# Is Mobile Gaming Taking Over the Gaming Industry?



## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

I will admit, I never expected this to happen. There never was an understanding as to how mobile games could be that powerful, enough to worry the likes of Sony and Nintendo. Yet, with the decline of sales on the console front; for instance the Wii U, it slowly becomes apparent that mobile games are, in fact, rustling the feathers of these gaming companies. Considering I never really got into the smartphone craze until a couple months ago, I was pretty blind to the world of mobile games. My last phone didn't even really have internet access. I'm going to try and dig a bit deeper and justify that maybe mobile gaming is the way to go nowadays.

[prebreak]Continue reading...[/prebreak]

Let's look at this issue a bit more. Console sales are on the decline, gamers are complaining that the latest games are just rehashes of older titles, and the more vocal groups are bashing the next generation consoles for lack of innovation, or for invading user privacy. In my rather isolated lifestyle, I never really hear huge complaints about mobile games. I stopped spending on my consoles and PC games. Steam never really got off the ground for me. Steam sales can roll around and I spend less than $30 on it. I haven't purchased a Nintendo 3DS game since Fire Emblem: Awakening. Even if I did not own a Gateway 3DS, there just have not been many noteworthy purchases, save for the new Pokemon games scheduled to hit October 12. My XBOX 360 sits and dusts on my dresser, with few games that actually engage me enough to go back to the console and play.

On the other hand, my Galaxy S4 is getting plenty of action daily. I've bought all sorts of things to deck it out, and these are not limited to accessories. I have made plenty of in-app purchases to turn a few heads around. I'm talking four figures here. What game could I be spending that kind of dough on? Look no further than the dungeon crawling RPG Puzzle and Dragons. This game is wildly popular enough to be making millions of dollars each day on in-app premium currency purchases. Yes, millions, according to the developers (GungHo Online Entertainment). The nice thing about mobile gaming is that it is always there, and yet it still allows people to communicate with others. I get endless requests to play a game of Candy Crush Saga (oh God), yet I don't get the same amount of requests for, say, XBOX or Nintendo games. Lately, I just do not have the time to really sit down and enjoy a console or PC game. I spend most of my time now poring over archaic textbooks and reading the news in my free time. When it comes to gaming, I do not have the time to spend those 45 minutes playing intense MOBA games. Any game that is willing to let me go at my own pace is much more preferable today, given the amount of studies I am currently undertaking. Mobile games are there for those short bursts of gaming, and I am still getting to connect with friends in a similar way.



_This game here is the death of my wallet. It also made $113 million USD in April._​ 
Critics of mobile games can call me naive and say that I am missing out. I have to disagree here, because I am still getting the same amounts of fun (entirely subjective definition), if not more, from playing these small mobile games. I'm tired of waiting six or seven hours to wait for a PC game to download with my slow internet. I simply do not have time to do long gaming bursts anymore, partly because I'm growing up and taking more responsibilities. Mobile games can be anything, from short slot-machine games to full blown RPGs. It is incredible. Phones are also getting more powerful with each new reveal. It is also very nice to be able to play or emulate older games such as Game Boy Advance or Playstation One games, and attempt to recreate that with a Blue tooth controller.

According to an article posted by The Guardian, Nintendo and Sony are starting to feel the effects of mobile gaming. I am going to take a look at Nintendo, as I do not have any recent Sony consoles and lack the information to make a solid judgment. The article estimates that in the United Kingdom, some 20 million players are participating in mobile gaming each month, with six million daily. The numbers are booming. Nintendo is facing backlash for their console decisions with the Wii U because not only is it expensive, but the communications used to "meet up" with other players is archaic. I absolutely despised the Friend Code system. Games on their 3DS eShop cost obscene amounts of money and do not have much replayability or lasting value. Even Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has admitted that the sales of the Wii U were less than promising. It goes to show that these gaming giants need to take into account the impact that mobile gaming sales are having on the gaming community, and make efforts to change their current business model. Admitting that there is an issue is one thing, but I would like to see how Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony react. Based on the next generation consoles, my hopes are not high. I cannot see myself justifying a $400-$500 console purchase.

I think I'll close with a remark about gaming lately in a broader sense. Games as of late simply haven't been "fun." I leave "fun" in quotations to say that I have a different definition of fun and amusement. I do not like how if I purchase a disk, some content is still locked up in the form of DLC that I would have to pay for to unlock. I'm looking right at you, Capcom. And I'm not giving you a happy look, either. I really wish to go back to the days of old, where you can simply go into a store, buy a game, and have full access to said game without having to be locked out with an online pay wall to purchase the remainder of content. I see games as art, and if they can't be fun, then they will not have a future. Sure, mobile games may have the controversy surrounding their "free to play" nature, but in the long run (depending on how strong you can resist in app purchases) it could be a lot cheaper. I have a weak will, apparently, so there goes that plan!

Do you guys agree with my points that I have brought to the table? Feel free to discuss or disparage my argument, but remember, again. I am just one voice here, who wants to look at things from another angle. I understand if my opinion doesn't mesh with yours, but even so I'd like a healthy discussion here, so keep it civil and leave the flaming to a minimum.

Thanks, everyone!


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## Black-Ice (Sep 27, 2013)

Loool casual gamers.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

Black-Ice said:


> Loool casual gamers.


 

I think you should read the article a bit more to see why I don't really have time to play games anymore.


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## Black-Ice (Sep 27, 2013)

Ryukouki said:


> I think you should read the article a bit more to see why I don't really have time to play games anymore.


 
Yeah i'm reading it now, but I couldnt resist the ability to make a casual mobile gamers joke 

Nice looking articles btw,


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## Öhr (Sep 27, 2013)

Imo, those mobile games are casual games* with very few exceptions.

Nonetheless, is the mobile market is a competitor to Nintendo, Sony and the likes. But does one replace the other? No. While I don't care much for those mobile casual crap, lots of FB loving thumbing Smartphone crazies do. One cares more for the other and the other way round.

I don't see the end of PROPER (mobile) gaming with this movement, but it will certainly hurt varity, quantity, quality and so on unfortunately.

* I define casual games as games that lack immersion, depth or/and complexity.


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## gamefan5 (Sep 27, 2013)

Interesting article indeed. Keep em coming.
It's true though, mobile gaming is rapidly gaining momentum.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

Öhr said:


> Imo, those mobile games are casual games* with very few exceptions.
> 
> Nonetheless, is the mobile market is a competitor to Nintendo, Sony and the likes. But does one replace the other? No. While I don't care much for those mobile casual crap, lots of FB loving thumbing Smartphone crazies do. One cares more for the other and the other way round.
> 
> ...


 

I would seriously recommend Puzzle and Dragons then, if you're looking for immersion and depth. Has over 800 monsters with INSANE combinations of teams, and there's a ton of content that you can still play without paying a dime.


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## DinohScene (Sep 27, 2013)

Success of mobile games is largely due to them being free.
That along with simple games even little kids from 4 and up can play.

Personally I dun care about android nor do I care about android games.
I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that never played  Angry birds.
And I'm proud of it as well.


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## gamefan5 (Sep 27, 2013)

Ryukouki said:


> I would seriously recommend Puzzle and Dragons then, if you're looking for immersion and depth. Has over 800 monsters with INSANE combinations of teams, and there's a ton of content that you can still play without paying a dime.


That's funny because I did try the game. Honestly, I was impressed. There are very few mobile games that manage to interest me that much. Some could be even be in the same calibre as console games.
Like the Zenonia series for example. XD


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

gamefan5 said:


> That's funny because I did try the game. Honestly, I was impressed. There are very few mobile games that manage to interest me that much. Some could be even be in the same calibre as console games.
> Like the Zenonia series for example. XD


 

Yeah... I'm pretty sure I have blown close to a grand on that game and its Godfests.  It was so worth it though. LOL. I've played other games, as well, and they just do not come close to the caliber that this particular game has. ;P Not to mention, their customer service is superb.


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## Ethevion (Sep 27, 2013)

I think mobile games are taking over as time wasters. There's no need to load up a quick fun game on a console if you can play something similar on your phone or tablet. In my opinion, consoles and PCs wont be kicked aside by mobile games, at least for now.


