Home Gaming Sid Meier believes core gamers also have phones

Sid Meier believes core gamers also have phones

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Sid Meier, one of the grandfathers of gaming best known for his Civilization series, is building games for mobile and social platforms.  But he isn’t selling out or going casual!

In his interview with gamesindustry, Meier explained:

What we’re seeing is that a lot of those core players are getting iPads or they have their phones and are looking for things to do that have the strategy element and the gameplay of some of the games they are used to on PC or console. That’s really kind of the market we’re going after, the player who is looking for strategy but they can’t take their PC with them everywhere.

Sounds good to me.  Personally, I’m always looking for something a bit more engaging on my mobile devise.  Yes, I love a good tower defense game (and sometimes even a mediocre one depending on how much time I need to kill), but to have something more focused on strategy and ‘real’ gaming would be amazing.

As Meier says in the interview, while casual gamers my come and go, the core will always be there.  Serious gamers are a stable market, will be around for a long time, and will keep focusing their time and resources towards playing games – regardless of the platform.  That said, Meier assures us that Firaxis is still dedicated to PC gaming

As a company, Firaxis is committed to PC – that’s been our bread-and-butter and where a lot of our audience is – but we’re interested in console and we’re interested in iOS. As our players evolve and move and embrace new technologies, we’re going to meet them there. So to me, it’s not platform driven, but it’s about how a game comes to life most effectively.

When it comes to the monetization of games, Meier admits that it is a tricky topic.  There is so much suspicion around the free-to-play model (often derided as pay-to-win).  As such, Meier is releasing free-to-play demo versions of his iOS games, with an option to buy the full version.  It’s a once off purchase, allowing the player to play a bit first in order to decide if it’s worthwhile.  Seems like a good model – has worked on me in the past with other iOS games and prevents the player from feeling ripped off.

 

Speaking of money, you won’t be seeing Meier using crowd funding (aka Kickstarter) anytime soon.  It doesn’t fit with his creative mechanisms:

I think you kind of lock yourself into a lot of ideas early. I really enjoy the luxury of changing my design and evolving over time. I’d be a little concerned with Kickstarter if I committed to X, Y and Z and I found out down the road that Z didn’t work very well, I kind of promised to do this. I think it’s great for people who want that indie environment, but there are advantages and disadvantages to each situation

Furthermore, Meier just wants to focus on designing awesome games. He has no interest in the business and marketing side of things.  He lets 2K Games handle all of that.  By letting 2K worry about testing, publishing, promoting and selling, Meier happily gets to design, program and “do the fun stuff”.  I’m looking forward to more of his fun stuff, whether it comes on my computer, phone or console.

Last Updated: May 15, 2013

28 Comments

  1. HvR

    May 15, 2013 at 10:49

    Good ol’Sid mentioned a few things I think are obvious for mobile gaming:
    Free demo with option to purchase full version worked very well in the 90’s.

    The other obvious move that I can’t believe 2K and EA hasn;t jumped on is releasing (almost straight up porting) brilliant titles from the 90’s that will work great with the touch interface. C&C1 and Red Alert and point and click adventures like Monkey Island, Full throttle and Grim Fandango comes to mind, Will drop R50 on each of those without thinking twice.

    Reply

  2. Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

    May 15, 2013 at 10:50

    I LOVE turn based or tower defence games on phone, just love em to bits!

    Reply

    • HvR

      May 15, 2013 at 10:51

      Any turn based recommendations?

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

        May 15, 2013 at 10:53

        Well, on PC and iPad, (playing on PC myself), my favourite is Frontline Tactics. A squad, turn based top down shooter, kinda like chess, but with guns and grenades. Its F2P, with some pay elements if you are not into grinding. Have churned 74 hours into that bad boy, and still loving it 🙂

        Reply

        • Illuchne Mancera

          May 15, 2013 at 10:58

          Well now your backlog is explained… 😛

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 15, 2013 at 11:00

            I’ve been playing it for a while though, think since October/November, but yes, its quite addictive, but its great fun, playing a quick 5-10 match

        • HvR

          May 15, 2013 at 11:00

          aaaa, no Android. Will check it out on PC.

          can’t really justify getting an iPad, I play mobile gaming when I’m mobile (on my phone S3 which fits into my pocket).

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 15, 2013 at 11:15

            I also have no iDevice. only PC and Droid. The support and development seems to have halted, have not had an update in months 🙁

        • Trevor Davies

          May 15, 2013 at 11:17

          The people who made Frontline Tactics have a kickstarter going to create a new Jagged Alliance game. I should really stop looking at Kickstarter :/

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 15, 2013 at 11:29

            I just want them to release more content for the game, and I’ll actually buy a copy of the completed game…

          • Trevor Davies

            May 15, 2013 at 11:42

            If you back their campaign for a $5 minimum, and it’s successful, you get a copy of the Jagged Alliance classic pack through Humble Bundle. Not a bad deal in itself even if you prefer waiting for the finished (new) product.

          • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

            May 15, 2013 at 11:51

            I don’t like to gamble :-

  3. Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

    May 15, 2013 at 10:51

    Sid Meyer deserves a bloody knighthood!

    Reply

    • Illuchne Mancera

      May 15, 2013 at 10:57

      That he does… Sir Sid Meier! Has a ring to it…

      Reply

    • AcidRaZor

      May 15, 2013 at 11:01

      shame, why a bloody one?

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

        May 15, 2013 at 11:13

        They are worth more, since they are earned, not honorary.

        Reply

    • HvR

      May 15, 2013 at 11:01

      Why settle for a knighthood if you are hte creator of modern civilization.

      Reply

      • Sageville

        May 15, 2013 at 11:30

        Agreed, but who offers God-hood now anyways.

        Reply

        • HvR

          May 15, 2013 at 14:05

          12 to 14 year old girls for batty boys singing on youtube

          Reply

  4. HvR

    May 15, 2013 at 11:02

    I think my total time spent playing civ 1 and 2 must measured in the 1000’s of hours

    Reply

  5. DrKiller

    May 15, 2013 at 11:11

    dafuq is that yellow zit thingy on the guy’s face? o.O

    Reply

    • HvR

      May 15, 2013 at 11:13

      mic?

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

      May 15, 2013 at 11:13

      It’s the mic

      Reply

      • DrKiller

        May 15, 2013 at 11:21

        Its a terrible mic.. Don’t make it big round and yellow 😛

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

          May 15, 2013 at 11:22

          Well, if it was big round and black/brown people will think its a large moley mole.

          Reply

          • HvR

            May 15, 2013 at 11:24

            Send Sid mail to tell him to go with shocking pink next time

  6. Admiral Chief Combat Engineer

    May 15, 2013 at 11:15

    Bring back the demo’s of old. Games like Wacky Wheels and even the first Duke3D!

    Reply

  7. Trevor Davies

    May 15, 2013 at 11:37

    I suppose I’m a core gamer. Yes I have a phone. I use my phone for a ton of different things, including gaming, but it’s not my primary gaming platform. It’s something to use to waste time, not have a long gaming session. While having a couple of cool games on my phone is nice, it’s never going to compare to my primary platform because I just don’t get the same experience with the tiny screen & fiddly controls.

    Reply

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