community content would certainly be neat as the biggest advice Jeff has for getting into the biz is just writing a bunch anywhere you can - so for people that really want to get into writing about games professionally it would be a nice boost to have GB promo their content.

I think it should be moderated user reviews.

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

Even thinner? Dude, there's like, a total of two, maybe three pieces of content going up a day. That's like... nothing.

@Napalm said:

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

Even thinner? Dude, there's like, a total of two, maybe three pieces of content going up a day. That's like... nothing.

My point exactly.

@RVonE: You don't know what being "spread thin" means. They just aren't doing much.

Get Patrick to do it.

@Napalm said:

@RVonE said:

@Bell_End said:

@BraveToaster said:

No thanks.

why not. you wouldn't have to read them and those of us that do like to play a few games on our mobile devices could.

Of course, but given their limited resources I'd rather not have them spread themselves even thinner.

EDIT: and like @Little_Socrates said, this is the kind of slack that could be picked up by the community.

Even thinner? Dude, there's like, a total of two, maybe three pieces of content going up a day. That's like... nothing.

Those Trials achievement aren't going to earn themselves man.

@Napalm said:

@RVonE: You don't know what being "spread thin" means. They just aren't doing much.

If you say so.

yes, why not?

They can review what ever the hell they want, I don't care. But given how little focus is given to IOS and other mobile games on major sites it's unlikely that there will ever be a huge demand for it from this site. It's still a business and they aren't going to put time and effort into things that wont generate interest.

Mobile games are a much, much lower risk than a retail console or pc game due to the bottom almost completely falling out of the iOS app store shortly after launch.

Since most of the GB staff doesn't like/play iOS games, no. It's the same reason they don't cover sports games.

@Jolt92 said:

No.

This.

They don't review every 360 and PS3 game that comes out so why should they review an iPhone game?

@Jolt92 said:

No.

@RVonE: @ZombiePie said:

@onan:

I'd also like to point out that Brad just did an unprecedented SECOND quick look on Trials Evolution. And this is after doing a TNT on it as well.

This isn't true. In the event that a member of the staff wishes to Quick Look a part of a game, usually late game stuff, that has not already been showcased before and does not want to do a Video Review they'll do a second Quick Look as seen with Dark Void and other games.

Ah, well I guess I've missed a few QLs. I stand corrected. Of the ones I've seen, this is the first time I've seen them do a second QL of, or a second review of. "Almost unprecedented," or "very infrequently," then.

My point was that it's not a matter of the Bomb squad "getting spread too thin." They're going to play what they want to play, so by making a policy not to cover mobile games it's not like it's going to free them up to do more coverage of other things. I gave examples of mobile games they're playing anyway because they want to, or games they've already covered but continue playing and covering instead of providing coverage to something else.

I mean to say they should cover whatever they want to cover in the gaming space, even if it's only questionably videogame related. The Johann Sebastian Joust bit during a happy hour was great, and the two times they played Cards Against Humanity convinced me to buy the game and expansion when I wouldn't have known about it at all otherwise.

No thanks. Rather have them focus their efforts on games.

@FinalDasa said:

@Jolt92 said:

No.

This.

They don't review every 360 and PS3 game that comes out so why should they review an iPhone game?

Because it's good?

And are people still pretending that these aren't games?

Obviously no one's suggesting that Giant Bomb become a mobile-only website. And yeah, most iOS games are a load of crap, the same is true for the Wii yet they still cover the top games on that console. Given how easy it is to capture from iPhones/Androids I'm surprised there aren't more QLs and reviews. They talk about iOS games on the bombcast sometimes, why not take it a little further.