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EA撤走旗下数款游戏,Android Market发展前景遭疑

发布时间:2011-01-25 11:24:22 Tags:,,,,

据科技博客主Dave Loft爆料,美国发行商EA Mobile公司日前将《极品飞车:变速》(Need for Speed: Shift)、《模拟人生3》(The Sims 3)和《俄罗斯方块》(Tetris)等数款游戏撤出了加拿大地区的Android Market,但并未公布具体原因。据游戏邦了解,旧版本的《极品飞车》目前仅限在美国的Android Market发售。

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Loft表示尽管他已经付费购买了上述三款游戏,但现在已无法在加拿大Android Market搜索到这些内容,然后他又去查看了美国市场的情况,却发现他没有下载这些内容的权限。同时他还发现,美国市场的同款游戏价格波动很大,每个运营商的售价各不相同。

尽管EA并没有公开表态,但已有不少人依此猜测,EA并不看好Android Market的发展前景。这一点从芬兰开发商Rovio首选GetJar作为《愤怒的小鸟》Android免费版本的发行平台,以及Gameloft避开Android Market在自己的网站上独立供应Android版本游戏等一系列迹象中也可以看出端倪。

游戏邦还获知,Gameloft针对特定的Android手机平台发行独立版本游戏,目的就在于避免Android手机型号过多,技术标准不一的情况,而谷歌则不同意为Android Market设立统一的产品标准,反而坚持要求发行商提供普遍适用的游戏应用。

IUGO的商业开发副总裁Sarah Thomson对谷歌的这种立场也颇有意见,他表示Android平台刚刚登场的时候,业内一片欢呼,但随后就发现Android很快就走上了Java的老路,不光是手机型号过于分散,手机设备制造商与运营商选择的操作系统版本也很不统一,这就更为Android的发展蒙上了一层阴影。

Thomson还认为,Android Market免费提供下载的运营理念,也让开发商很是为难。除此之外,谷歌在推动运营商统一固件升级的问题上也鲜有作为,这一点同样阻碍了Android平台的进步。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

EA Mobile pulls catalogue from Canadian Android Market

The reasons behind the move are unknown, but news that EA Mobile’s line up has mysteriously disappeared on the Android Market in Canada over the weekend adds weight to growing concerns that the marketplace isn’t fit for purpose.

As discovered by tech blog Dave Loft, the publisher’s catalogue – which included Need for Speed: Shift, The Sims 3 and Tetris – appear to have been withdrawn from sale.

One specific issue seems to have been an update to Need for Speed which broke the game. An older version is now available on Android Market but only in the US.

Shifting away

“I did a search for Need for Speed: Shift, Tetris and The Sims 3 and found no results,” Loft says of his initial attempt to use the Canadian market.

“I had purchased all three of these games and I now am unable to re download them from the market.”

Loft then checked out the US market, but couldn’t gain access to all three of the games he’d purchased. He also reported some price fluctuations in the US market, noting the various versions of each game on sale – and the price attached – differ carrier to carrier.

Marketplace muddle

Though EA is yet to offer any official comment, the publisher’s activities in North America follow a spate of public problems publishers have had with Android Market.

Angry Birds developer Rovio chose to launch its multi-million selling game on GetJar for free. Likewise, Gameloft avoids Android Market altogether, making its games for the platform available on its own website.

As revealed by UK PR and marketing manager Callum Rowley, it’s a decision the publisher took due to restrictions by Google over multiple version of the same game appearing on the marketplace.

Gameloft releases individual versions of games tailored to specific Android handsets in an attempt to avoid fragmentation – something Google doesn’t permit on Android Market, instead insisting that publishers serve up universal apps.

History repeating

It’s a theme further expanded upon by VP of business development at IUGO Sarah Thomson in a guest column on PocketGamer.biz.

“When Android first came out, we were excited,” says Thomson in the entry, going on to claim Android soon morphed into the new Java.

“This time, fragmentation wasn’t just about handsets though, as handset makers and carriers can customise and utilise whichever version of the OS they want, creating an extra layer of nastiness.”

Thomson paints a picture of a marketplace dogged by bad decisions, with a culture for offering apps for free – a perception developers have struggled to alter ever since.

Android also suffers from an inability by Google to get to grips with carriers unwilling to offer firmware updates to consumers.

“I really hope Google finds a way to fix the mess, but I’m not holding my breath,” Thomson concludes.(source:pocketgamer)


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