Why are droid games so ugly?

[modified]

As an ipod toucher user, i was surprised to find the droid does not have good games. Yes, i have read that the android market is new, and that it isn't geared toward kids, but still, i am sure it can have games with graphics as good, or even better than those of the ipods, and iphones.

Or can't it? Is the quality of games a hardware issue, or the lack of professional developers?

 

[Mojo]

Check out raging thunder.

 

[segen77]

As an ipod toucher user, i was surprised to find the droid does not have good games. Yes, i have read that the android market is new, and that it isn't geared toward kids, but still, i am sure it can have games with graphics as good, or even better than those of the ipods, and iphones.

Or can't it? Is the quality of games a hardware issue, or the lack of professional developers?

You answered your own question.

Yes the power is there, the games just aren't out yet. they are coming though, as pointed out in the above post.

 

[cereal killer]

Check out raging thunder.

+1

Awesome game....

 

[titans]

While Raging Thunder has some of the best graphics android has seen, it doesn't compare remotely to the graphics of Real Racing, a Firemint game for the iPod/iPhone.
[video=youtube;pAysP1HM6Z4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAysP1HM6Z4[/video]
It's still a good step forward in android game advancement though

 

[cb2000a]

My understanding is that even though Andy 2 has GL2 it has not been fully implemented in software yet. Not sure why and I hope this is fixed in Andy 2.1 or soon thereafter and then we will see those awesome graphics.

 

[cereal killer]

Be nice to have Firemint move that game over to Android...

 

[Dave12308]

Be nice to have Firemint move that game over to Android...

Again, we have to remind ourselves that the Android platform is in its infant stages compared to the iPhone.

Real Racing came out just before iPhone OS 3.0, IIRC. So in other words, it came along relatively late in the game. I'm sure we'll see games of the caliber of Real Racing eventually, although they may REQUIRE a MotoDroid or better, hardware wise, to run acceptably.

 

[Dave12308]

My understanding is that even though Andy 2 has GL2 it has not been fully implemented in software yet. Not sure why and I hope this is fixed in Andy 2.1 or soon thereafter and then we will see those awesome graphics.

A software OpenGL ES 2.0 renderer hasn't been implemented. Meaning, the hardware GPU inside the phone MUST support OpenGL ES 2.0 natively. The PowerVR SGX 530 inside of the Droid actually EXCEEDS OpenGL ES 2.0 specs (and not that it matters, but it also supports DirectX 10.1 shader model 4.1)

In other words, I fully expect to see OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant games on the market soon enough, although i'd only expect them to work on certain Android devices (MotoDroid, etc)

Given the fact that the sales numbers on the MotoDroid in the less than 2 month period it's been available; i'd say that games made specifically for it wouldn't be outside the realms of possibility. I understand that anywhere between 700,000 and 800,000 devices sold in November alone.

 

[Sam]

I want the assassin's creed that is on the iMarket.

 

[wuyanks]

the Unreal III engine has been ported to the iPhone (same engine that runs Gears of War 2)....

anyway... i'd love to see games like Sandstorm, Tiger Woods Golf, MGS, Need For Speed on the Droid... we'll just have to wait i guess

 

[rayswift]

yes the market is new. Give it time. Look what happened when the Xbox 360 came out. Compare the games out now to the ones that came out during launch of the console. get it?

 

[Froodychick]

I guess I must have simple needs, but I think Jewels is very pretty. Fun to play also!

 

[Houndstooth]

was just thinking the same thing today.

 

[TimChgo9]

I would love to see a BF2 like game come out for the Droid, that would be fun, either single player, or multi player.

I think the games are going to improve exponentially for the Droid, and I don't think it's going to take very long, either. I would imagine that the games that become available by summer will be well ahead of what's out there now. As developers discover more about the Droid's capabilities, they will optimize games to the hardware that is in the device.