Once a unwieldy brick with a pointy antenna, the mobile phone has come a long way over the years, especially in the past decade. As with most tech, time and innovation have paved the way for smarter, more powerful iterations on the original design. Another catalyst for the recent mobile evolution is our constant desire to be informed and in touch at all times. This new wave of handsets and the hunger for endless connectivity has provided fertile soil in which the mobile gaming market has managed to thrive.
It’s been an amazing transition though one that is often overlooked by those who consider themselves “core” gamers. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially when you consider how clunky and restricted mobile titles used to be. Apart from Snake and a cluster of solid adaptations, they were laughable, failing to hold our collective attention for more than a few minutes at a time.
Touchscreens, better hardware, and the presence of online features have completely changed all that, of course. Proving that games no longer require a gamepad, mouse, or keyboard, developers have continued to push boundaries, inventing their own clever control schemes or at least trying to adapt existing models. Then you have this recent surge in the number of studios supporting an increasing array of sophisticated bluetooth controllers. That way, even if you don’t fancy the likes of Angry Birds or Peggle, there’s something more familiar within reach, even if it doesn’t quite match the quality of games currently available on home consoles.
Naturally, with more mobile users now than there are desktop users, the influence of this gaming subset continues to expand. Over the past few years this surge in power has elevated otherwise small and unmentionable games to the rank of world beaters. Chances are, when perched in front of your television, you can’t get through an whole episode of Take Me Out without seeing an advert for Candy Crush Saga or Clash of Clans. Although the brand has shrunk somewhat, one only has to look at Angry Birds and its upcoming film to understand how huge the mobile gaming market is.
In truth, I was more than skeptical that it would ever take off. Having just purchased a PlayStation 3 when the iPhone and its competitors launched, I couldn’t tear myself away from the console. Like many, the only games I wanted to play were those that appeared almost likelike, boasting complex mechanics and control schemes. However, the time inevitably came for me to trash my old handset and invest in an iPhone 4S. With an iPad also at my side, I organically grew into a mobile gamer. It’s a platform I love and one that continues to surprise me each year with something new and inventive.
Have blabbed on for long enough – you can read my thoughts on mobile games every Thursday here at TSA – I’ll pass things over to Kris:
I probably play mobile games as much as console games, and definitely more frequently. It’s just a function of having my phone with me at almost every moment of the day, a situation that’s tricky to achieve with a PS4.
I think it’d be impossible to list everything I play on mobile, as it tends to be an ever shifting collection of titles. The only game that’s consistently been on my phone for more than a few months is Mr. Jump, an incredibly tricky auto-running platformer. At the minute the Lifeline series has my attention though, which is basically a choose your own adventure horror story set in deep space.
As for what irritates me about the platform, it’s oddly games that don’t let me pay. I don’t mind an ad-supported model for games, but if you’ve got that then allow me to pay to remove them all. As well as that, games that don’t let me play my own music underneath them annoy me. Unless your game uses sound as an integral component, there’s no good reason to not let me play whatever audio I want.
For Aran, the transition to more mobile gaming could be on the horizon. Having only dabbled with mobile games in the past, he’s finding more and more time for them, especially as he preps his handheld devices for a month-long getaway this month. With titles like Final Fantasy II, Thomas Was Alone, and Downwell, he hopes this will be his gateway.
For Teflon, things are a little trickier, as he sees a clash between the scope of mobile games and the kinds of games he plays on other platforms:
Though I have been known to play games on mobile and tablet, it’s really not my go to platform for killing time. There’s some games which have got their hooks into me, whether it was the beautiful simplicity of Threes! and Letterpress or the ever popular Hearthstone and the impressive Real Racing series.
So there’s potential there, and we’ve seen a number of indie games successfully make the transition with a reworked control system. It’s just that I can get those experiences full fat on PC and console in a way that sits better under my fingers and thumbs. For original titles, that combines with the ability to truly target the general public with a race to the bottom in price and the free to play model.
Unfortunately, that muddies the waters for me enough that I’m not a regular mobile/tablet gamer, but when there’s something special that attracts my attention, it doesn’t really matter what platform it’s on.
So, what are you thoughts on mobile gaming? Do you play mobile titles regularly, sparingly, or not at all? What effects has this corner of the industry had on gaming as a whole and how do you think this will change in the next few years?
JustTaylorNow
I tried gaming on mobile, I just lose interest after 5 mins cause it’s not story driven, I know it’s meant to be a quick in & out situation but for the life of me I can not stand mobile gaming what so ever. The whole in app purchase also is worst than EA selling you half a game & the rest of the game as DLC
ron_mcphatty
I feel much the same about the in-app purchases and lack of story, a good adventure is what I’m after most of the time. Having said all that I really like dipping into Real Racing 3, now that I’ve unlocked several leagues to race in I don’t have to worry about avoiding spending money on skipping the pointless waiting! There are some cracking story games for phones too and the odd time killing puzzler is always welcome, my wife and I are hooked on the cheapest, crappest looking word finding game ‘7 Little Words’, we love it!
Tuffcub
I have Candy Crush. That’s it. I;ve tried other mobile games but I have big paws so the controls are usually rubbish for me.
Also I have my PS Vita in my back pocket all the time, so I’d rather play Killzone :P
juicyluce9
If you’re a gamer you’ll play games on all platforms. Things like Lara Croft/Hitman GO, Monument Valley, Framed, anything from Simogo etc. are up there with some of the best games I’ve played in recent years. Just because mobile gaming has this stigma you shouldn’t limit yourself and refuse to explore the gems on the App / Google Play store
bunimomike
Wish I could agree with you, Luce, but the platform has massive restrictions with regards to input method and size of screen. I’ve tried. God knows I’ve tried to enjoy the games I’ve bought but there seems to be very few that I can say that I’ve truly embraced. Even Lara Croft and Hitman GO has irked me somewhat. I didn’t realise it would be an ever-increasing puzzler with very, VERY little else to invest in, emotionally speaking.
