Commercial Games

[streak]

The games i could buy if somebody release it on pandora, few examples:

- Soldat [ with online option ]
- Liero [ with online option, mentioned before ]
- OpenArena [ with online option ]
- PocketHeroes [ HOMM clone from Windows Mobile ]
- Melty Blood [ Kojote posted info that MB was ported to NDS ]
- Tsunami 2000 / Typhoon 2001 [ Tempest 2000 excellent clone ]
- Tibia [ well known nice rpg ]
- Dofus [ already available on linux ]

 

[conso]

I'd vote for Prey.

A Linux-port was recently released and works great, the game would hit the pandora to it's limits and the conditions of the existing linux-port are great (went to a local store, bought a copy of the game for 10 bucks, downloaded the installer from icculus and started, that's just perfect and more then fair, especially compared to ports of games like ankh for 30? bucks.)

 

[cosurgi]

Hmm... maybe you could contact Introversion for their DARWINIA game too, they are already selling a linux version. To make a Pandora version, shouldn't be too difficult for them. And game is really addictive too!

www.introversion.co.uk/darwinia

 

[gaterooze]

I was about to suggest Darwinia, along with Defcon and Uplink.

Maybe a Heroes of Might & Magic game?

Katamari?

 

[dgame]

LucasArts’ Star Wars TIE Fighter:
An excellent game that could demonstrate the benefits of Pandora’s control scheme and hardware specs.

 

[Butterman]

Shit yeah. Introversion would port their stuff for free!

 

[Phaideaux]

Deus Ex, 'nuff said.

 

[Oscaruzzo]

Or is the money better spent elsewhere?

Yes.

You should invest that money in building a solid community. Build a decent community site to showcase the apps and the games (like apple app store, but free and open to anyone).

Also, to have a successful developer community, you should invest in an SDK that will work "out of the box" with eclipse or some other C/C++ ide. Again, look at other projects for inspiration. Maemo and Android, for example, both offer a complete development environment. They also offer some great documentation.

You can count on the users to enhance and expand whatever YOU start, but, the point is, someone has to start it, and it will require some investment. Don't waste money on useless licenses, I can play those games on my PC (and much much better).

 

[Olexxy]

I think our community is quite niche at the moment, I don't think big commercial games are that interesting. I think all games that are praised by geeks would work better here. I wouldn't buy a game on the pandora that I would also have and get a better experience on a PC + good size lcd. All fps for instance, I don't see the big attraction without a proper mouse.

For me, world of goo would be my first choice for a commercial game, it's indie and get lots of praise on this forum, and seems very suited to the pandora touchscreen.
Why not something more geeky as well like Uplink
However I don't think spending money on commercial games is really what our community is here for.. What started pre-orders and people's interest is a good umpc with free applications/games available + opensource oriented minds + "old" console emulators.

And I completely disagree with emcp "also world of goo, it seems the devs are interested enough, lets not waste are money", that's really sound like a bad mentality I would not support.

 

[OrR]

Outcast! That license should be cheap by now, right? It needs to be revived...
Also, Beyond Good & Evil would be awesome. With the sequel finally announced, it would also get a lot of free publicity.

Getting more realistic, maybe Tomb Raider 2? There is a leaked version for the Zodiac that works quite well. Might be possible to get a deal like Tapwave obviously had and maybe build on the work already done? No idea who did that port, though...

Indie games have already been mentioned. They are probably the most attractive games to get ported. Reasons:
-Most are not on handhelds, so a Pandora version would be handheld-exclusive.
-They get a lot of attention lately.
-They are often simple enough to run well on the Pandora.
-Their developers actually deserve the money we throw at them...
If we can establish the Pandora as the handheld for indie games, I think we are in for a big time win.

Some specific titles and developers:
-World of Goo: Sounds like it wouldn't be that difficult to get, main obstacle might be performance.
-Introversion games: They seem to be under some financial pressure so they might be open for a deal. On the other hand, they are very busy for the same reason. IIRC there is a source code CD of Uplink for sale. Not sure a port could be made with just that but it certainly makes it seem like the possibility is real.
-Crayon Physics Deluxe: Could be great with the touchscreen. There is the open source clone Numpty Physics but from what I can tell the original is better and could sell some Pandoras.
-Aquaria: Would be awesome...
-Gish, Super Meat Boy etc.: Sounds like Edmund McMillen would be very open to a deal!
-Fez: It's not even out yet but it looks very awesome. Could be very good publicity if the Pandora would be it's launch platform...
-Cave Story: There have been free Cave Story ports to handhelds before but now there is a commercial version coming to WiiWare. Getting a handheld port of that would be great.

