Zipline Games CEO Todd Hooper isn't buying into all the hype of HTML5 being a great platform for mobile game development. In a lengthy interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Hooper said that excitement about HTML5 is being created by forces outside of the games industry, giving a false impression of its importance to developers.
"A lot of people are talking about HTML5. There's a lot of hype around that, and my feel at this point is that's exactly what it is: hype," he said. "I mean, the HTML5 guys have a lot of conferences, but let's see some games. A lot of the HTML5 stuff comes out of a San Francisco, Web 2.0, internet company mind-set, and that hasn't got a lot to do with games. I don't see a lot of people who I would recognise as authorities in the space of games talking about HTML5; I see a lot of people that know a lot about apps."
Hooper goes on to say that different companies are pushing the platform because it "suits their agendas" and that "most folks who are developing games are not HTML5 programmers. In fact, most game programmers don't want to use JavaScript."
Finally he noted that the games charting now on App stores couldn't be made using HTML5:
"I'm sorry, but if you look at any of the games that are charting right now or have been charting for the last twelve months, I just don't see those games being delivered in HTML5. I keep hearing that they're coming, but everything I see behind the scenes and actually talking to real game developers one-on-one, including people that have used some of these technologies, the jury is still out."
You can find the full interview with Hooper here.
Source: GI.biz
Comments
Re: Mobile Developer: HTML5 Game Talk is Hype
Is that a hint of fear I detect? Hooper's comments stink of contempt and desperation, but over what? I don't get what he's afraid of. As a mobile developer, HTML5 games would be a boon for them because they could deploy to every HTML5 capable platform with minimal compatibility issues. It just needs to be a unified standard and nobody else tries to "enhance it" with extended, platform-dependent features (IE, I'm looking at you!).
-Greevar
"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."
Re: Mobile Developer: HTML5 Game Talk is Hype
umm wow. its because HTML5 support is so fragmented right now, that making an HTML5 game would be pointless when it would only work in one browser. A browser doesnt just support HTML5, but HTML5 elements, while browser companies pushing their own unique elements into their browsers and calling it a "HTML5 feature".
Once some coordination gets kicked in, then we might see some breakthroughs. Until then, check out chromexperiments.com (with a good browser of course) and take your first step into the future of the web :)
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