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## KingVamp (Sep 27, 2013)

I don't really know, but I can say I completely disagree on your view on the 3ds.


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## Relf (Sep 27, 2013)

It's possible that mobile gaming isn't taking over the industry but that you're just getting older. It's not that console video games aren't fun anymore, you just don't have the time to appreciate them. And as the people who started off with NES and SNES get older with more kids and responsibilities yet still love video games, casual will keep gaining popularity.

But a sizable population still loves console/PC gaming and still have time for it. And amazing, blockbuster games are still coming out, mostly recently GTAV. 

I don't think mobile gaining is really at the expense of the gaming industry at large with the mild exception of handhelds which, even still, maintain popularity. Other than the Vita. Because it has no games. So much regret.


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## KingVamp (Sep 27, 2013)

Relf said:


> But a sizable population still loves console/PC gaming and still have time for it. And amazing, blockbuster games are still coming out, mostly recently GTAV.


Was going to edit in a similar statement.

Also, maybe some companies need away to lower their game budgets for consoles.
As for handhelds and phones, maybe a full merge can happen. A design that works for the majority.


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## Obveron (Sep 27, 2013)

If my phone had some buttons and a d-pad I'd be all set.  It's more poweful than the vita, but I'll never be content using a touchscreen to play anything but the simplest casual games.


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## The Catboy (Sep 27, 2013)

I think it's more of trend or just dominating the casual market. I still have high doubts it will take over the handheld gaming market and even higher doubt it will get up there with PC/console gaming.
Right now it's only popular because of trendy games likes Angry Birds, but once that fed dies, so will the mobile gaming market.


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## mary1517 (Sep 27, 2013)

Ethevion said:


> I think mobile games are taking over as time wasters. There's no need to load up a quick fun game on a console if you can play something similar on your phone or tablet. In my opinion, consoles and PCs wont be kicked aside by mobile games, at least for now.


 I was just about to say the same thing. We can find a lot of pretty good games on mobile devices but are there even close to that experience we had when playing any of the block buster that we buy consoles for? I some time ago bought a 7inch android tablet because of the whole buzz how "mobile games are so much killing the consoles", had high expectations about some games because of that... and I never felt so disappointed... I mean there are good games don't get me wrong, but not "console killing" games 
Nothing beats the moment when I go with my friends to a Gaming Pub and random people ask me "hey! do you play pokemon on DS? whanna battle?". No one ever asked me to play, like... Angry Birds with them or something


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## Foxi4 (Sep 27, 2013)

I don't think mobile gaming is taking over the gaming industry or that it's in any way threatening it... It's merging with it and becoming one and the same market just like it merged with other portable devices.

People often forget how many things we used to carry around became obsolete with the dawn of the _"smartphone"_. Starting in the early 21st century phones gradually began adapting the functions of numerous other devices for the benefit of the user and to great effect, too! Rarely do we see people sporting dedicated PNA's, PDA's, MP3/Multimedia players or even cameras these days, at least not for everyday use. Why? Because the _"smartphone"_ has all this functionality and more, so why bother? Why carry around a media player when your Android, Windows or iOS device plays media just fine? Why use a PDA when you can write your notes on a smartphone or better yet, a tablet computer? Why carry a camera if all you want it for is snapping the occasional photo? When you don't need professional-grade photos, a phone snaps those fine as well. Why tug along a PNA when you have Google Maps on your phone?

I honestly believe that the same will happen with portable gaming systems and unlike many other users, I don't think it will take anything away from them - if anything, it will improve them greatly and in a variety of ways.

Right now, whether we like it or not, we are tied to short-range WiFi connections for Multiplayer - that's always a problem. With the dawn of 4G and prospects of even faster mobile Internet, we can forget about those. That's not to say they're obsolete - they work perfectly fine _when your friends are with you_ or _when you're near a hotspot_, but when you're not, you can practically forget about going online. This is hardly an issue when 4G-type networks allow you for connecting at transfer rates as fast as 100mbps. The marriage of a smartphone and a portable console makes it _truly_ portable, unleashing its full potential wherever you are, whenever you want.

The line between a dedicated gaming system and a smartphone is already very sketchy - the two blend together in terms of functionality. Both now feature downloadable games, both browse the Internet, both feature Apps _(yes, Apps - it's hard to call Nintendo's "Art Studio" or Sony's "Paint Park" anything else, not to mention "Facebook" or other dedicated... well, Apps.)_, the only difference is that... well, some are phones and some aren't. Hell, with Skype, a 3G PSVita can already turn into a fully-fledged mobile phone as it is, using 3G to transfer data and running the application in the background... and before somebody says that this causes any form of inconvenience I'd like to add that the year 2000 called and wants to remind people about handsfree sets.

So what is the problem? There's a few.

Implementation - the networking infrastructure evolves with time and for now, 4G is pretty spotty in many places around the world. Until this is sorted out, Internet will continue to be... well, dodgy and rather slow.

Social stigma - people don't really give mobile games a chance in the sense that they treat them as inferior to console games wheras in fact they're all just _"games"_ - other than the platform and the budget, there is no difference and the budgets will only continue to rise as the market progresses from the proving grounds of the _"cheap"_ productions into the more _"expensive"_, fully-fledged mobile game development. There are already a good few typically mobile games which are console-grade entertainment out there, some from big developers like EA or Square-Enix. Mobile games as it stands today are shorter and simpler than their console-based breatherent, but not because there's anything stopping developers from making serious games for mobile platforms, rather that the market for such games is entirely new. It's fresh territory that has to gradually expand, and from what I'm seeing, it does expand along with consumer interest - and rapidly at that.

Finally, stereotyping. Smartphones are becoming thinner and thinner and the dawn of the touchscreen somehow convinced manufacturers that people don't want buttons. Buttons are cool - we do want buttons, it makes gaming on our smartphones way easier and having them stock is a far better option than attaching a separate controller. Some thickness is also perfectly fine if it serves a purpose - the comfort of the user. Nothing replaces a comfortable grip and a true _"gaming smartphone"_ has to reflect that.

To conclude, I don't think that a true gaming smartphone is a distant dream. In fact, the Xperia Play comes really close to the ideal already and remains one of the better phones to game on out there despite the obsolete hardware, precisely because it was designed with gaming in mind. Kudos to Sony Ericsson, now just Sony for releasing it and here's for hoping that it encourages other manufacturers to prepare equivalents.

We shouldn't be afraid of or reject the new - I'm one of those people who like getting more with less and to be perfectly frank, I wouldn't mind it at all if my _"gaming system"_ could be used as a smartphone or the other way around - in fact, I think it'd be pretty handy.

We should embrace what is new and exciting as well as the possibilities that come with new technology and new approaches to what we know and love because the fact that a device is multipurpose doesn't mean that it's going to be bad - what matters is the focus. Gaming devices have to be focused around the concept of gaming and they have to serve gamer's needs - if they do that, then all the additional functionality that comes with it is icing on an already delicious cake, and if said functionality is going to be _"phone"_ then hell, I have one less piece of clutter to carry around.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

I really like your input here. Those are fantastic points to bring up.


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## Gahars (Sep 27, 2013)

Watching people lose their shit over Angry Birds is amusing as hell, so for the sake of entertainment, I'm going to say yes. Yes, gaming is doomed, and everything you've come to love is going to die and go away forever.

RIP in peace gaming, you were one in a mill one.


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## Deleted member 473940 (Sep 27, 2013)

No.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Sep 27, 2013)

tl;dr thread.

No.

PC Master Race KTHXBAI


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## Kirito-kun (Sep 27, 2013)

Glorious PC master race member reporting in.

You think you're phone has more power than you $1000 PC just because it's quad-core vs dual-core. Do you have any idea how CPUs work? Architecture and die size is much more important than core count. X86 is WAY more powerful than ARM. Compare IPS instead of core count, and when you do, you'll find that a low-end dual-core Core i3 is many times more powerful than the CPU in the GS4.

