You know i like Video games. I think i mentioned it here and there. I even like some mobile Games, even though roughly 90% are pure Crap. Of course the Cost of making a Game for Mobile is vastly less then the Cost for Big Games on PC, Consoles, or even Handheld. Cheaper Games can be good too, if the Game Mechanics are compelling. A lot of Games that were Big Names on PC are being continued on Mobile. Generally i don't have a Problem with that. A great Number of Games fit the mobile Format like a Glove. A Game like FTL is perfect for Mobile. Dungeon Keeper on the other Hand...
I think i have to elaborate a little here. I detest Games that are being sold piecemeal to me. The Free to Play lie is the worst offender. Sure, the Base Game is free, but to play effectively you have to pay Money. I hear you say: "Surely that is not so bad because i pay less then a Game normally costs right?" At first this is true. The thing is those Games deliberately throw obstacles in your Path to wear you down until you cave in and pay more for convenience features.
All of these Features are still Optional of course.
In the olden days, you payed for a complete Package with no hidden costs. Sometimes an Addon Pack would come out which would expand your Game for half the Price of a new Game. These expansions were mostly worth their money because they extended the life expectancy of these Games a lot.
Dungeon Keeper for example was a very enjoyable Strategy Game with a unique twist at the time: you played on the side of evil against good.
The Mobile Version has in my opinion only the Name and maybe the Artstyle in common and is exploiting the business practises common on the mobile platform to the nth degree. I'm really pissed at EA that they would sit on a License doing FUCK ALL with it and then years later shit it on Mobile and try to Nickle and Dime you to Death with audacious Pay-walls.
The mere Fact that they tried pisses me off. You can tell that they just wanted to see how far they can go with exploiting your Nostalgia. Do we get a PC Dungeon Keeper? OF COURSE NOT! That would take effort! That would cost Money! We can't have that.
Deus Ex the Fall... What the fuck was the Point of an IOS or Mobile Version? The Demographic that gives a shit about that Franchise doesn't want to play a First Person Shooter (i know it's mostly an RPG but this version is more of a Shooter) on Mobile. Are you kidding me? And the AUDACITY to try and double dip and release the SAME Game on Steam really really ticks me of. It's like: Oh... you wanted a Sequel on PC? Our bad... here enjoy.
Roller Coaster Tycoon... The People that played the Roller Coaster Tycoon Games (including me) loved it for their depth and the amount of creativity you could express by building and managing a Theme Park. So why the Fuck would you strip out all the things that made the Game enjoyable in the first Place? Are you insane?
I think the big Publishers became so out of touch over the years, that they only focus on short term Profit. They burn the Consumers good will more and more and don't realize that a backlash will come eventually.
We saw something like this before in the late seventies and early eighties. Not exactly the same of course, because the famous Videogame Crash was mostly due to an oversaturation of the Market, but we might see another Crash coming if the Game Industry doesn't get their shit together. Consumers are your Lifeblood. Don't treat them like idiotic Cashcows, they WILL wise up to it sooner or later and you will be left in the dust. When you call your big spending Consumers "Whales" because they can be exploited for their "blubber" i have no sympathy for you. I have to Mention DLC in this... i almost forgot. Don't worry I'll touch it only briefly: DLC is a term that gets hated more and more because things seem to be left deliberately out of the Game to extort more money from you for "extra" Content. Evolve was the Worst. Even before the Game hit the Market they were selling DLC to you. It's almost like they heard the Term "Day one DLC" and thought "We can do better!". To make DLC for your Game your Marketing tool just suggests that your Base Game is Lackluster at best. Some Publishers seem to be run in an Insane Asylum where their backwards view of the World makes sense.
If there is another Videogame Crash, the only Companies effected by it really are the big ones. The Indies will survive, because they are the only ones that aren't all about Money and actually deliver Games that are worth a damn.
Thank you for sitting through this wall of text... but this was and continues to be bothering me a lot.