In his latest blog post about the upcoming Super Meat Boy mobile version, Edmund McMillen outlined the flaws he sees in most casual and mobile games.
"There is a whole shit load of wrong out there these days, from abusive and manipulative money making tactics, to flat out stealing," he pointed out.
"To us the core of what is wrong with the mobile platform is the lack of respect for players," he added;"It really seems like a large number of these companies out there view their audience as dumb cattle who they round up, milk and then send them on their way feeling empty or at times violated."
"There is an ongoing theme these days to use a very basic video game shell and hang a 'power up carrot' in front of the player. The player sees this carrot, and wants it! All the player needs to do is a few very rudimentary repetitious actions to attain it, and once they get to it, another drops down and asks them to do more."
"But then the catch... instead of achieving these 'goals' by running on the treadmill, you can instead just pay a single dollar and you instantly get to your goal! Better yet pay $10 and unlock all your goals without even having to ever play the game!"
McMillen then promised not to use similar tactics in their games by "not only by not manipulating [players], but also by understanding they want a real challenge and they want a real sense of fulfillment."
"Words cannot express how fucking wrong and horrible this is, for games, for gamers and for the platform as a whole," he continues. "This business tactic is a slap in the face to actual game design and embodies everything that is wrong with the mobile/casual video game scene."
