For a long time I've been looking at how mobile gaming has "evolved" and it seems that instead of getting better, mobile gaming has gotten worse.
The common argument is that you can't do proper controls with mobile and that's mostly true. I believe if bluetooth controllers and controllers like PhoneJoy were made and became popular in 2009 where mobile gaming started to become a thing, more devs would have actually been willing to make proper full games that required a controller to play. Sony also failed with their early ericsson xperia gaming phone because it was expensive and had shitty specs and sony did little to nothing to promote it or encourage devs to make games for it over the PSP or upcoming Vita.
That being said, even if many tiny controllers and actual gaming phone exists, the market for them is very niche. Why? Parents and the lack of console and PC gamers interested in mobile games. Mobile gamers are mostly kids or older people age 30 and above. Older people are casuals or are casual okatus that play gacha games to get their waifus/husbandos, after all they just came home from a long day of work and just want to relax. Parents might have played a console as a kid, but they haven't touched anything gaming-related for a decade or two. While back in the 80s and 90s kids got their Nintendos or Playstations at Christmas, kids are now getting their "game phones/fortnite phones" because that shuts them up. They're cheap and have many "free" games and their parents never buy them good mobile games. Why should they? Tommy should play that free cubecraft game and not the one that costs 5 dollars named Minecraft if they're the same. In their mind this is so much better than spending $400 on a console and buy 2~3 games.
This has been going on for around a decade now. A decade that changed the mobile market for the worse. "Hardcore" gamers that actually buy and support full games on mobile are demographically nothing compared to the masses of children, young teens, and parents (and old okatus) that play and over the years have gotten used to only play F2P games full of P2W mechanics and gacha as well as using terrible controls. They've gotten so used to terrible games that they prefer them and outrage at premium games or games that allow you to play free until a certain point. Capcom, SEGA and Nintendo tried to promote premium and full games on mobile and got promptly shut down in their attempts. Even making their games cost only $5 - $10 was a big no no in the mobile gaming market. Just like casino frequenters, mobile gacha gamers actually defend predatory monetization practices and their addiction, telling people who complain that they've nothing to complain about because the games are free and the developers should get paid (even if the individual overworked developer usually gets nothing out of good sales, but the higher ups and publishers do, but shhh) and find any sort of excuse for their addiction and behavior. Companies and big publishers quickly caught on and now the mobile market is pretty much just F2P games with premium currencies and F2P gacha games with no way to get good without paying or constantly playing all day. Even Nintendo went full P2W predatory gacha with Fire Emblem Heroes and despite the power creep being very obvious, people still defend the game like crazy. Completely hooked and delusional...
>>> To be continued in a reply to a reply
Zachary Price
TL;DR LOL
Samuel Roberts
Suck my dick I'm not reading that shit lmao
Dominic Powell
>>> cont 2
Sounds bad, but what can be done? Nothing. Mobile games will continue to be mediocre at best, even if countries all over the world (except Japan, obviously) decide to regulate or ban loot boxes and other forms of gambling in mobile and online games.
Mobile gaming has no "saving grace", that's why "Mobile gaming is the future" has stopped being a phrase that's being said over and over again. Did you notice? I certainly did. Developers and publishers realized that mobile gamers are not the same as console and pc gamers and there's no middle ground, you can't please both, their game will fail if they try. Companies are now fully embracing that fact and create mobile games that will only please mobile gamers, they're not even trying to convince console and pc gamers to play their games, except Blizzard, who quickly saw what a dumb idea that was.
There are console and pc gamers that sometimes try mobile games, but only a few actually continue playing them or end up liking them. In the end they just download emulators to get their mobile gaming fill like that when they're not at home. The gaming industry is realizing this, which is why they're pushing streaming right now, but it won't succeed because only the richest countries with very good mobile internet access can actually make use of it.
All in all, I don't have high hopes that mobile gaming will get better, the Switch's success is proof since all full mobile games are getting ported to it. It's best to accept that mobile games won't appeal to a pc and console gamer like me and console and pc games won't appeal to a mobile gamer except the few that switch to console and pc in their late teens.
...
idk what I wanted to say with this, I lost my train of thought. I'm just drunk. But I wanted to share my drunken thoughts and analysis, I guess.
Thanks for reading, user.
James Price
Tldr: mobilekids are even worse than handheldkids. They consider physical buttons as a hassle.
Can it really be called gaming when every game is riddled with microtransactions?
