HTML5 is often talked about in Internet spheres as something that will be beneficial to games. However, Zipline Games CEO Todd Hooper says the technology was created outside of the gaming industry, making him question its relevance for mobile games.
“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 recognize as authorities in the space of games talking about HTML5; I see a lot of people that know a lot about apps.”
“Obviously different companies have pushed it because it suits their agendas. The reality is that most folks who are developing games are not HTML5 programmers. In fact, most game programmers don’t want to use JavaScript,” he said. “When I saw the new Facebook app on iPad and saw the HTML games, they would have been state-of-the-art three or four years ago, but they aren’t state-of-the-art now. 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.”