Have you also compared GPUs? GPU is 70% gaming performance. PC GPUs are WAY more powerful than anything you'll find inside a smartphone. The most powerful mobile GPU actually happens to be the one in the GS4, the Andreno 330. The Andreno 330 pushes about 150 GFLOPS, which is in between the Xbox 360 and PS3 in terms of power. Even a medium range PC GPU like thre GTX 760 pushes 2200 GFLOPs. Over 10 times more powerful. And if you compare a high-end PC GPU like the GTX Titan, you're taking about 4500 GFLOPS.

Mobiles may kill handhelds, but they will never kill the glory that is PC gaming.


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## GameWinner (Sep 27, 2013)

No but it is killing Japan.


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## cdoty (Sep 27, 2013)

Ironically, game development sites are posting this article:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-09-24-game-devs-ditching-mobile-in-favor-of-pc-console

It basically talks about game developers abandoning mobile because of how hard it is to make money selling games.


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## Foxi4 (Sep 27, 2013)

cdoty said:


> Ironically, game development sites are posting this article:
> 
> http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-09-24-game-devs-ditching-mobile-in-favor-of-pc-console
> 
> It basically talks about game developers abandoning mobile because of how hard it is to make money selling games.


 
It's all because of the social stigma aspect that I've mentioned earlier - mobile games_ have_ to sell at bargain prices to sell at this point. On consoles you can demand more buck for your work because your target audience is gamers and you know your product will sell. A market only develops when you invest in it and if big developers and publishers start releasing their games both on consoles and on mobile _(because let's face it, the average smartphone can hande 3DS-level games and the more high-end ones easily match the PSVita in performance)_, interest will increase and with it the prices of the games. All it takes is for gamers to accept smartphones as a proper gaming platform... and that's like trying to convince a donkey to walk across a narrow bridge - there are some reservations.

Take _"Final Fantasy"_ games as an example - the remakes of the oldies were originally released for the DS, fair play, but their mobile variety is easily the definitive version, sporting _the same length, the same story, improved visuals and a lower price point_ - what's there to be frowned upon? Well, it's a _mobile game_, right? 



Spoiler









*Final Fantasy III (DS)*

*



*
*Final Fantasy III (iPhone/iPad)*


 
...as you can see, even on first glance the difference is night and day.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

Kirito-kun said:


> Glorious PC master race member reporting in.
> 
> You think you're phone has more power than you $1000 PC just because it's quad-core vs dual-core. Do you have any idea how CPUs work? Architecture and die size is much more important than core count. X86 is WAY more powerful than ARM. Compare IPS instead of core count, and when you do, you'll find that a low-end dual-core Core i3 is many times more powerful than the CPU in the GS4.
> 
> ...



Haha guess I have a bit of revision.  And I game on a Macbook which can't play games.   or play with proficiency I should say lol.


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## jalaneme (Sep 27, 2013)

yes imo, more than often when i'm on the bus and there is a kid with their parents they use their mums phone to play games, 20 years ago that would have been different it would have been a gameboy, i also find it more easier to just get out my phone and play that instead of take out my 3ds, so yes mobile phone gaming is putting a huge dent in the gaming market because they are so easy to pick up and play, have nice graphics and specs plus all those retro emulators in your pocket on the go it's a no brainer really.

the fact that there are so many game pads for android and ios now too it's so much more easier to play and connect to your phone, psp emulators and ds emulators, android and ios are making nintendo and sony very nervous, why do you think the vita is doing so poorly? i haven't seen one kid or tenager carry a vita out in the public when i'm out and about, they are all using phones, says a lot really.

oh and just to add more to the fire, sony have announced they are putting their whole ps3, ps2 and ps1 library on the cloud which will in turn work on tablets and phones.... says a lot doesn't it? sony know where the money making really is.


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## Celice (Sep 27, 2013)

The mobile market is an exclusive one to the gaming market, which is why it's doing so well.

We know of a mobile that tried to invade the gaming space: it was that Nokia N-gage taco.

While technology has made mobile gaming much more accessible and enjoyable, it remains a side-interest and an easy revenue of interest and profit. The gaming market is still primarily centered on gaming alone, and is only recently trying to sell itself on its alternative, at times gimmicky, uses (starting with the DVD playback in the PS2, to Netflix, to Internet Browsing, to fitness, to now Skype and streaming integration).


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## Foxi4 (Sep 27, 2013)

Celice said:


> The mobile market is an exclusive one to the gaming market, which is why it's doing so well.


Why?


> We know of a mobile that tried to invade the gaming space: it was that Nokia N-gage taco.


Firstly, the N-Gage didn't fail because it was a phone or because it had inferior games, unless you treat me playing _"Tomb Rider"_ on the bus while all the GBA peasantry around me played... I don't know, Tetris?_ (Overexaggeration, I was actually a part of the glorious GBA race at the time, but I did buy an N-Gage later on and quite enjoyed it) _ It failed because of the aspect ratio of the screen, the rather questionable button layout and the game storage format _(standard SD cards with no protection)_ which made buying games for the system completely pointless _(although as I often say, piracy is never the reason for a system's fall - it's the system's flaws)_. The N-Gage didn't fail because it was a phone, it failed because it was poorly designed in a lot of areas and it tried to do certain things when the technology wasn't quite there yet _(here I speak of multiplayer on the go when transfer rates at the time were... low)_.



> While technology has made mobile gaming much more accessible and enjoyable, it remains a side-interest and an easy revenue of interest and profit. The gaming market is still primarily centered on gaming alone, and is only recently trying to sell itself on its alternative, at times gimmicky, uses (starting with the DVD playback in the PS2, to Netflix, to Internet Browsing, to fitness, to now Skype and streaming integration).


 
I don't see why mobile phone manufacturers wouldn't manufacture gaming-oriented handsets if said handsets would sell. These days the hardware is practically equivalent - it's the exterior and ecosystem that are different, it's the exterior and the ecosystem that are the problem and it's the exterior and the ecosystem that have to be adapted for the new and ever-growing neiche.

They certainly adapted phones for stereo audio when the hardware became capable of playing MP3's, they adapted the screens to the correct aspect ratio once the hardware became capable of video playback, they adapted the keyboards and touchscreens when the hardware could finally go online, they added cameras once it could take photos, they added GPS modules once personal navigation became desirable - what makes you thing that phones will not adapt again for their new use, or that at least a particular variety of gaming smartphones won't emerge?


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## Celice (Sep 27, 2013)

It's exclusive because the mobile market is not dependent on a gaming consumer for its profit, but it does benefit from having a gaming market available on it. The number of people who purchased a mobile device with the only intent of playing games on it is incredible small and marginal (the only real reasons I can think of is emulation and the Squeeeeeenix's recent exclusive ports, new IP, and remakes).

People purchase mobiles to communicate.


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## Foxi4 (Sep 27, 2013)

Celice said:


> It's exclusive because the mobile market is not dependent on a gaming consumer for its profit, but it does benefit from having a gaming market available on it. The number of people who purchased a mobile device with the only intent of playing games on it is incredible small and marginal (the only real reasons I can think of is emulation and the Squeeeeeenix's recent exclusive ports, new IP, and remakes).
> 
> People purchase mobiles to communicate.


 
Of course that's true, that's the primary focus of the average smartphone. That being said though, no doubt the merger of _"mainstream gaming"_ and mobile gaming would result in dedicated gaming handset oriented around gaming with the phone functionality somewhat piggy-backing on-top of them. Communication is hardly the _only_ purpose for buying a smartphone these days - you buy smartphones for all of their functionality, not just the _"phone"_ function. If we only cared about the phone, smartphones wouldn't sell nearly as well.


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## BORTZ (Sep 27, 2013)

Gahars said:


> Watching people lose their shit over Angry Birds is amusing as hell, so for the sake of entertainment, I'm going to say yes. Yes, gaming is doomed, and everything you've come to love is going to die and go away forever.
> 
> RIP in peace gaming, you were one in a mill one.


 
Have you ever watches someone play in a public place (church, movie theater etc) somewhere you have to be all quiet and stuff, and they just cant get that last friggin pig? Oh man. Quiet rage is the BEST rage.


