Why Arcadecraft is Lame & Separation of Consoles and Handhelds

Inherently there are a lot of elements that separate a traditional handheld and console game. When I play a console game, I intend to get invested. It can be the result of deep gameplay, story, or mechanics that aren’t as bite-sized as Angry Birds. Handhelds have the advantage of not requiring the player to be as invested. You don’t need to really pay attention to Game Dev Story. Jet Pack Joyride doesn’t ask the player to get in serious videogame mode like Dark Souls. Who the Hell would want to sit on their couch with an iPhone playing Walking Dead? What made me stop playing Persona 4 Golden was after 18 hours I threw my hands up and said, "Fuck playing this on a tiny screen!".

I think we can all agree that the XboxLive Indie Games platform is a bunch of great ideas not necessarily brought to its full potential. Most of the games on the channel are lackluster, at best. Or at least that’s the perspective with the extreme lack of marketing. I enjoy checking out any title brought to my attention.

Some of you on the Twitterverse brought Arcadecraft to my attention. Arcadecraft is an arcade simulation developed and published by Canadian indie developer, Firebase Industries. At its most surface-level, it’s easiest to compare this to RollerCoaster Tycoon. You’re tasked with running an arcade through the 1980’s. I’ve heard this game described as Viva Piñata. Upon closer examination, I buy that comparison. Mind you, Arcadecraft has nowhere near that level of complexity and awesome puns.

I named my business “MADDAWGARCADE”. It was a very small arcade without a lot of options for customization. During my several hours of play, I didn’t get the impression that you can unlock larger venues. You can add graphics to the walls, paint the floor, and add an X-Mas tree during December, but it doesn’t add a whole lot.

The crutch of the game is you constantly buying arcade cabinets. No, you can’t play the cabinets. Popularity is the game’s most important stat. The gameplay revolves around staying relevant. There are a limited amount of cabinets you can have at a time and as the game progresses, cabinets become less and less popular.

A lot of elements can contribute to popularity. “Professional Gamers” getting really high scores, games being next to their sequel, and so on. Having unpopular games doesn’t hold you back in any meaningful way other than taking up space. Arcadecraft encourages you to sell old dusty machines, but money is not an issue at all in this game.

That’s where the issue lays. Arcadecraft is too easy. So long as you’re adding a new machine every “month”, your popularity will stay at the top of the scale. This is generally a numbers game. But despite there being almost 20 different stats, Popularity is the only one that matters. You have options to customize price and difficulties of the games, but you’re best served not messing around with customization outside of the Arcade’s cosmetics.

It was rewarding enough for me to see MADDAWGARCADE grow. More and more folks were coming in every month and the continual grow in arcade noises made me envious of an era in gaming that was before my time. Game Dev Story was on my 2010 GOTY list and in the grand scheme very similar to Arcadecraft. It was a numbers game. There was little difficulty and the reward itself was seeing something artificial you made grow bigger.

At least with my play style, Arcadecraft doesn’t mix well with a console. I intend to sit down and play for at least an hour or two with my Xbox. Yes it’s an Indie Game, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of stuff. To keep my attention, I need more than one variable in a game’s environment. With that said, Arcadecraft would be well served as an iOS game. I would love to continually check on MADDAWGARCADE in between classes and on the toilet. Unfortunately, the lack of depth doesn’t provide a lot of entertainment considering how shallow Arcadecraft is.

I propose a few questions to the community. Where do you draw the line of something you'll play on a console or handheld? Are there any good Arcade Simulators? Can you think of any examples of console games that belong on a handheld or vice-versa?

-EpicSteve

@stevenbeynon

Inherently there are a lot of elements that separate a traditional handheld and console game. When I play a console game, I intend to get invested. It can be the result of deep gameplay, story, or mechanics that aren’t as bite-sized as Angry Birds. Handhelds have the advantage of not requiring the player to be as invested. You don’t need to really pay attention to Game Dev Story. Jet Pack Joyride doesn’t ask the player to get in serious videogame mode like Dark Souls. Who the Hell would want to sit on their couch with an iPhone playing Walking Dead? What made me stop playing Persona 4 Golden was after 18 hours I threw my hands up and said, "Fuck playing this on a tiny screen!".

