作者：Carter Dotson

你是否想要知道Android和手机游戏的未来？也许它将不再出现于你的口袋或包里；它可能会出现在一个意想不到的地方，在你的眼睛前方，或者在你的厨房里。

这便是开发者们准备向Android平台靠拢的一大原因——即使不是现在，也一定是在不远后的未来。

开发者所面对的机遇数伴随着谷歌OS所赚得利益只会呈现上升趋势，就像越来越多基于Android系统的设备涌现在我们的生活中一样。

Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift(from popularmechanics)

Oculus Rift便是这样一种设备——头盔式3D“虚拟现实”显示器。

Doom & Quake的联合创始人兼现在Oculus的首席技术官John Carmack在采访中说道，比起只是作为当前开发者所熟悉的HDMI显示器，Oculus Rift最终将运行于Android系统，并作为一种“拥有与我们在手机上看到的一样的单芯片系统”的设备。

这种发展将赋予Oculus更多意义：如果它是运行于自己的系统中，它便会像用户硬件设备那样获得更广泛的吸引力。它可以运行自己的应用商店，并仍然能够作为一种外部设备连接到计算机上。

有些人会购买Oculus Rift并直接在显示器上玩某些内容。Oculus也可以基于现有的手机OS技术使用商店，即专营用于推动Rift能力的内容，同时为其作为一种开放的外部显示器留下适当的空间。

Android Open Source Project（AOSP）意味着大多数OS是开放的—-而不理会谷歌服务是一种封闭资源，所以它能够更轻松地接近那些想要整合该服务的人。

因为它命中注定就是一种手机设备，所以将上述系统芯片设计为带有有限空间的坚硬外壳便是最完美的选择，就像Oculus Rift那样。

新方向

总之我认为这是Oculus Rift OS最完美的候选。

开发者将基于不断增加的跨平台引擎（游戏邦注：更不用说面向Oculus Rift Android输出的专业插件出现的可能性）创造自己的Oculus内容而运行于Android上，并且致力于这些内容上也不会成为影响它们发展的任何障碍。

此外，手机硬件不断追赶着笔记本电脑和台式电脑，可能在几年后，Oculus Rift将基于较高的分辨率而运行具有惊人视觉效果的游戏。

的确，这只是我们所推测的场景，它离潜在的Android的未来还有很长一段距离。现在的开发者需要做的便是专注于：Android将延伸向iOS所占领的特定空间。

的确，在iOS机器相关联的App Store中，苹果为手机开发者们构造了一个主要市场：它是稳定的且容易进行测试，因为比起Android它面对的是较少的支持设备，其迭代频率是以每年为基础。

除非找到Android的分裂解决方法，否则只要iPhone和iPad仍保持现在的普及度，App Store便仍会继续占据着手机游戏主要OS的位置。

但是苹果在创造微主机的步伐上较为缓慢，在之前的iPad主题发布会上我们再次未看到苹果电视的身影，也许该公司将在这次的节日季中略过它。

同样地考虑到这点：我们也将不会看到基于iOS系统的烤箱问世，而Android则已经拥有了自己的烤箱。

完全开放

重要的是：Android的开放性鼓励着制造商们一起进入一个全新的市场中。

微主机，VR耳机，电器用具等等对于手机来说都是全新的方向，但对于游戏开发者来说也是潜在的新机遇。

基于Android将游戏带向电视。基于Android呈现真正的3D内容。你盯着锅看并不能让里面的水沸腾，但是如果你是在火炉的Android驱动显示器上玩《Candy Crush》，它便能够做到这点。谁知道还会出现怎样新奇的想法，特别是在越多强大硬件变得更加便宜的今天。

所有的这些受Android驱动的新平台都代表着游戏开发者将拥有更多赚钱的方法，能够更轻松地使用类似的OS。更多Android设备也等同于开发者需要找到更多方式去使用它们。开发者需要准备好跃上可行的新机遇上。

这也同样适用于专注于iOS系统的开发者，因为世界已经不再属于哪些只使用一种OS的人。

有很多人同时拥有Galaxy Notes和iPad，iPhone和Surface。也有很多拥有Mac，iPhone和iPad的人拥有Ouya，因为这很有趣也因为苹果还未跳进这一领域。

你甚至会发现Windows Phone的拥有者的桌子上搁置了一台布满灰层的Motorola Xoom，或者HTC One的拥有者仍在使用促销时买的廉价HP TouchPad。

那些想要针对自己手机OS设备的内容的用户并不能被放置在同一个阵营中，特别是像Android系统这样拥有许多不同的设备。同样地，开发者也不应该只是涉及一个阵营。

Android的优势

的确，对于开发者而言Android是一个棘手的平台，他们需要花费比在iOS平台上更多的精力和时间进行测试，但基于跨平台工具，甚至是将iOS作为优先选项的开发者也能够瞄准专门的Android硬件。

一个足以打击苹果，谷歌或微软的事实便是，未来的消费者将不会被束缚在一种OS上。

甚至是最忠实的消费者也将在多个平台上扩展着，不管他们是否喜欢这么做。

如此开发者的策略又怎么能只是瞄准一种OS？大胆地走向消费者们的选择吧，即使这将引导你来到一些奇怪的领域。

也许在将来我甚至能在自己的厕所里玩《Candy Crush Saga》。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Stateside: Nevermind launching your iOS game on Android, it’s time to target your oven, too

by Carter Dotson

Want to know the future of Android and mobile gaming? It might not be in a your pocket or nestled neatly in your bag; it could be in an unexpected place, right in front of your eyes, or perhaps even in your kitchen.