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## calmwaters (Sep 27, 2013)

Those look really lame, but I've never been into mobile gaming. The last time that I was into that was when I had my GameBoy Advance SP.  But then I'm pretty old fashioned. And then, these new "game" consoles are becoming the new "thing in your living room" entertainment system. Who needs Netflix? So yeah, I think it'll take over. (On a probably unrelated note, it might be a reason why no one's releasing games for Nintendo; that's not an all-in-one entertainment system.)


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## Dork (Sep 27, 2013)

Mobile devices have


Spoiler



no buttons.


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## Foxi4 (Sep 27, 2013)

Dark S. said:


> Mobile devices have
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


 
But they...


Spoiler








...might in the future, if they catch on.


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## Dork (Sep 27, 2013)

Foxi4 said:


> But they...
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


Xperia is a step in the right direction, now developers just need to start making mobile games with buttons in mind.


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## Wisenheimer (Sep 27, 2013)

The S4 is actually an amazing piece of hardware, arguably with more computational power than my backup laptop from 2005.  But I fiend that the games I actually play on it are emulated console games, everything from the NES to the PS1, Nintendo 64, DS and PSP.  Once I get a portable gamepad, it will truly be the most amazing handheld console on the market.

That being said, I have not seen to many good looking games for a touchscreen phone.  Most of them are pretty simple-minded, graphical upgrades from the games I used to play on my old Dell PDA 15 years ago.  But I can see the attraction to casual gamers.  My mother, who had probably never played a video game in her life, now plays regularly on her iPhone and iPad.

That being said, based on the offerings I have seen on phones, the serious game market is not in a whole lot of trouble right now.  Do parents really want to buy their children $700 smartphones to play games rather than a $150 portable console.  Do parents really want to buy their children a $500 iPad rather than a home console?  Are the games for these devices the kind that children will be begging their parents to buy them?  Not from what I have seen.  These games are really making their inroads in the casual gaming market, much like the Wii and Kinetic did, but even better since most adults already own the "console" to play the games on.

At the end of the day, if console makers can deliver unique works of art that people want to actually spend time playing, the consoles will sell.  If all they produce is drek, well, you can get drek on the PC or smartphone more cheaply and easily. 

Despite the weak home console sales, I think Nintendo is in an overall better position, just simply because of the quality of its unique titles.  I think Microsoft and Sony might have more of an uphill struggle.  Their strategy is not so much to sell video games as to sell an entertainment omnibus for the television.  Given the price point though, I am certainly going to steer clear.  If I save $500 today, in a couple of years I can upgrade my desktop to a GPU that will make the "advanced graphics" that Sony and Microsoft are touting look like a joke, and probably pick up the PC ports of most of the good games for those consoles in the bargain bin.  And if I move my current SLI setup to my home theater PC, that too will be a console superior to any of the new ones, one which will not have to be hacked to run whatever software I want it to.


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## Foxi4 (Sep 27, 2013)

Dark S. said:


> Xperia is a step in the right direction, now developers just need to start making mobile games with buttons in mind.


 
I really hope more handsets like this pop up, preferably with analog sliders instead of pseudo-analog touchpads. Tactile impact when gaming is absolutely crucial.


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## calmwaters (Sep 27, 2013)

Wisenheimer said:


> The S4 is actually an amazing piece of hardware, arguably with more computational power than my backup laptop from 2005. But I *fiend* that the games I actually play on it are emulated console games, everything from the NES to the PS1, Nintendo 64, DS and PSP. Once I get a portable gamepad, it will truly be the most amazing handheld console on the market.
> 
> That being said, I have not seen to many good looking games for a touchscreen phone. Most of them are pretty simple-minded, graphical upgrades from the games I used to play on my old Dell PDA 15 years ago. But I can see the attraction to casual gamers. My mother, who had probably never played a video game in her life, now plays regularly on her iPhone and iPad.
> 
> ...


 
You fiend, how dare you! But I see what you're saying. Do smartphones really cost $500-700? That's just a tad more expensive than a game console... and they're very small; I mean, it's not like there's a smartphone that's the same size or bigger than the Vita, is there?


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## Wisenheimer (Sep 27, 2013)

calmwaters said:


> You fiend, how dare you! But I see what you're saying. Do smartphones really cost $500-700? That's just a tad more expensive than a game console... and they're very small; I mean, it's not like there's a smartphone that's the same size or bigger than the Vita, is there?


 
There is the Samsung Note series, which is very large.  There are also various sizes of tablets running ARM processors, like the iPad, Galaxy Tablet, and Surface RT.


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## Bobbyloujo (Sep 27, 2013)

I want to see an updated Experia Play. That would be awesome. However, I don't want it replace dedicated consoles. One thing that smartphone gaming implies is that all games are downloaded from the Play Store or App Store or whatever. Download-only games is another discussion, but I don't like it. I prefer to buy a physical copy of all my games. That way, I'm buying a good that I own rather than a service that can be cancelled. I don't give a crap if they take Angry Birds or Climb Hill Racing away from me, but I want to be able to play 999, Trails in the Sky, and such as many times as I want for the rest of my life. As long as I keep my consoles intact and my games in good condition they'll pretty much always work.


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## BORTZ (Sep 27, 2013)

Mobile gaming has always been a thing with me. I kinda raised myself on mobile games. Well, handheld I guess. I like smart phones games, but most of them leave something to be desired. 

...Except something like Infinity Blade... holy crap.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

BortzANATOR said:


> Mobile gaming has always been a thing with me. I kinda raised myself on mobile games. Well, handheld I guess. I like smart phones games, but most of them leave something to be desired.
> 
> ...Except something like Infinity Blade... holy crap.





Infinity Blade is just ridiculous. O_O


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## jalaneme (Sep 27, 2013)

Dark S. said:


> Mobile devices have
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


 

http://www.mogaanywhere.com/about-moga/moga-pro-controller/

nothing more to say really.



Wisenheimer said:


> The S4 is actually an amazing piece of hardware, arguably with more computational power than my backup laptop from 2005. But I fiend that the games I actually play on it are emulated console games, everything from the NES to the PS1, Nintendo 64, DS and PSP. Once I get a portable gamepad, it will truly be the most amazing handheld console on the market.


 

my point exactly, the note 3 will be a even more powerhouse with its 1.9GHz octa-core processor & 3GB RAM ultimate emulating machine with a 5.6 hd display,  why on earth would anyone want a vita when you can get that lol


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## Dork (Sep 27, 2013)

jalaneme said:


> http://www.mogaanywhere.com/about-moga/moga-pro-controller/


>big bulky third-party attachment that destroys the mobility of a phone
Golly.


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## jalaneme (Sep 27, 2013)

Dark S. said:


> >big bulky third-party attachment that destroys the mobility of a phone
> Golly.


 

then enjoy torturing yourself with touchscreen controls then *shrugs* i don't understand how a wireless pad can be anything but bulky, there is even a portable version that you can carry around in your rucksack.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

I just use the FC30 when possible, and even that's a bit tiny LOL.


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## calmwaters (Sep 27, 2013)

jalaneme said:


> http://www.mogaanywhere.com/about-moga/moga-pro-controller/
> 
> nothing more to say really.
> 
> my point exactly, the note 3 will be a even more powerhouse with its 1.9GHz octa-core processor & 3GB RAM ultimate emulating machine with a 5.6 hd display, why on earth would anyone want a vita when you can get that lol


 
Octa-core? Don't you mean, Octa-pus? And all those PC specifications sound great, but some people like to game when they travel. Why do you think smartphones are so popular? And before you say anything about the Vita's size, make sure you have a girlfriend/wife who can put it in her purse. Or you could get pants with enormously large pockets. Or the best option imo is to get a carrying case: you know, the ones you would get for your DS.




jalaneme said:


> then enjoy torturing yourself with touchscreen controls then *shrugs* i don't understand how a wireless pad can be anything but bulky, there is even a portable version that you can carry around in your rucksack.