What I don't think we should waste money on is big names with low budgets. Tapwave had some of those and they were pretty much crap.

A great source to get good commercial games from are the old PDA developers that are looking for a new home and are mostly moving to the iPhone. Those games do not come with free publicity like a PC indie title, though... Still, Warfare Inc., Bike or Die, The Quest, Mazera, those are some amazing titles.

 

[drD20]

. All fps for instance, I don't see the big attraction without a proper mouse.

+1
I would rather like to see some stategy games or such that can be used with the touchscreen. Games with a high replay value not linear fpshooters.

 

[restless1]

Something similar to diablo or diablo 2 just wishful thinking here...

 

[gruso]

I think our community is quite niche at the moment, I don't think big commercial games are that interesting. I think all games that are praised by geeks would work better here.
The idea of this, in part at least, is to widen the appeal of the system. It's true that the GP32X scene is not really about big commercial games, but Pandora has the potential to take off outside this scene as well. This requires more "mass appeal" stuff, which in real terms means commercial games.

 

[Miknal]

If you're going to ask whether the money would be better spent elsewhere, it's better to say where resources would be diverted from.

Ask people if they would like an extra option, and they will say yes. Ask people which option, and you will get a much more useful debate.

 

[drD20]

A Civilisaton port (what version ever) would be cool, even if theres freeciv

 

[Kekerot]

half-life
counter-strike
starcraft
diablo2
heroes of might and magic (3 is awesome)
baldurs gate
unreal tournament
half-life2
warcraft 3
neverwinter nights

also an awesome ps2 game is baldurs gate dark alliance I and II,its like a hack & slash rpg

in the super unlikely event any of these made ther way to the pandora it would be huge news

 

[cobaltage]

Prey sounds interesting.

I would love to see early PC game titles resurrected in general, like:

- Myth
- Dark Castle
- Close Combat series
- Warlords series
- that game on the Mac that was kind of like asteroids but you collected crystals instead
- Sun Tzus Art of War

Even if they run in emulators, I would be willing to pay $10+ for simple graphical updates and UI optimizations for some of those games.

On another note, there are those hardcore strategy game developers who turn out only one game at a time: like Hearts of Iron, the WWII strategy game, or Stardocks Galactic Civilizations. Those developers also have a back catalog that could be recycled without much of a downside.

 

[lulzfish]

I have a lot of fond memories of Windows 95 and 98-era games.

Monster Truck Madness 2
Lego Rock Raiders
Lego Racers [Would be a great Mario Kart replacement, if only game publishers released their old source. Jerks.]
The old Need For Speed games look fun, though they were all my brother's. I started at Need For Speed Underground 2 and decided not to get anymore after that.

I really want to know what Microsoft and Lego are doing with the source to Rock Raiders and MTM that is so vitally important that they can't release it, if at least just to look good.

edit: Also Golden Sun 1 & 2 for Game Boy Advance, but those will probably be emulated, right?

 

[MDave]

I hope TheGoodDocter's post doesn't get too drowned out in this thread, make sure you read it craig!

 

[Julius]

I don't think indi games should be a priority, as those might actually be convinced to port their games for their own profit.

Overall I would say that only if you can get a really sweet deal it might be worth the cash.

Perferrably it should be a

1. Really good game
2. Pushing the graphics of the pandora to the limit!
3. Not too many people should have played it already on the original platform
4. Preferrably single player since you don't find many open-source singleplayer games
5. Smaller publisher/dev. studio
6. Relative mass appeal
7. Really well playable with the controls

And that does not leave much to choose from to be honest.

The only good bet I can think of right now would be the original Mafia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia:_The_City_of_Lost_Heaven

Really good game, could appeal to the GTA kids, and the upcoming sequel might give free PR (both for the and Pandora and for the developer).