Interview

Game discovery the one chink in iPhone 5's armour, claims Neon Play

But handset's reveal was 'classic' Apple

Game discovery the one chink in iPhone 5's armour, claims Neon Play
When you have 700,000 apps on your marketplace, you can't please everyone.

The downside of the App Store is that there are only so many apps an iOS user can consume. Apple's marketplace delivers more 'hits' than any of its rivals, but the sheer size of the competition means that it plays host to a fair few flops too.

Little wonder, then, that Neon Play CEO Oli Christie would like to have seen a greater focus on improving app discovery on the App Store during Apple's iPhone 5 unveiling

Apple unveiled a number of superficial changes, but little to suggest any kind of sea change in app search.

We caught up with Christie – who also serves on the board of trade association TIGA – for his take on the improvements Apple has and has not made with iPhone 5.

Pocket Gamer: Broadly speaking, what did you make of Apple's iPhone 5 unveiling?

Oli Christie: It was classic Apple.

It's easy to get caught up in the pre-show buzz of an Apple product launch as you can always expect a good show. They always like to keep the crowds guessing beforehand which only adds to the excitement.

We all know how Steve Jobs loved the moment of the 'big reveal' and worked painlessly to get it right.

I think there were more leaked rumours this time and images and videos of the device than ever before and therefore there weren't that many surprises really.

The iPhone 5 did not disappoint. It was a dramatic, almost amusing moment when the iPhone 5 elevated through the floor of the stage. Months of anticipation had been building to this point.

And it was great to see NaturalMotion, a British developer, on stage showcasing their new Clumsy Ninja game. Proving that the UK does have some of the best developers in the world.

Specifically from a developer's point of view, what features excite you the most about the new iPhone?

The larger screen is an interesting new feature - widescreen video and games will be an attraction to the consumers, but this will certainly add more to the development process.

Catering for another screen resolution - on top of the existing Retina and new iPad resolutions - will add to development time for all studios. In fact, it adds a small degree of fragmentation to the iOS platform that most Android developers will recognise.

On the positive, faster chips is brilliant news. As our mobile games move closer and closer to console quality, its great to see another leap forward for the iPhone's graphical capabilities and we look forward to taking full advantage of this.

Time-shifted multiplayer could be fun with the right games as well, although the much-need solution to App Store discovery didn't seemed to be addressed. We want video trailers to be be playable like on Google Play as well as it's a great way to excite the player in the game on top of five flat screenshots.

Is there anything missing from the device?

Half the fun of an expected iPhone release is watching the rumour mill churning away. It's disappointing that there is no NFC or wireless charging and this is a feather in Nokia's cap.

Of course, it would be nice to have all of these things, but as a studio we're primarily looking forward to pushing the new processing power to the limit.

Although a 'close all' button on all multi-tasking apps would be nice! iOS 6?

What kind of impact do you think it will have on the market. Is this a guaranteed best seller?

Definitely. Millions will line up to get the iPhone 5 and I'm sure it will smash even more sales records.

It's really exciting times for the industry and we look forward to getting even more awesome games out to Apple consumers, new and old.
Thanks to Oli for his time.

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.