You must not have a wireless PS3/GameCube controller. Or a 3DS, which looks to be about as big as this thing coupled with a (3.2" thick) tablet.


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## Vipera (Sep 27, 2013)

////


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## ShadowSoldier (Sep 27, 2013)

Ryukouki said:


> ​
> I will admit, I never expected this to happen. There never was an understanding as to how mobile games could be that powerful, enough to worry the likes of Sony and Nintendo. Yet, with the decline of sales for consoles such as the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS


 Nintendo 3DS sales aren't on the decline, they're selling really good, if I recall, they're always on top of hardware sales charts.





> Let's look at this issue a bit more. Console sales are on the decline, gamers are complaining that the latest games are just rehashes of older titles, and the more vocal groups are bashing the next generation consoles for lack of innovation


 
Gamers are stupid that's why. We complain and complain about a lack of new IP's. We get them, they don't sell. We complain more. And I'm sorry, but bashing next gen is stupid, with the ability to upload to twitch and such, twitter, facebook, and seamlessly do everything without exiting a game is a total win.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> Nintendo 3DS sales aren't on the decline, they're selling really good, if I recall, they're always on top of hardware sales charts.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

But personally, I don't see myself needing any of that lol.


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## ShadowSoldier (Sep 27, 2013)

Ryukouki said:


> But personally, I don't see myself needing any of that lol.


some people do though. for twitch for example. Lots of people want to be able to record gameplay, but they don't have the money for DVR's.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 27, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> some people do though. for twitch for example. Lots of people want to be able to record gameplay, but they don't have the money for DVR's.


 

And I understand that. I see where you're coming from, but to me, it cannot justify dropping money on day one. A year or so later, MAYBE, but even so I probably won't have the time to ever play that.


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## Wisenheimer (Sep 27, 2013)

jalaneme said:


> http://www.mogaanywhere.com/about-moga/moga-pro-controller/
> 
> nothing more to say really.
> 
> ...


 
Well, a Vita is $200 versus $700 for most new top-line smartphones. I am not sure about the software library, but I bet the games, for the most part, are a lot better than what most people are playing on smartphones.

I like retro-gaming and there are a lot of good emulators for the phone, so with a gamepad (and this is the one I am keeping my eye on) it will work well for me. But for most people, hooking up a gamepad, finding high quality games for the smartphone (or emulators and ROMS) is just not realistic. The Vita and 3DS sell a lot of units because they have great games that you just load, and if your kid loses or breaks the unit, you are not out $700 for a new smartphone.

The smartphone has a lot of potential, but with clunky controls and immense amounts of drek, it really is only a good platforms for serious games if you are technically savvy.

So yeah, my S4, with a 1.6 ghz quad core low power processor, 4GB of RAM, a reasonable GPU, and 72 GB of internal storage is potentially a fantastic gaming platform compared to the less powerful offerings from Nintendo and Sony, but that potential right now is going largely unrealized. I'm not sure the money is there right now for people to create the quality of games for Android or iOS that they do for the 3DS and the Vita. There are too many variations in specs, input, and too much competition from the overwhelming amount of shovel-ware out there.

Serious phone-gaming is a enthusiast-only platform right now.


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## mkdms14 (Sep 27, 2013)

I think it is definitely taking over the casual game market. I mean look at the wii that was a casual console with a few hard core game but mostly causal. Nintendo thought they could do it again with the wii u and we all know how thats been working out. Your hardcore gamers are always going to be console/pc based because there is a certain level of quality that is expected from those types of game where your casual can be enjoyed on the go. But I don't see this lasting forever. The market is always changing. Right now the popular games being put out are free games with insane amounts of IAP. I hate those games but until people stop downloading or using those games that is where the casual market is going to stay. Some hardcore type of games like Modern Combat have been released to get the hardcore on the mobile market but the hardcore are staying with the systems that are superior hardware wise.


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## Satangel (Sep 27, 2013)

Wisenheimer said:


> Well, a Vita is $200 versus $700 for most new top-line smartphones. I am not sure about the software library, but I bet the games, for the most part, are a lot better than what most people are playing on smartphones.
> 
> I like retro-gaming and there are a lot of good emulators for the phone, so with a gamepad (and this is the one I am keeping my eye on) it will work well for me. But for most people, hooking up a gamepad, finding high quality games for the smartphone (or emulators and ROMS) is just not realistic. The Vita and 3DS sell a lot of units because they have great games that you just load, and if your kid loses or breaks the unit, you are not out $700 for a new smartphone.
> 
> ...


I did my first steps into Android emulation on my Galaxy S this week, and I was surprised by how easy it was to set up. Really, 15 minutes and I was playing Pokemon White on my Galaxy S. So 'immense amounts of drek' isn't really true, it's really easy, you only need to be able to read and use Google. 

Of course actually playing the game, via touchscreen controls is something, can't argue with that. Galaxy S1 is just a tad too small to push all the buttons comfortable, with an S3 or S4 I can see myself enjoying this.

But for actual gaming on a cellphone, you just need buttons. I'm not going to buy anything third party related, an accessory, I doubt I'll do that, except if it's really cheap & good. I'd much rather have a PSP or a PS Vita (when it's hacked) to do that, much better suited for real gaming/emulation.


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## jalaneme (Sep 27, 2013)

Wisenheimer said:


> Well, a Vita is $200 versus $700 for most new top-line smartphones. I am not sure about the software library, but I bet the games, for the most part, are a lot better than what most people are playing on smartphones.
> 
> I like retro-gaming and there are a lot of good emulators for the phone, so with a gamepad (and this is the one I am keeping my eye on) it will work well for me. But for most people, hooking up a gamepad, finding high quality games for the smartphone (or emulators and ROMS) is just not realistic. The Vita and 3DS sell a lot of units because they have great games that you just load, and if your kid loses or breaks the unit, you are not out $700 for a new smartphone.
> 
> ...


 
only you have to add the expensive memory cards to that $200 price tag and it's no different from a mid range smartphone, and even if a high end smartphone is more expensive it can do more than a vita and is not a closed OS like sonys handhelds are so that is a huge plus, memory for smartphones are really cheap which is another huge advantage.

the mobile gaming market is getting better, sega make a lot of games for android including square and rockstar so you can get quality games on mobile just not a lot compared to the software support a vita has (only advantage it has really has tbh), mobile gaming is catching up and if sony can see what kind of money it can make for them then i guess it's only going to get better, the specs of phones are increasing at a very fast rate, mobile phones can almost and will soon do ps3 or next gen like graphics in a few years, it will happen, then major players in the gaming industry will have to take notice especially nintendo because they are a major player in the handheld market atm.

like you said, the phones have so much juice with their specs but not a lot of it is used right now, i hope that will change in the future.


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## jalaneme (Sep 28, 2013)

Satangel said:


> I did my first steps into Android emulation on my Galaxy S this week, and I was surprised by how easy it was to set up. Really, 15 minutes and I was playing Pokemon White on my Galaxy S. So 'immense amounts of drek' isn't really true, it's really easy, you only need to be able to read and use Google.
> 
> Of course actually playing the game, via touchscreen controls is something, can't argue with that. Galaxy S1 is just a tad too small to push all the buttons comfortable, with an S3 or S4 I can see myself enjoying this.
> 
> But for actual gaming on a cellphone, you just need buttons. I'm not going to buy anything third party related, an accessory, I doubt I'll do that, except if it's really cheap & good. I'd much rather have a PSP or a PS Vita (when it's hacked) to do that, much better suited for real gaming/emulation.


 

you don't need to buy anything extra, if you have a wiimote lying around you can use a app to connect it to your phone, or a ps3 controller but that requires root, not sure if it will support your phone though but have a look, the option is there.

and yes emulating on android is very easy that is why hacking handhelds like 3ds and vita are a waste of homebrew scenes time because nintendo and sony just block it with firmwares, that doesn't happen on android and you can mod and do what you want, android has a big advantage because of this.


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## SickPuppy (Sep 28, 2013)

I don't even own a smartphone or tablet, I do own all the current gen consoles (minus the vita). I couldn't imagine some cheezy android games replacing console games any time soon.