Jason Russell
I agree with you OP, fuck mobile gaming and fuck niggers
Adam Jenkins
Games like Xcom are great for mobile. There's even a mobile version on the play/apple store. Hear it sells pretty good too.
Andrew Scott
the #1 "problem" in mobile gaming is the predatory gacha system that preys on weak-minded people and potential gamblers, especially children. It's an all-age gambling system.
Joseph Gomez
Lol enjoy overwatch
Cooper Gray
Just don't give your kid a smartphone until college.
Nicholas Turner
I play PC games and also gacha
Jaxon Thompson
>tfw I play on mobile because I'm too broke for console gaming, and my PC is toaster grade. >tfw I pushed through anyway, digging and finding games I like while successfully ignoring the Gacha trap by investing in paid games. >Have to listen to people say your piece of the gaming hobby is 100% gacha and no other games exist. Mobile gaming taught me how to ignore Yea Forums's bellyaching and just enjoy vidya for what it is. Games are alot more fun when you're not trying to fit in to the imaginary cool kids club.
Tell us about what phone you use and what games you play, user, legitimately curious since mobile isn't really on my radar
Dylan James
Just wait 10 years, forums will be full of 20-30 year olds fondly remembering their experiences playing on phones, and defending it left and right. Get used to it now, it only will get worse
Jayden Green
To add to OP's: mobile games are designed for gaming sessions spanning 5-10 minutes tops which could even be interrupted with little to no repercussions. Now imagine what kind of complexity can these game have and add that they're supposed to still earn you lots of money. And there you have it - the worst incarnation of what video games can be.
Alexander Reyes
Okay so lets do what OP is doing, but shorter
Bad controls -> Gameplay must be simple -> Simple gameplay means no time investment -> No time investment means no buying peripherals to control -> No real input method -> Bad Controls
Controller is some fuckhuge thing to attach -> Controller isn't a thing you want What is weird is that no real clip on controls have been made. Where you use the cover as a place to have buttons and put, inputting it on the backside.
Its a very simple and circular logic on WHY Phone games are bad. Beyond that the only games that is truly huge is simple 10 minute investment puzzle games, because you can't get more control than that. And such is mobile life. This was basically the state of Phone games before the iPhone, when you had Nokia, Ericson, Siemens, Sony. The input keys are too small and awkward, which limits the utility greatly. This is even true for something like the Palm, where there is enough keys to setup decent emulator inputs.
The simple controls work well enough for the turn-based, rhythm and strategy games that make up the majority of decent mobile games. As has been pointed out, these games aren't meant to be complex, you're not going to sit down and play them for a great amount of time, they're meant to be able to be pulled out of your pocket and played for a few minutes while you wait on a bus and that demands a certain level of simplicity, not just control-wise.
Charles Rogers
Mobile gaming is shit for the same reason AAA games are shit. The bigger the target audience, the lazier and more casual the title produced will be.
Noah Evans
>shit controls >tiny screen >99% of games are predatory and soulless There, that was a lot shorter.
Jaxon Moore
Any turn based game can be paused at any moment you desire, to be continued later, and this is no bar to quality or complexity. HoMM games and their equivalents could easily work there without any compromise, for example.
Charles Richardson
>Angry birds was better than Zelda
Xavier Campbell
I mean, if I have to I'll enjoy it more than a console kid would. At least I won't be fighting the controls
Jonathan Lewis
>Turn based You can't rapidly do multiple inputs in any precise manner. Which limits scope. Something like Heroes 3 would be almost unplayable on a tablet because of how many rapid inputs you do each turn, for each round, for each combat, for each scenario. Thats a big scope problem. >rhythm Yes and no. The inputs means you can't have anything elaborate The delay on the input method means you have a pretty hard tempo cap The limitations on the input lag further reduces that. >strategy games Casual RTS? Yes But again you get to the complexity problem: You can figure out a way to do inputs so you could play something like Age of Empires, but you can't escalate the tempo or precision because of how imprecise the movement of a finger tap is against obstructed vision on a sensor that registers electric interference.
> majority of decent mobile games While thats a big axiom on what is good It ignores puzzle games.
>. As has been pointed out, these games aren't meant to be complex Oh bitch please If you want to argue for it, you need to argue that Form doesn't follow function, and vice versa. Essentially Mobile games are limited to being 10 minute games because you can't have meaningful input. Which means mobile games will be 10 minute games because you can't input. Meanwhile something like a Gameboy got used in a similar fashion, but the robust input system mean tthere was worthwhile games that had more than 10 minutes of entertainment.
