Will new ports be for WP8 only?

[AngryNil]

:straight:

I read it as "native app or game". Oops. That said, my idea would definitely run on even first-gen devices, since it's a 2D environment broken up into individual locations. I originally thought I'd get started on it for Windows Phone 7 very soon, but WP8 has me waiting now, especially with the promise of W8 compatibility. Windows Phone 8 may open with 100k apps, but Windows 8 won't.

Ahhh, come on, you know and I know about build targets in Visual Studio. They do work.

Might not be so simple with a game, I haven't tried. Especially since I'm examining the possibility of native, and who knows what else is coming with WP8's dev kit. If I recall correctly, one of the issues with the Mango transition was that Microsoft initially did not provide the ability to support Mango & pre-Mango concurrently. I wouldn't want to have to release WP7 and WP8 versions separately.

Do you want to imply that you have a guarantee of success if you are clever and code for WP8

I'm implying the exact opposite - that development in these highly competitive mobile stores is incredibly hit-and-miss. For example, I use Call Credit (fantastic app). I paid for it because it's so damn useful, but the developer has gone on record and said it is the lowest-paying job he's ever done. In this case, there's isn't even competition. Super useful, good implementation, constant bug fixes and updates... yet, low return.

Also, you might notice from a quick Marketplace browse how hard it is for a paid indie title to top the charts. Apart from fads such as logo-identifying games, it's super rare.

 

[Bee Mon]

As we know, one of the main blockers for app developers to bring existing software to WP is portability. As the current WP development environment doesn't allow native code to run, getting apps onto our platform requires a rewrite. This is especially true in the gaming world where we don't get games that are easily ported across iOS and Android.

As WP8 will have support for native code, it makes porting existing iOS and Android apps much easier, meaning all the big titles will likely be native based for code re-usability.

So, what does this mean for WP7 owners? Does this mean they'll be locked out of all the top apps because they'll be ports of iOS and Android code bases?

You have to wonder why Zynga is suddenly bringing Words with Friends and DrawSomething to WP. It makes me think they'll be native ports and therefore not accessible to WP7 users.

Thoughts?

Truthfully its hard to say. It's all depends on the developers and publishers. Not all apps on those platforms are written using native code anyway. Even if the original apps are written in native code, there are so many other differences between the platforms it does not make it any easier to port it over to WP8. As much as we are scratching our heads over this, I think the developers will be too when there are million+ WP7 owners out there now and not everyone will and can upgrade to WP8 when its released. Frankly if Zynga is bringing their games only to WP8 not because of any lacking on WP7 but they're own lazyness to optimise to the platform, then how is WP8 going to stand out in front of the competition? Sorry I am not going to use hand-me down apps from iPhone and Android. I will still support exclusive WP7 apps because I believe they will still work better on a WP8 device than WP8 apps ported from other platforms.