I don't give a fucking fuck about Android. Smartphone are toys, not computers, not "gaming machines" from my standpoint. There are no "good" "old" games for toy... smartphones, because the only, single reason companies release casual shit for smartphones is profit, profit, profit, and profit. Here, now and possibly by squeezing every single penny they can from your hard-earn money.

You can't build a proper economy, an industry, a culture like video gaming on PC and consoles is with just some shitty profit-driven "apps". Who fucking designed those pathetic apps? Not Sigheru Miyamoto, Eric Chahi or Peter Moylenaux, clearly. Oh, and as I've already said: I fucking hate toys that someone would consider as "proper" gaming device :-P

They are not, they are toys.

P.S.I own one of those nice toys, so I KNOW what I'm ranting about.....

These toys are rapidly becoming peoples most used computers. They now have a host of extensions that allow you to use them as your sole computer if you wish.

GOG not wanting to take the plunge into iOS app store I think is indicitive of the feelings of a TON of software developers. An intense fear that in the near future reaching the same amount of people will be harder to do and that in a market ripe with competition, it's going to be harder to turn a profit. The competitive ARM market is not only sucking up x86 market share, but forcing developers to port to more platforms or choose sides and hope their side "wins". Not a good choice for devs, and not an easy one for consumers either. I don't want to be stuck owning a laptop just to enjoy games I could easily play on my future mobile.

there was a version of dosbox on the App store BUT it was pulled BECAUSE you could plug just about anything into it and run it (windows 95 included) and that cost .99 while it was up. A second, updated version was pulled for the SAME reason altho it was harder to do. ANY emulator on the app store has to be self-contained and have in-app purchases for games (aka no drag and drop for them in itunes). Android I dunno. Besides, dosbox is better suited to a ipad based on the sheer screen size

You clearly haven't listened: they are NOT computers. People can use them and call them computers, but they are not. You can use a computer the way you wish, you can program it the way you wish. Toy...smartphone USE YOU the way the company made them wishes.

End of the story, I didn't even want to came that far in a discussion about toys.....

poppycock

thank you, that made me laugh. One of the worst definition of the term computer I have ever seen, might use that one later.

No, it's not shrinking, you're simply finding consumer demand for faster performance is plateauing and that makes it look like mobile is catching up. It's not and my work machines prove it.

Now, a mobile device today still outperforms many desktop devices of yesteryear so for old games and certain kinds of new games it's not big deal.

As for consumers, if some killer app comes out (in the broad sense of the word "app" not the marketing speak) that demands way more raw power, they'll want it and buy it. Right now a phone could power 90% of the utility people want out of their computer anyway.
And when you can get on a bus and your phone wirelessly syncs up to the viewscreen and fold out keyboard built into the back of the seat in front of you, what then? What mobile is today won't be what it always is.

You're arguing about TIVO-ization and that's what made Stallman and the GNU philosophy take shape. Computers were exactly what you were describing before that and attempts at TIVO-ization currently aim to take them that direction again.

Regardless, it's a red herring, phones are computers just like your netbook or desktop are. You're bitching about software not hardware and software is replaceable. Anything that has a CPU in it that takes x86, MIPS, or (do we have another one now?) is a computer.

You may own a smartphone but mostly you're just arguing that you don't like your smartphone, not that it's not a computer. That's really a problem of you not getting the right device for you, as in a KingofGnG problem, not some sort of hardware hold up. Your phone kicks the everliving shit out of computers over 10 years old and probably quiet a few ones younger than that as well.

I know in the past you've moaned about input devices and I know we've shown that to be bullshit as well.

But let's get technical, is your phone a Turing capable machine? The answer is "yes" and THAT, right there, makes it a computer.
Again, an argument about free software and against TIVO-ization. They are still computers as much as any other Turing capable machine is.

You are not yet in the discussion. You have only stated (repeatedly) that you are not fond of mobile devices. That has nothing to do with the changing landscape of tech or the ramifications of adapting one's business model to contend with emerging paradigms within the industry at large.

Mobile devices overtaking PCs/

How can you shrug that off regardless of your personal opinions?


and [url=http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/another-world-20th-anniversary/id460076328?mt=8]wrong. But I should also point out that Shigeru Miyamoto is not in the PC gaming business anyway; he is and has always been a "toy" maker: so I don't even understand how you can feel he supports your anti-"toy" sentiment.

Ad hominem attack, it doesn't seem you've come for a discussion at all. Merely ranting and name calling, but this is what you always do whenever anyone mentions mobile, start trolling the thread, seemingly foaming at the mouth. I seriously wonder why...

I don't see any reason why GOG should react to this non-sense. GOG is focussing on making old games available to those who love them and I'm pretty damn sure that the profile of their average customer has nothing in common with all those casual gamers and mobile nerds. Those people who enjoyed their favs during the 90's most likely want to enjoy them the same way they used to - on a big machine at home. Sure, there are exceptions, but I'm quite sure that they are almost completely insignificant. Anyhow, the whole mobile madness has nothing to do with GOG's philosophy and considering their current success I highly doubt that they will ever have a real reason to adapt themselves to the mobile industry and casual crap.

Sales data for iOS versions of games also offered by GOG:

http://www.appannie.com/another-world-20th-anniversary/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/broken-sword-directors-cut/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/beneath-a-steel-sky-remastered/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/duke-nukem-3d/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/earthworm-jim/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/gobliiins/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/myst/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/rise-of-the-triad-dark-war/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/simon-the-sorcerer/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks
http://www.appannie.com/simon-the-sorcerer-2-the-lion-the-wizard-and-the-wardrobe/ranking/history/#view=grossing-ranks


(Hint: this indicates people are actually buying retro classics for mobile devices in significant numbers.)

Sure, and Akalabeth on iPhone wasn't huge news: http://www.akalabethapp.com/wwwak/

Yeah, I'll bet this was a "horrible" seller... lol!

Seriously, people need to get off their high horses over this mobile thing, it makes them look like elitist tools.

I have root and a unix environment on my smartphone. It IS a general purpose computer (with built in cellular modem). A computer with crappy input but I digress. ;)

Anyways, I like computers. They're all toys to me.

First of all you're seriously over estimating Tegra 3.

Tegra 3 has a 1.4 GHz processor and 16 nVidia cores @ 500 MHz.

The Witcher 2 needs a 2.2 GHz processor and an nVidia 8800 (96 cores @ 500 MHz). Will GOG survive? I suspect it will. GOG is the second largest digital distributer these days. Imagine how many other companies would die first.

Windows 8 will inevitably be supported by GOG. Android and iOS? I don't see it happening at the moment.

Is it technically possible to support Android and iOS? Somewhat.

GOG's DOS games are already run in Doxbox which can be ported to practically any OS.

GOG's Win32 games on the other hand are a different story. I know of three things that run Win32 games: Windows, Wine, and ReactOS. None of these will run on an ARM processor running Android or iOS without virtualization. CPU virtualization is quite impressive these days. GPU virtualization however is still in its infancy. Any game that can do software rending should be feasible (like Might and Magic 1-8). Any game that needs dedicated graphics capability (like The Witcher 1 & 2) likely isn't.