By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data-driven image seo
    Data Analytics Helps Marketers Substantially Boost Image SEO
    8 Min Read
    construction analytics
    5 Benefits of Analytics to Manage Commercial Construction
    5 Min Read
    benefits of data analytics for financial industry
    Fascinating Changes Data Analytics Brings to Finance
    7 Min Read
    analyzing big data for its quality and value
    Use this Strategic Approach to Maximize Your Data’s Value
    6 Min Read
    data-driven seo for product pages
    6 Tips for Using Data Analytics for Product Page SEO
    11 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Embrace the medium
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
anti-spoofing tips
Anti-Spoofing is Crucial for Data-Driven Businesses
Security
ai in software development
3 AI-Based Strategies to Develop Software in Uncertain Times
Software
ai in ppc advertising
5 Proven Tips for Utilizing AI with PPC Advertising in 2023
Artificial Intelligence
data-driven image seo
Data Analytics Helps Marketers Substantially Boost Image SEO
Analytics
ai in web design
5 Ways AI Technology Has Disrupted Website Development
Artificial Intelligence
Aa
SmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Uncategorized > Embrace the medium
Uncategorized

Embrace the medium

ChrisDixon
Last updated: 2009/10/27 at 11:44 AM
ChrisDixon
3 Min Read
SHARE
- Advertisement -

An obvious but surprisingly under-practiced design principle is to “embrace the medium.” Applied to software, this means building applications that take advantage of the strengths of the platform instead of trying to mimic the strengths of another platform.

iPhone and Wii games provide many stark abuses of this principle. Call of Duty is perhaps the single best franchise on the XBox and PS3, but the Wii version is almost unplayable. They basically just did a straight port of the game, with worse graphics and using the Wiimote as a shaky aiming device. It’s not an accident that the best Wii games are made exclusively for the Wii (and that most of those games are made by Nintendo itself).

- Advertisement -

iPhone games are perhaps even worse violators of the “embrace the medium” principle. Recently I was thinking about downloading Madden 2010, but as soon as I saw the screenshots I knew I’d hate it:

Screen shot 2009-10-26 at 8.03.58 AM

More Read

apple face recognition in the age of big data

Wiping An iPhone With And Without An Apple ID In The Age of Big Data

Dabbling on the Dark Side: An iOSer’s Android Confession
Gizmodo and TechCrunch: Full of Trolls and Clowns
The iPhone 5? So what?
Software, IP Protection, Innovation and the Apple – Samsung Verdict

You can see they are trying to force the XBox/PS3 control scheme onto a device with completely different set strengths and weaknesses. The iPhone’s strengths are: touchscreen, gestures, accelerometer, networked, always with you. Its weaknesses: no buttons, small screen, poor graphics/processor …



An obvious but surprisingly under-practiced design principle is to “embrace the medium.” Applied to software, this means building applications that take advantage of the strengths of the platform instead of trying to mimic the strengths of another platform.

iPhone and Wii games provide many stark abuses of this principle. Call of Duty is perhaps the single best franchise on the XBox and PS3, but the Wii version is almost unplayable. They basically just did a straight port of the game, with worse graphics and using the Wiimote as a shaky aiming device. It’s not an accident that the best Wii games are made exclusively for the Wii (and that most of those games are made by Nintendo itself).

- Advertisement -

iPhone games are perhaps even worse violators of the “embrace the medium” principle. Recently I was thinking about downloading Madden 2010, but as soon as I saw the screenshots I knew I’d hate it:

Screen shot 2009-10-26 at 8.03.58 AM

You can see they are trying to force the XBox/PS3 control scheme onto a device with completely different set strengths and weaknesses. The iPhone’s strengths are: touchscreen, gestures, accelerometer, networked, always with you. Its weaknesses: no buttons, small screen, poor graphics/processor (compared to consoles). The best games – Flight Control, Spider, Rolando – are designed from scratch to take advantage of the iPhone’s strengths. Take Flight Control as an example:

Screen shot 2009-10-26 at 8.10.04 AM

You guide the planes by mapping their routes with your finger. It’s such a simple, elegant and fun game, and one that could only exist on the iPhone. It embraces the iPhone-ness instead of fighting it.

- Advertisement -

Link to original post

TAGGED: iphone
ChrisDixon October 27, 2009
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share
- Advertisement -

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

anti-spoofing tips
Anti-Spoofing is Crucial for Data-Driven Businesses
Security
ai in software development
3 AI-Based Strategies to Develop Software in Uncertain Times
Software
ai in ppc advertising
5 Proven Tips for Utilizing AI with PPC Advertising in 2023
Artificial Intelligence
data-driven image seo
Data Analytics Helps Marketers Substantially Boost Image SEO
Analytics

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

apple face recognition in the age of big data
Big DataExclusive

Wiping An iPhone With And Without An Apple ID In The Age of Big Data

6 Min Read
Image
Hardware

Dabbling on the Dark Side: An iOSer’s Android Confession

7 Min Read

Gizmodo and TechCrunch: Full of Trolls and Clowns

13 Min Read

The iPhone 5? So what?

3 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

giveaway chatbots
How To Get An Award Winning Giveaway Bot
Big Data Chatbots Exclusive
data-driven web design
5 Great Tips for Using Data Analytics for Website UX
Big Data

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US

© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?