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## phalk (Sep 28, 2013)

Your article is at least 2 years late. This is so 2010-11ish.

The 3DS sales have already recovered and are doing fine right now.

I don't think it deserves to be on gbatemp news page. Seriously. You, as an individual just don't have time to be a gamer anymore, and you find that smartphones allow you to still play games when you normally wouldn't be able.
I have an smartphone, and I don't pay or even download any game into it. Why? Because I don't like that kind of gaming.
And I seriously hope the big gaming companies don't start thinking that if they stop producing the games I like I would buy their smartphone games. I wouldn't. They would just lose a customer.

Your whole article misses a crucial point: The audience of those two "sides" are different. The people who are into the smartphone gaming craze isn't the same as the console gaming people. And the console gaming people usually hate that kind of smartphone game. Hell, I even hate playing on a smartphone. It's awful. It wasn't made for that.

Anyway, I don't think console gaming is going anywhere. As I said, this post is something that came up with full force years ago, and it's yet to be proven right.


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## Guild McCommunist (Sep 28, 2013)

jalaneme said:


> only you have to add the expensive memory cards to that $200 price tag and it's no different from a mid range smartphone, and even if a high end smartphone is more expensive it can do more than a vita and is not a closed OS like sonys handhelds are so that is a huge plus, memory for smartphones are really cheap which is another huge advantage.


 

>$500 difference
>"W-well, what about the memory card prices huh? A-and it doesn't do smartphone stuff! It's almost like it's not a smartphone!"

yeah okay


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## Chocolina (Sep 28, 2013)

Smartphones are high-performance, low-wattage miniature personal media computers. They're not just a "threat" to handheld/console gaming, but also on the road of becoming many people's computer/laptop replacements.

The fuck you need Snapdragon 800 or Tegra 4 chipsets for other than gaming and emulator-related gaming?

Now I'll give it to you that a quality of gaming still exists on GBA, NDS, PSP, and PSV that mobile, in its infancy, still hasn't came close to yet, but you can see that developers on mobile have no incentive to give us Nintendo/Console quality experience yet. Game developers are companies, and companies are motivated by creativity, but not as motivated as they are with making money. And theres more money to be made in developing games with in-app purchases. IAPs make for over 70% of the revenue generated by mobile games. The quality of gaming experience diminishes with IAP-systems most mobile games have in place, but on the other hand, it makes games either incredibly cheap, or free. There are several games on iOS and Android that range from $0.00 to $5.00, most of which are $3 or less. You know what 25 cents got me during Google's 25 cent sale? Uh.... Asphalt 7, Horn, World of Goo. You know what $1-$3 Got me? Asplault 8, a superb Rayman game, Survival Craft, Giana Sisters HD remake, Scribblenauts, Clash of heroes HD remake, Crayon Physics, Frozen Synaps, Revolt, HD version of dreamcast version, Finding Teddy, Super brothers, The Room, The Bards Tale, Need for Speed MW, and a whole bunch of other crap. Sure Luigi's Mansion and Fire Emblem are a shit-ton better, but Luigi's Mansion and Fire Emblem aren't less than $3. You know what $3 gets you on the eShop? Shit-micro games that make Angry Birds look like Ocarina of Time.

Even if Pokemon X and Y turn out to be the ultimate handheld game, $40-$45 on Nintendo or Vita doesn't go no where near as far as it does on Android/iOS


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## phalk (Sep 28, 2013)

I think most of people don't see that most of this new smartphone gamers are a new kind of customers. They are people who weren't gamers before. And I think it's fine.

Consoles and handhelds aren't "losing" people to those games. They are only losing the people they would already lose (due to normal circunstances, like, no time to play etc).


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## Foxi4 (Sep 28, 2013)

SickPuppy said:


> I don't even own a smartphone or tablet, I do own all the current gen consoles (minus the vita). I couldn't imagine some cheezy android games replacing console games any time soon.


What if console-grade games were released on smartphones - would that sway you over? What if the smartphone had console-grade controls? Because both are coming our way if mobile gaming continues to evolve in the direction it's evolving in. We're already seeing a lot of Android-based consoles on the market - that's one step away from adding a GSM module to the mix.



jalaneme said:


> only you have to add the expensive memory cards to that $200 price tag and it's no different from a mid range smartphone.


Yeah, _every_ mid-range smartphone has a GPU surpassing the iPad 3's _(SGX543MP4+)_ and a quad-core Cortex A9 CPU, not just the top-range ones! That, and embedding VRAM is totally a common practice among smartphone manufacturers. And all that is always for less than $200, not at all well over $500 for equivalent specs! 


> and even if a high end smartphone is more expensive it can do more than a vita and is not a closed OS like sonys handhelds are so that is a huge plus.


>_"Closed OS"_
>FreeBSD
>Developer licenses starting from a petty $99 a year for PSMobile
>One of the cheapest devkits on the market for fully fledged development if you don't want to use Mono and PSMobile

Okay. 


> memory for smartphones are really cheap which is another huge advantage.


>Buys very expensive smartphone
>Is a cheapskate when it comes to memory cards

Okay. 

I suppose all the Indie developers Sony swayed to their side recently are all wrong.


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## Wisenheimer (Sep 28, 2013)

jalaneme said:


> only you have to add the expensive memory cards to that $200 price tag and it's no different from a mid range smartphone, and even if a high end smartphone is more expensive it can do more than a vita and is not a closed OS like sonys handhelds are so that is a huge plus, memory for smartphones are really cheap which is another huge advantage.
> 
> the mobile gaming market is getting better, sega make a lot of games for android including square and rockstar so you can get quality games on mobile just not a lot compared to the software support a vita has (only advantage it has really has tbh), mobile gaming is catching up and if sony can see what kind of money it can make for them then i guess it's only going to get better, the specs of phones are increasing at a very fast rate, mobile phones can almost and will soon do ps3 or next gen like graphics in a few years, it will happen, then major players in the gaming industry will have to take notice especially nintendo because they are a major player in the handheld market atm.
> 
> like you said, the phones have so much juice with their specs but not a lot of it is used right now, i hope that will change in the future.


 
A Samsung S3 mini right now will run you a little over $200, but it certainly will not provide you the same CPU and GPU power as what the Vita has right now. The biggest problem with the Vita is that it is locked into that hardware for its entire lifecycle, while you will be able to pick up a Note 2 or S4 in two or three years for $200 (both phones which currently have CPU and GPU power very similar to the Vita). The advantage though is that the Vita is pretty much a gaming-only machine and probably can unload most of the software and provide games direct access to a lot more of the hardware than a typical android app gets.

I think it is going to be more than a few years before phones can do xbox 360 levels of graphics. The XBOX uses a tri-core 3.2 GHZ IBM Power PC chip. Because of heat and power issues, phones and "toy" tablets (obviously we are exempting things such as the Surface Pro) are just not going to see that level of processing power for a while. The same goes for the GPU. Low-power, low heat GPUs are still going to be a lot slower. In fact, on single-threaded applications you would probably see models of Pentium IVs (which were first introduced in 2000) outperform the fastest phone CPUs on the market in standard tests.

But that being said, the kind of hardware in high end phones is pretty impressive. You could write games for many of these higher end devices as nice as you would probably get for the PS II, Gamecube, or XBOX 1.0, and unlike those consoles, you would probably not run into certain limitations, like running out of RAM. YOu might even get some nicer features, such as high resolution graphics (although phone screens are small enough that there probably is no need to run at 1080p). You could probably even push more polygons than some of those origional game-cube titles. And lets face it, that level of quality is more than enough for a portable device.

The VITA basically has chips in it similar to the CPUs and GPUs on the best smartphones today. In five years, top of the line smartphones will be able to push significantly better graphics than the VITA, but to be honest, I think exceeding VITA level graphics are not going to be functionally useful for making better games. The number of polygons that you need on a small screen to look good to the average human is pretty low.


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## SickPuppy (Sep 28, 2013)

Foxi4 said:


> What if console-grade games were released on smartphones - would that sway you over? What if the smartphone had console-grade controls? Because both are coming our way if mobile gaming continues to evolve in the direction it's evolving in. We're already seeing a lot of Android-based consoles on the market - that's one step away from adding a GSM module to the mix.