However, I have learnt my lesson. Those types of games are a clever distillation of the pertinent mechanics somewhat found in their bigger siblings. Sadly, they’re just not for me even though I’ve enjoyed many a Tomb Raider/Lara Croft game, as well as dipping my toes into the silent-kill world of Agent 47.
I think my most successful genre on the mobile phone has been tower defence. I go in there NEVER expecting anything other than a piss-poor story and some decent defending of whatever’s precious to me. :D
juicyluce9
I agree with you in the sense that I’d never play the likes of Bioshock or GTA San Andreas on mobile because the user interface/controls are just not enjoyable, or at least not enjoyable for someone who has been raised playing console/PC games. Games that are made solely for the platform can be great, rather than those shoehorned onto the platform that were clearly made with a big screen and powerful engine in mind. The Go series is spectacular because they don’t try to be anything they’re not; simple puzzle games that don’t focus on storytelling, graphics or anything of the like
Forrest_01
Nope, sorry but I’m afraid your opening line is just wrong.
I only play games on my PS4 (maybe my PS3 from time to time) & I consider myself to be a gamer to the fullest extent. Any spare moment I have is spent on whittling away on the games I have & enjoying the experience. So I am definitely a gamer & yet I generally find mobile titles pointless & a bit of a waste of storage space &/or battery.
Let’s be honest as well, mobile games are hardly the pinnacle of immersion & story telling are they? Not saying they don’t have a place of course, they definitely do, just that you can’t say that anyone who doesn’t game on that particular platform is therefore not a ‘gamer’.
juicyluce9
I’m not saying that if you don’t play mobile games you cannot classify yourself as a gamer. I’m saying that if you’re not even open to try games on mobile because of the stigma attached to the platform then you cannot call yourself a gamer. For instance if you don’t own an Xbox One / PS4 then that’s fine but saying you won’t play the games on an alternative platform due to some allegiance with your console of choice then you’re not a true gamer in my mind. You can find equally interesting stories in mobile games. I played Her Story (arguably one of the best stories last year) on my iPad, Blackbar uses a fantastic method of storytelling, Dark Echo has an abstract story that you can become invested in and everyone is enthralled by the Lifeline series nowadays. All I’d hope is that people don’t write off mobile games when there are some great games out there
Forrest_01
I may have assumed too much from your opening gambit (& apologies if so), but I feel this is one of those ‘agree to disagree’ moments – For me, it actually annoys the hell out of me to see so many people (on a bus for instance) gazing into a screen with no regard for others & no care to a world that’s actually going on all around them. It gets worse when you have people on the street that cannot remove their attention from their device though, as they will completely get in your way & not only are they completely immersed in whatever crap they happen to be looking at/doing, they will likely have earphones in so they can’t hear you scream obscenities at them either. Not that they’d care anyway.
There is a vast, very detailed world out there people, you just have to lift your gaze from the glowing device that you have chosen to put in front of you… It’s in 3D too! ;)
I appreciate that I now sound like a 700 year old man that just ‘can’t get with the times’, but it does really annoy me that what was something that was initially intended to be a pure convenience device for receiving communications on the move, is now not much more than a zombie generator. I also appreciate that mobile games are not wholly to blame for this though.
That said, it’s more of a personal thing for me – When I want to play a game, you can be damn sure I will be sat in my comfy chair, dualshock in hand staring at a big screen, either getting fully immersed in a single player experience, or having some fun with friends online. I certainly won’t be staring at a piddly 5/6” screen trying to work out why for some reason it suddenly won’t recognise an input it recognised mere moments ago.
Again, not knocking anyone that does choose to do that, it just really isn’t my cup o’ tea.
Carrot381
I have done in the past but got pissed off with the battery drain and the ridiculous amount permissions they now seem to require.
da_siz
Only play a few games on my phone..
Clash of clans and Sim city build it, both of which aren’t all that interesting..
Can’t stand touch screen control pad, so never bother with games that use those.
I have a vita, so always play that when i get a seat on the train
Andrewww
Tried some in the past, but the quality was so low I’ve given up mobile gaming entirely, as nothing on there comes close to proper gaming for me.
Besides, I don’t play to ‘kill time’, I play to have great media experiences, and I see a lot of mobile games in the former department. They’re generally for people who are bored in life. Not that this needs to be a bad thing, I’d love to be bored once in a while, it just doesn’t happen for me anymore.
tactical20
Just Simpsons Tapped Out (hardly a game, more a test in patience, as now have a huge Springfield without spending a single penny).
Tony Cawley
If I could use a controller with my phone as the screen then I probably would, sadly I hate using touch screen controls as pressing them stops me seeing the screen.
TSBonyman
Touch-control games were a novelty that wore off a long time ago for me. But i don’t have much time for mobile gaming anyway as i self-drive on my daily commute. Even my Vita is relegated now to the occasional bit of remote play or for streaming music to the bedroom.
I love the analogy that was made by a Japanese guy about people using mobile devices in public seeming almost onanistic.
three_leg_jake
Candy Crush and the Star Wars Battlefront thing on my tablet and Alphajax on my Windows mobile.
Tried Football Manager on the tablet but it wasn’t very good tbh.