Search For Satisfaction: the Lack of Full-Featured iPhone Games

The Search for Satisfaction
Nobody really expected the App Store to be such an enormous success. There are currently over 41,000 apps in the store, and more than 12,000 publishers. (These stats come from our sister site, 148apps.biz.) Since its debut, the App Store has produced games that scorn typical expectations of “mobile gaming” and present polished, cheap entertainment in an easily accessible form. Apple has taken advantage of the iPod Touch and iPhone’s gaming abilities, and is pushing gaming apps in its ads. By all accounts, the iPhone is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of handheld gaming.

But while the App Store is booming, there’s a sad lack of real games in the App Store. I’m talking about games that draw you in with knotted narratives, games that you can really sink your teeth into. I’m talking about games that could make the folks over at Nintendo and Sony fret over the futures of their precious handheld consoles.

Just look at the Top 100, and you’ll see what’s missing. At the time of writing, the #1 game is Stick Wars—a “good” game, perhaps, but hardly an overwhelming demonstration of the iPhone’s capabilities. The #1 free app is the “Urinal Test,” which speaks for itself; the #1 paid app overall is the Moron Test—that’s high-quality stuff right there. Two more examples: Doodle Jump and Flight Control are bestsellers that have met with both popular and critical acclaim, and for good reason; they’re wonderful casual titles. But their success is a testament to a marketplace that craves casual play, a marketplace where the cheapest often wins. iPod Touch and iPhone owners tend to buy games as if they were candy: sugary snacks that can be consumed mindlessly, and thrown away once the sweetness has been sapped. Those aren’t the kinds of games that will catapult the iPhone to true greatness as a gaming platform.

And that’s what we gamers would love, really. The diversionary games are wonderful, but serious gamers are still lusting after real games. Imagine a world where your PSP or DS has been made obsolete by your phone. That’s the world I want to be in; why carry two devices when you can have one? I want quality titles that will last more than a few hours. As a New York Times article lamented, “Those searching for a deep, meaningful, narrative-driven experience will generally have to
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Organization for App Testing Standards Launched

Note: the correct URL has been updated, it’s http://gotoats.org

A few weeks ago, I posted a short message about integrity. It was a post that came out of the frustration of working to develop a quality site with ethical editorial practices while there are other iPhone app review sites out there with some rather shady practices that, at times, seem to be doing better than 148Apps.

When discussing this frustration with other site publishers, an idea was hatched. How about a professional organization whose members publicly abide by a set of ethical editorial rules? How about we take an oath to abide by those ethics? And how about publishing that on a website for all to see? And what about coming up with a silly name?

That’s when the Organization for App Testing Standards (O.A.T.S.!) was born. With great help from Steve from SlideToPlay.com, Nigel from iPhone Games Network, and Superbad from The APPera, we have launched the O.A.T.S. organization and the got OATS? site.

The primary goal of O.A.T.S. is to define a set of ethical standards for app review sites. The truth is that many of the iPhone app review sites have little if any professional publishing exposure. While ethics are something we are all taught, many may need a little refresher course and some guidance when it specifically comes to publication.

O.A.T.S. is also a great way for app developers and publishers to see what sites agree to abide by this oath. Initially we’ve populated the site with the 4 sites that were in on the development of the oath. But we’re not being exclusive — we’d like all sites that are willing to take and abide by the oath to join in. Site publishers, see the site for more information on how to join.

While this micro-industry of iPhone app review sites is small right now, everyone knows that it will grow as the iPhone app store grows. And while we were one of the first iPhone App Review sites to launch, we know we will never be the biggest. We just want to be the best. And being ethical is one of the key points to that goal, I think.