 
Probably not. Unless the major cellular carriers lower their rates. Right now I cannot see paying for an internet connection twice, nor do I need internet on the go. I don't do facebook, twitter, myspace, etc, so I don't need 24/7 internet on my hip or in my pocket.

If there were an android console like a ps3 or 360, then that would be a different story. Haven't they already tried to introduce android type console(s) which failed. But then again, cant you just use xbox live for downloading cheezy games, no android device needed. I don't play many games anymore, but when I do it's not a low budget cap pop type of game, I much prefer console games. When Android has call of duty with motion controls on my 55", I'd be good with that.

I don't think an android device will ever make it into my console collection.


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## KingVamp (Sep 28, 2013)

Wisenheimer said:


> The VITA basically has chips in it similar to the CPUs and GPUs on the best smartphones today. In five years, top of the line smartphones will be able to push significantly better graphics than the VITA, but to be honest, I think exceeding VITA level graphics are not going to be functionally useful for making better games. The number of polygons that you need on a small screen to look good to the average human is pretty low.


Well, you could always play them on a TV when you get home. Plus they can use that power to make the world(s) bigger and have more content. That is, if there is an increase of devs that want to make original big games on a phones.


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## Kirito-kun (Sep 28, 2013)

Just throwing it out there, the best smartphone GPU, the Andreno 330, is already 3 times more powerful than the GPU in the PS Vita. The PS Vita pushes 50 GFLOPS. The Andreno 330 pushes 150 GFLOPS.


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## The Real Jdbye (Sep 28, 2013)

I won't deny that they are having an impact, but until real button controls are the norm on mobile phones and tablets, I seriously doubt they can take over the market. There are specific genres that just don't control well with onscreen controls, and a large amount who would not be satisfied with touch controls on anything but your average casual mobile game.


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## Foxi4 (Sep 28, 2013)

Kirito-kun said:


> Just throwing it out there, the best smartphone GPU, the Andreno 330, is already 3 times more powerful than the GPU in the PS Vita. The PS Vita pushes 50 GFLOPS. The Andreno 330 pushes 150 GFLOPS.


The PSVita is pushing 51.6GFLOPS, the Adreno 330 pushes 129.6GFLOPS. Just a little correction. Also, keep in mind that the PSVita costs around $200 while an Adreno 330-powered smartphone would be literally top-of-the-line - we're talking circa $600 territory here. One would expect three times the performance for three times the price.

This does unveil an interesting trend though. Notice how PC's have superior specs to home consoles and smartphones are starting to become their equivalent against the handheld consoles.


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## ComeTurismO (Sep 28, 2013)

Firstly, I am very impressed with your points, and your argument is valid. Costello has made a good decision making you a reporter, Ryukouki. 

My idea about gaming and mobile gaming is that they both are very different from each other. Most of the time, mobile gaming is played when people are outside. Since a major game to the gaming industry is out - GTA V, I would say that the chart went way up after it's release. Mobile gaming and the other type of gaming are in a balanced position. 
Again, GOOD JOB.


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## mrtofu (Sep 28, 2013)

deleted


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## Guild McCommunist (Sep 28, 2013)

I think the question is that if the Vita is outclassed in power by mobile phones and thus shouldn't be bought, why buy a 3DS that's outclassed by the Vita?


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## frogboy (Sep 28, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> I think the question is that if the Vita is outclassed in power by mobile phones and thus shouldn't be bought, why buy a 3DS that's outclassed by the Vita?


 
Nintendo Franchises.

... That's pretty much the only reason I can think of at the moment...


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## Ryukouki (Sep 28, 2013)

phalk said:


> Your article is at least 2 years late. This is so 2010-11ish.
> 
> The 3DS sales have already recovered and are doing fine right now.
> 
> ...


 

Hey there, thanks for your feedback. Is my article late? Yes, it could very much be so. Having said that, I am getting tired of seeing a stagnant portal, and what goes on the front page is not up to you to decide at the present time. A couple years back, I had envisioned a front page portal that was filled with dynamic and unique content. That is why I took this job. I wanted to bring to fruition the vision that myself and several of the staff members had. News on its own, in my opinion, wasn't sustaining the site. The purpose of writing these articles was to generate a healthy discussion that the site very much needs. Based on what I have seen in the past two topics I have posted, this kind of article is actually preferable to what used to get on the front page as of late. I have not seen a standard article posted to the front page recently (something that is not news based) generate as much discussion. In fact, the number of comments to these two threads has far exceeded my own expectations. If it does not fit your ideal as to what you want to see on your front page, then so be it, and I apologize, but you are going to be getting a lot more of that to come.


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## Sicklyboy (Sep 28, 2013)

Before I make my comment - Ryukouki, this is the kind of shit I like seeing on the front page. A nice opinion editorial. Well written, fairly unbiased, just throwing some stuff around for thought. Hope to see more like this.

Anyway, I never really got into this "mobile gaming" phase, fad, whatever you may call it. Portable hendhelds, on the other hand... I have a (pretty damn decent) smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Nexus), a pretty damn decent tablet (ASUS Nexus 7, gen1), I've got a gaming grade desktop, all of the current gen consoles (no WiiU), a good few previous gen consoles, many Nintendo handhelds, and a PSP.

I'm a guy working a part time job at Target in electronics. I work five days a week, usually from 4 to midnight. Tuesday and Wednesday are my free days, where I drive to Newark every other week (if I can) to visit my girlfriend who goes to med school there. Monday and Thursday mornings I have class for almost 2 hours. In the rest of my time, I try to catch up on sleep. It may not sound like I have a lot going on but my time is actually stretched pretty thing, all considered. I -do- have free time here and there but I don't have hours upon hours where I can just sit down a dick around. Every night after work I'll sit down, check up on this place for an hour, sometimes have a beer or two, call my girl, skype my buddy, study up a bit on calc on khanacademy, and then go to bed, usually around 3 AM.

I used to be a big console guy. From the days of the Sega Genesis, I've moved to the N64, the GC, Xbox Classic, 360, and Wii. I have a PS3 and don't use it, and my other consoles see little love nowadays too.

I used to be a big portable guy. From the days of the GB Color, I've moved to the GBA, SP, DS Lite, and now an Ambassador 3DS, which I use heavily. I've got more games than I can count for the thing (21, iirc). Hell, I haven't even actually beaten any of them, but I've played a bit of a good few of them. Some day, I'll have time.

I used to be a big computer gaming guy. From the days that my parents had a Windows 98 SE computer, I've moved to my own custom built rig, which may not be top tier by todays standards, but when I did my last major upgrade to it, it did have some pretty hot shit for the time. Maybe not top tier then either, but it was pretty good up there. I've put quite a bit of money into this, and even more (maybe... I hope not) into my Steam library. The amount of unplayed games I have is almost sickening. But just recently, I reinstalled GTA4 and I've been playing that a bit. I had the flu the past week, and I've made considerable progress into the game in that time.

But I've got a calc test coming up in two days, so I've got to study like the world is ending.

All of that is well and good, but that doesn't pertain much to the article, huh. Well, then let me continue by saying that in the era of gaming on the go, I'm lost. I use my smartphone for, honestly, very little other than being a phone and a web browser. I use it to stream Pandora to my car headunit, and I bought Torque, an OBDII reader app as well. As many paid games as I have on my GPlay account, you won't be finding one on my phone. Plenty of other stuff - banking and finances and social media. Oh, I've got Retroarch, for that time I was testing games on that against the Android TV stick I have.

My "Smart Gaming" has been relegated to my tablet, which, unfortunately, you won't find a charge on. I tried, oh believe me I really, really did. I've got a bunch of paid games. I buy all of the Humble Android Bundles. I bought SixAxisController so I could use a PS3 controller on it. But that's too much hassle. Plugging or syncing a mouse and keyboard to it is too much hassle and too cumbersome. Touch screen gaming is WAY too clunky for me to use comfortably. I tried, I really, really did, but my tablet is just sitting on a shelf right now.