Mobile gaming, despite possibly being something of a Gameboy contender: Is still stuck inn a stage where they are being played like more advanced LCD games. Which again goes in a argumentation circle where input limits capabilities, and hence playtime and complexity. This was ALSO the case for pre iPhone games, where the most complex stuff was fun, but input didn't allow it to get very meaningful.
I'll only disagree on the meaningful input for older phones comment. There were substantial games made for mobile, such as the idsoft RPGs, or tornado mania. It's not that it's impossible, just very difficult.
Jordan Turner
this thing looks amazing
Just another failed Kickstarter
Joshua Perry
Mobile is good in that it has become a dumping ground for publishers seeking big casual audiences. This means that console/PC gaming can go back to being niche-dedicated. I believe that's what's slowly happening. Mobile becomes magnet to those that would otherwise pollute console/PC gaming with their non-tastes.
Grayson Walker
Mobile gaming before iPhone was actually pretty good though. The input was not ideal but it was completely playable unlike touch. Imagine something like Snake on touch. Won't work.
Michael Ross
woah great game you have there, a stationary ship. epic! are you on a cooldown waiting for resources? lol cuck
Austin Morgan
This user is right. Even JRPGs are better with controllers. And that's about the only genre you can argue MIGHT work on touch.
Don't even let me get started on racing or platforming games or third-person shooters. The input becomes so poor and imprecise that you might aswell just look up a Youtube video. It also doesn't really allow a skill gap since the clumsy input puts everyone on the same level of casual.
James Turner
>too broke for console gaming Just get a CFW PS3 for like $50 and you will never need to touch a mobile game again.
I don't disagree with you anons, but lets face facts: Pre iPhone means you have 12 keys + face keys(dpad or 4 directions + 1-3 keys). But because of the way you hold the phone, you can't really use more than one hand, which often means one finger or thumb. Maybe thumb on the dpad/cross, and one-two keys reachable on the bottom.
That said, its miles ahead of what is possible with touch. There was simply a lot of games for mobile back in the day that could have been originals on the GBA or GBC.
Thats the true curse. Its this, or bust. Its the only place to add buttons that can be used for anything, since you obscuring the screen or adding hinges/blocks is too cumbersome.
That image of yours is bullshit. PSP was more or less perfect handheld device.
Adrian Clark
Its not my fault you can't take realistic ironic shitposting user.
Samuel Fisher
If you think that I seriously doubt you've ever owned one
Jonathan Moore
And what makes it inherent to mobile gaming?
Carter Murphy
My S8 is a great Nintendo DS substitute. Mobiles are great JRPG/Adventure game emulation devices, and the fact that most publishers missed out on the opportunity to put actual effort into ports and original titles in favor of trying to con casuals and addicts is saddening. What little good is there, I've supported. The Ace Attorney ports for instance.
Noah Walker
its all gambling and p2w
Carson Torres
The only good thing about mobile gaming is that it fucked Nintendo's ass so hard they were forced to go back to making actual games again.
Levi Evans
99% of all the mobile games have p2w mechanics or are gachas
Thomas Martinez
PSP turned into the "Perfect" handheld gaming device because Piracy got around all the terrible decisions Sony made. So instead of being a weird propitory bundleware console, it got turned into a massively powerful emulation house.
I think mobile gaming has potential per the use of the gyroscope. I used to play an online fps on mobile that with the gyro was completely functional. Without it you would need three fingers on the screen (one to move, one to change direction/aim, and one to click shoot/grenade/crouch/etc.) but with it working as your aiming and direction input you only needed your two index fingers. Of course gyroscopes would still limit the types of games to be made and played since they can't work with every genre of gaming but I still think they are underused in the mobile gaming industry.
James Brooks
I said index fingers but I meant thumbs
Jonathan Myers
mobile what?
Gabriel Parker
The fact that braindead casuals play mobile games and don't know what p2w means or understand why it's bad even if they do know what it is.
Anthony Green
it's amazing how Yea Forums went from calling $30 ds games "overpriced" to defending $60 ports on the switch. the ds had much better games, too.
Isaiah Morris
but the exact opposite is true. the switch gets nothing but cardboard and ports while nintendo shits out more mobile trash like fire emblem heroes, dragalia lost and mario kart tour. they're giving smartphones a new mario kart game while the switch had to settle for a wii u port.
Mason Jones
I spend a lot of time at work playing on my phone with this thing and there's some decent stuff I've found, but I mostly stick to emulation. The market just isn't there for premium games.