I think we can all agree that the XboxLive Indie Games platform is a bunch of great ideas not necessarily brought to its full potential. Most of the games on the channel are lackluster, at best. Or at least that’s the perspective with the extreme lack of marketing. I enjoy checking out any title brought to my attention.

Some of you on the Twitterverse brought Arcadecraft to my attention. Arcadecraft is an arcade simulation developed and published by Canadian indie developer, Firebase Industries. At its most surface-level, it’s easiest to compare this to RollerCoaster Tycoon. You’re tasked with running an arcade through the 1980’s. I’ve heard this game described as Viva Piñata. Upon closer examination, I buy that comparison. Mind you, Arcadecraft has nowhere near that level of complexity and awesome puns.

I named my business “MADDAWGARCADE”. It was a very small arcade without a lot of options for customization. During my several hours of play, I didn’t get the impression that you can unlock larger venues. You can add graphics to the walls, paint the floor, and add an X-Mas tree during December, but it doesn’t add a whole lot.

The crutch of the game is you constantly buying arcade cabinets. No, you can’t play the cabinets. Popularity is the game’s most important stat. The gameplay revolves around staying relevant. There are a limited amount of cabinets you can have at a time and as the game progresses, cabinets become less and less popular.

A lot of elements can contribute to popularity. “Professional Gamers” getting really high scores, games being next to their sequel, and so on. Having unpopular games doesn’t hold you back in any meaningful way other than taking up space. Arcadecraft encourages you to sell old dusty machines, but money is not an issue at all in this game.

That’s where the issue lays. Arcadecraft is too easy. So long as you’re adding a new machine every “month”, your popularity will stay at the top of the scale. This is generally a numbers game. But despite there being almost 20 different stats, Popularity is the only one that matters. You have options to customize price and difficulties of the games, but you’re best served not messing around with customization outside of the Arcade’s cosmetics.

It was rewarding enough for me to see MADDAWGARCADE grow. More and more folks were coming in every month and the continual grow in arcade noises made me envious of an era in gaming that was before my time. Game Dev Story was on my 2010 GOTY list and in the grand scheme very similar to Arcadecraft. It was a numbers game. There was little difficulty and the reward itself was seeing something artificial you made grow bigger.

At least with my play style, Arcadecraft doesn’t mix well with a console. I intend to sit down and play for at least an hour or two with my Xbox. Yes it’s an Indie Game, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of stuff. To keep my attention, I need more than one variable in a game’s environment. With that said, Arcadecraft would be well served as an iOS game. I would love to continually check on MADDAWGARCADE in between classes and on the toilet. Unfortunately, the lack of depth doesn’t provide a lot of entertainment considering how shallow Arcadecraft is.

I propose a few questions to the community. Where do you draw the line of something you'll play on a console or handheld? Are there any good Arcade Simulators? Can you think of any examples of console games that belong on a handheld or vice-versa?

-EpicSteve

@stevenbeynon

I have never played an Arcade Simulator, however there are a lot of handheld games that hold my interest just like console games. Take Fire Emblem, Poke'Mon, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy etc.....I was hooked on my DS because of these games. I played them non stop even at home.

What I think you're describing is more akin to Indie games, to which I feel most are kinda gimmicky BUT when you get something like MineCraft it's just as good, if not better than console games.

Wait, The Walking Dead is on the Vita?

I don't think there is a line that needs to be drawn between console and handheld games as long as the design is right for it. I would play an XCOM game on the Vita if they made a good game that takes advantage of that system's design and controls.

@probablytuna said:

Wait, The Walking Dead is on the Vita?

No, that was just a random example I gave out. I couldn't really think of any general console experience that are also on the Vita but good. Yes, there's Persona 4, but I used that in a different example. I did edit that because I remembered Walking Dead is on the iPhone. Thanks.

I would defiantly pick this up as a phone game, I have no reason to play it if I've got my backlog of console game there but it seems like a good time waster

Heard Gary Whitta raving about this but didn't realize it was an Xbox Live Indie game. I was also way into Game Dev Story, so this sounds intriguing but if its really as shallow as you claim, well, that's a shame.