And that’s a good reason for developers to be ready for Android – if not now, then in the very near future.

The number of opportunities for developers tied to Google’s OS to make money is only going to increase as more and more Android-powered devices flood every facet of our lives.

Eye on Oculus

One such device could be the Oculus Rift – the head-mounted 3D “virtual reality” display that’s seemingly been doing the rounds for yonks now.

John Carmack – co-creator of Doom & Quake and currently CTO at Oculus – said an interview with Engadget that, instead of being just an HDMI display as the current developer-only models are, the Oculus Rift could eventually run Android, serving as a device “that has a system-on-a-chip that’s basically like what you have in mobile phones.”

Such a move could make a lot of sense for Oculus: if it was running its own system at its core, it could gain wider appeal as a consumer hardware device. It could sport its own app store and still be hooked up to computers as an external device.

Someone could buy an Oculus Rift and play content on it right on the display. And Oculus could use a store, based on existing mobile OS technology, that could specialise in content designed to push the Rift’s capabilities, while leaving the avenues for its use as an external display firmly open, too.

Given the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) means the bulk of the OS is open – discounting Google services which are closed source – it’s accessible to anyone with the means to integrate it.

And since it’s meant for mobile devices, it’s perfect for the aforementioned systems on a chip, designed to fit into tight casings with limited space, much like the Oculus Rift.

New avenues

All in all, in my view it’s the perfect candidate for an Oculus Rift OS.

Developers would have to make their Oculus content run on Android and, with the burgeoning number of multiplatform engines (not to mention the likelihood that specialised Unity plugins for Oculus Rift Android export would be in the offing), working on it would not be a massive hurdle.

What’s more, mobile hardware is steadily catching up to laptops and desktops, at least to the point where, in a couple of years, it’s possible the Oculus Rift could natively run visually-stunning games at high resolution.

Yes, this is one extended and extrapolated scenario, but it’s far from the only potential Android future. And developers need to pay attention: Android will reach certain spaces where iOS has yet to venture.

It’s true that, in iOS and its associated App Store, Apple has fostered the leading market for mobile developers: it’s stable, testing is easy because the number of supported devices is small compared to Android, and iterations happen on a yearly basis.

Unless a magical fragmentation solution for Android is found – and as long as iPhones and iPads remain popular – the App Store will continue to be mobile gaming’s leading OS.

But Apple’s been slow to make a microconsole, and – given Apple TV was a no-show yet again at the firm’s iPad even yesterday – may just wind up skipping it this holiday season altogther.

Also, consider this: There’s no iOS-powered oven yet, but there is one for Android.

Open for all

And that’s the thing: Android’s openness encourages manufacturers to jump into wild new markets with it.

Microconsoles, VR headsets, appliances – these are all new avenues for mobile, and represent potential new opportunities for game developers.

Get games on a TV with Android. Show off true 3D content with Android. A watched pot may not boil, but if you’re playing Candy Crush on your stove’s Android-powered display, it sure will. And who knows what other wild ideas could happen, particularly as more capable hardware gets cheaper.

All these new Android-powered platforms present more ways for game developers to make money, with the ease of using a familiar OS. More Android devices equals a demand for more ways to use them that developers can fill. Developers need to be ready to jump on viable new opportunities.

This is even true for iOS-focused developers, because – and this is the crux of the matter – the world is no longer neatly divided into people who just use one OS.

There are people who own Galaxy Notes and iPads. iPhones and Surfaces. There are Mac, iPhone, and iPad owners who own an Ouya, because it’s intriguing and because Apple hasn’t jumped into that space yet.

You’ll even find Windows Phone owners who have an abandoned Motorola Xoom gathering dust on their side tables, or someone with an HTC One that still uses the cheap HP TouchPad they picked up in its fire sale of an evening.

A customer who wants content for their mobile-OS-powered device can’t be placed into just one camp, especially as Android spreads from device to device. As such, developers shouldn’t sit in one camp either.

Advantage Android

Yes, Android is a tricky platform to develop for, maybe even requiring a multiple of the work and testing it does on iOS, but with multiplatform tools, it’s possible even an iOS-first developer could target specialised Android hardware.

The long and short of it is, as much as it may pain Apple, Google or Microsoft to acknowledge, the consumers of the future aren’t going to be tied to just one OS.

Even the most loyal of customers are going to be spread thin across multiple platforms, whether they like it or. Life will take care of that.

Why should a developer’s strategy only target one OS, then? Go where the customers are, even if that leads you to some strange places.

Now, I’m off to the future to play Candy Crush Saga on my toilet. Quite literally.(source:pocketgamer)