In the world of smartphone gaming, some genres work (endless runners, for example), while others (First Person Shooters, notoriously) cry out for a full controller. And hey, some games – regardless of genre – just have terrible controls, period.
A survey from Ebuyer reveals that poor controls are in fact the biggest bugbear with smartphone gamers.
It’s not entirely clear how many people participated in the Ebuyer survey, but 23% of respondents cited poor controls as “the most irritating aspect of a problematic title”.
Unsurprisingly, micro-transactions weren’t far behind, with 20% of the votes. Micro-transactions I can handle; it’s blatant panhandling (almost demanding money to progress) that I can’t stand.
Other revelations from the survey include the suggestion that 40% of gamers “hate in-game advertising”, while 41% are willing to pay up to £2 for a game.
David Wood, Ebuyer’s marketing director, screams: "It's really interesting to see what app developers can improve on, whether it's awkward controls, advertising or problems - responding to these criticisms will undoubtedly shape the future of gaming.
“Our findings also imply that people prefer to pay quite highly for premium versions of titles rather than downloading free alternatives; this may be more obvious in future, as developers begin to drop cost-free options on their prized creations."
Meh, I’m not convinced by that last part. Like it or not, the highest grossing apps are often free to download. And heck, an EA bigwig recently purred: “There will be a few one-time download games in the future, but they are such the exception, and the norm will be freemium games.”
via: T3