As for big-screen games vs handheld, I have recently been tinkering with handheld games more often lately and my only observation is that I kind of equate it to curling up with a book before going to bed as opposed to an intense gaming session. Something like Dark Souls belongs on the television, something easy-going like Ghost Trick, Phoenix Wright or mayhaps a Zelda title (though that's a bit more involved), fit comfortably on the handheld. I played Game Dev Story at home a lot as well as on the go, so it sounds like ArcadeCraft may well be better suited to a smaller platform.

Buyer Beware: Arcadecraft also has a huge problem with crashing.

I haven't had any crashing problems, but I agree with you as a whole. I bought it on a whim a couple days ago. At first I was totally obsessed with it (mainly just because I thought it was a kinda neat idea for a game), but as the in-game months passed, it just got easier and easier to the point that I already kinda don't care. I think it was worth the $3 and I had fun while it lasted, but like you said, they need to work with the numbers/simulation a bit more and add some content. It would definitely be interesting to see it on a phone or tablet.

It's on Steam Greenlight. I'm waiting for it there. I have no problem buying an XBLIG, but I'd rather play a sim like this on my laptop on the couch while my girlfriend watches a crappy CW show. Have the writers of Heart of Dixie ever heard a real person speak? Jesus...

Largely, the games that I play on handhelds are exclusive to that platform, and I've never had an issue with screen size. You'd never catch me playing a current-gen console game on a handheld though-- at their worst those games are hack job ports and at their best they compromise something in the transition.

That being said, I'd have no issue with playing Persona 4 on a handheld, since I don't currently own a working PS2 and it does have added features.

The best handheld games take advantage of the platform, and for the most part I can't think of an exclusive handheld game that would be better on a larger screen with sharper graphics.

If you have a personal problem with playing games on a small screen, then maybe handhelds just aren't your thing.

GO BIG OR GO HOME BABY

@EpicSteve: This is the type of game that might work on facebook in the zynga format. Infact now that it has a little buzz, I would NOT be surprised to see something like that. I cant help but wish the game was a little deeper overall, and steam greenlight is a good place for it, especially if they can add some more features.

Where do you draw the line of something you'll play on a console or handheld?

usually when the levels of a game are bite sized or when its essential game play is along the sorts of something like this where you set it and watch the numbers grow. if this was on ios i would definitely buy it easily. as this definitely should be an ios game.

Can you think of any examples of console games that belong on a handheld or vice-versa?

yea if you count XBLA games as console games, stuff that comes to mind that i think would work on a handheld are, from dust, mark of the ninja, super meat boy, rock of ages,

any type of first person "action" games (halo, call of duty) i dont think belongs on handhelds. fighting games could work on handhelds, and grid based tactical rpgs would work great.

what i think would actually work brilliantly on at least a tablet, is XCOM, i wouldnt be surprised if far down the line when that stuff becomes more powerful, that fireaxis ports that game to ios. or if people copy that game's design and roll with it.

@mrfluke said:

Where do you draw the line of something you'll play on a console or handheld?

usually when the levels of a game are bite sized or when its essential game play is along the sorts of something like this where you set it and watch the numbers grow. if this was on ios i would definitely buy it easily. as this definitely should be an ios game.

Can you think of any examples of console games that belong on a handheld or vice-versa?

yea if you count XBLA games as console games, stuff that comes to mind that i think would work on a handheld are, from dust, mark of the ninja, super meat boy, rock of ages,

any type of first person "action" games (halo, call of duty) i dont think belongs on handhelds. fighting games could work on handhelds, and grid based tactical rpgs would work great.

what i think would actually work brilliantly on at least a tablet, is XCOM, i wouldnt be surprised if far down the line when that stuff becomes more powerful, that fireaxis ports that game to ios. or if people copy that game's design and roll with it.

If we lived in a world where handhelds had equal tech to the consoles, it be cool to have COD on one. I can see myself playing a 10 minute match here and there during public transit or something.

@EpicSteve said:

@mrfluke said:

Where do you draw the line of something you'll play on a console or handheld?

usually when the levels of a game are bite sized or when its essential game play is along the sorts of something like this where you set it and watch the numbers grow. if this was on ios i would definitely buy it easily. as this definitely should be an ios game.

Can you think of any examples of console games that belong on a handheld or vice-versa?

yea if you count XBLA games as console games, stuff that comes to mind that i think would work on a handheld are, from dust, mark of the ninja, super meat boy, rock of ages,

any type of first person "action" games (halo, call of duty) i dont think belongs on handhelds. fighting games could work on handhelds, and grid based tactical rpgs would work great.

what i think would actually work brilliantly on at least a tablet, is XCOM, i wouldnt be surprised if far down the line when that stuff becomes more powerful, that fireaxis ports that game to ios. or if people copy that game's design and roll with it.

If we lived in a world where handhelds had equal tech to the consoles, it be cool to have COD on one. I can see myself playing a 10 minute match here and there during public transit or something.

if they get the design of a handheld to feel right to make shooters work like they do on consoles, or nail a control scheme that makes fps work well on handhelds then i totally agree,

id love to play like halo 3 multiplayer on a handheld that has great triggers and analog sticks while im traveling. i worry about the future of handhelds though considering how much mobile platforms like ios and android have taken over and how nintendo and sonys handhelds are not as hot as they were. (3ds is doing "fine", definitely cant say the same for the vita though...)

I have no idea how they could flesh this out into a full game. I mean it's an arcade, how much managing could it take really? I guess I'll check it out if they do a demo on Steam if it comes to steam. I'm sure they got a demo since it was an XBLA release.

@EpicSteve said:

Where do you draw the line of something you'll play on a console or handheld?

Generally if it's something that requires fast moving skill, is in 3d and has small details I want to play it on console. I don't enjoy squinting to search for collectibles, and sports games and shooters make me feel like I suck on handhelds. I don't generally like to play long games on hand helds either. Dragon Quest IX just about killed me on the DS.

so action adventure, 3d platformers and shooters I generally won't mess with on handhelds. I can't imagine playing a Call of Duty game or such on one, it would be too hard to see well enough to get head shots and such.

In other words speedy play + small detail I don't like on handhelds

Can you think of any examples of console games that belong on a handheld or vice-versa?

Yeah puzzle games. I don't need or want a big screen for games like Tetris or Meteos.

I hate to say it because I like playing on big screens but topdown thinking games like Fire Emblem probably also belong on handhelds. There isn't much improvent from being on a tv screen. Adventure games work ok there as well.

Anything 2d generally probably belongs on handhelds more than the console mainly due to price. At 60 bucks for a console release most 2d games feel like a ripoff anymore when you get just as good of an experience for half of that on a handheld.

@thabigred said:

I have no idea how they could flesh this out into a full game. I mean it's an arcade, how much managing could it take really? I guess I'll check it out if they do a demo on Steam if it comes to steam. I'm sure they got a demo since it was an XBLA release.

It was an Xbox Live Indie Game, which is technically a separate platform than XBLA. So, no demo.

@EpicSteve said:

@thabigred said:

I have no idea how they could flesh this out into a full game. I mean it's an arcade, how much managing could it take really? I guess I'll check it out if they do a demo on Steam if it comes to steam. I'm sure they got a demo since it was an XBLA release.

It was an Xbox Live Indie Game, which is technically a separate platform than XBLA. So, no demo.

Apart from the whole every XBL Indie game having a free trial version thing.

@KittyVonDoom said:

@EpicSteve said:

@thabigred said:

I have no idea how they could flesh this out into a full game. I mean it's an arcade, how much managing could it take really? I guess I'll check it out if they do a demo on Steam if it comes to steam. I'm sure they got a demo since it was an XBLA release.

It was an Xbox Live Indie Game, which is technically a separate platform than XBLA. So, no demo.

Apart from the whole every XBL Indie game having a free trial version thing.

Oh, thanks for the correction. I didn't think Indie Games were required by Microsoft to have demos.