I just don't have the time, nor the will, which is a damn shame.

But you'll never see my 3DS powered off unless there's something wrong with it that I'm fixing. I haven't played with it much the past month (likely coincidentally lost interest in it since I fixed the shoulders), but before that, for the better part of 6 months, if not longer, I took it with me every single day to work, every single day no matter where I went, even if it was to the dollar store or Taco Bell, just so I could maybe get a street pass. I went from downloaded games to games off of my DSTWO to playing SMT4 religiously.

I may not have the will to play Sonic on a touch screen or flick a bird towards some pigs, but I will always have a few minutes to slay a group of demons in SMT4 on my 3DS.


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## sporkonomix (Sep 28, 2013)

The smartphone market is only a threat to the mainstream, casual interests. It's a market full of trends and sales bubbles. It consisted of a race to the bottom in terms of price, and now the majority of the competition is all marketing.

Smartphones lack buttons or -- when they do -- ergonomic interfaces that make handhelds and console controllers comfortable. They run on poor operating systems (or in Android's case, a poor userland), are written in poor programming environments not meant for games (or with equally poor prebuilt engines), and offer nothing for dedicated, single-player gamers that justify the price of the hardware. The mainstream is a great market for them, because it's always getting new people, they're an easy sale, and it doesn't matter if they stick around for more games because most companies that develop for smartphones never count on hitting big on more than one game. They *know* they only have one shot at success; it has to catch on socially and be fun to play when you're bored. That's the entire crux of smartphone gaming. Convenient diversions from the boring parts of life, entertaining people that don't know what to do with themselves when there's nothing to do.

That market is much like Hollywood movies. Word of mouth will spread about new game X that's so totally cool, and people will get others to play because there will no doubt be some bullshit Facebook-like friend system, a pay-to-win micro-transaction system, and repetitive gameplay that offers constant progressions to encourage psychological addiction. It will spread like wildfire for a few months and fade from the public eye. By then, the dev has made their money, considered it a success, and hits the drawing board with another game, to hopefully be in the spotlight again. Games do not succeed on smartphones because they are good; they succeed when they are socially subversive and have cultural appeal. They are literally social games for impatient or unintelligent people with impulse control issues.

In short, smartphone gaming should be considered a boon to serious gamers. It's a way to quarantine mainstream and casual interests, so the real games can appear on real interfaces and real systems. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing console and handheld gaming returning to niche status while smartphone games become the popular place for shitty games to crop up.


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## Hop2089 (Sep 28, 2013)

Depends on region, in the West, mobile gaming has not taken over and I doubt it ever will, but in the East and not just Japan either, it has taken over. Watching that Asia games business summit TGS livestream made me cringe and depressed at how all of these developers from Asia were solely focused on smartphone and browser games, it was sad to see such decent developers selling their souls to a shit market.  For some countries like Thailand, mobile is already nearly 100% of the gaming market. 

For those who seen the Pre-TGS Sony Conference, did you notice a moe character you probably didn't recognize? If so, then I'll tell you where she came from, she's from a browser game and a damn good one called Kantai Collection and it got a Vita adaptation announcement yesterday not to mention an anime, 2 manga, and 3 novels.  Also, these games if they're a spinoff can end up more popular than the main series case in point [email protected] Cinderella Girls, while good, this doesn't help matters and makes developers think that putting their games on mobile only will equal instant and massive popularity.  I only gave examples of the good social games, however 99% of them are still massive piles of shit that are saturating the market, and if this continues game quality will suffer and gamers outside of Asia will be deprived of the games we love that are made there, because we all know they put draconian region locking on them.


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## Ryukouki (Sep 28, 2013)

Sicklyboy said:


> Before I make my comment - Ryukouki, this is the kind of shit I like seeing on the front page. A nice opinion editorial. Well written, fairly unbiased, just throwing some stuff around for thought. Hope to see more like this.
> 
> ...long portion of post...


 

Thank you! This type of stuff has been what I've been envisioning for the 'Temp since a couple years ago. If nobody's gonna be able to do that job, then I really want to fill those shoes. And hah, it's pretty difficult to balance all the factors into a decent, as unbiased as possible article. I have to take into account the sensitivity of issues that I write about, yet at the same time, I need to be able to create a viable discussion without catering too much to any one side. Tough stuff, especially since I would be displaying it on the front page, which is almost the most important part of the site.  For instance, I could easily do an article about how terrible Nintendo is or how much I hate Grand Theft Auto, and I could back that up with the best supporting evidence, yet I would still find myself lynched because of my opinion. I try very hard to avoid such issues (biases) and make it so that I'm not really super supportive or super against any one subject. Back when I used to write for another video gaming media site, I used to do similar things too. I have to say that they helped me redefine my writing style.  And don't worry, *this kind of work is going to be on the front page quite frequently. *

By the way, you also sound exactly like me. I used to be huge on consoles, and now, I'm getting whipped up the wazoo with school work. 

EDIT: I should totally make this editorial a series and title it Food for Thought...


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## ZAFDeltaForce (Sep 28, 2013)

I don't know whether it's because I'm growing up, or the gradual lacking of innovation in newer titles, but I'm not playing games as often as I used to, be it on a PC, console or my iPhone.

I kinda miss my gaming marathons that would last hours on end 3 years ago. Now I'd be pretty surprised to play a game for even an hour before I stop


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## EvilMakiPR (Sep 28, 2013)

Not just that. More and more good games are coming. And also better as the same time the Mobile devices are getting better specs


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## RedCoreZero (Sep 28, 2013)

My aunt is not a gamer; she bought a Wii though.

She also has a smartphone with games

She doesn't play games on either.
Nintendo you got this if you don't screw up.


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## linkenski (Sep 28, 2013)

I don't get it... The 3DS is declining in sales..? How? I thought it has sold better than the DS did so far.


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## Satangel (Sep 28, 2013)

jalaneme said:


> you don't need to buy anything extra, if you have a wiimote lying around you can use a app to connect it to your phone, or a ps3 controller but that requires root, not sure if it will support your phone though but have a look, the option is there.
> 
> and yes emulating on android is very easy that is why hacking handhelds like 3ds and vita are a waste of homebrew scenes time because nintendo and sony just block it with firmwares, that doesn't happen on android and you can mod and do what you want, android has a big advantage because of this.


That is interesting, sadly I don't have a PS3 controller nor a Wiimote, so no can do. I can imagine it being great on Nexus 7 though, that's at least an acceptable screensize to game on.
That's indeed correct, Android doesn't mind emulation, they don't do a lot against it.


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## TVL (Sep 28, 2013)

I wish all mobile phones would have controls like the Xperia Play had. I love handheld gaming and prefer it to playing on stationary consoles or my PC, I like short bursts of gaming. I hardly EVER play on my phone though, and that's because of the control methods. I think most of the mobile games are too simplistic to be fun too (IMO), but that might have to do with control methods as well, at least partly.


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## Hells Malice (Sep 28, 2013)

Not at all. Cellphone games are "on the go". They're either for extremely casual gamers (who wouldn't invest in real games/consoles anyway) or people who just don't have time/space to whip out a handheld.

Phone games are pretty awful compared to handheld games. Even the best mobile games are maybe 5/10 compared to some okayish handheld games. Real gamers wont convert to easily.
I'm sure mobile gaming has taken some sales from handhelds, but it'll never be enough to actually kill them. Not even close.


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## KingVamp (Sep 28, 2013)

linkenski said:


> I don't get it... The 3DS is declining in sales..? How? I thought it has sold better than the DS did so far.


Old and now incorrect information.


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## PROTOBOY (Sep 28, 2013)

No way.

Mobile games are bored, withslowndowns and crappy.
Only DS/3DS, PSP/Vita rules!!!


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## Videomanman87 (Sep 28, 2013)

Nintendo would be smart to allow the gamepad to be a mobile platform (if it is possible though a update, not sure on the gamepad's hardware specs, but even if not just release a truly mobile gamepad that links to the WiiU).  I know of people that play VC games on the game pad.  If it was truly portable with VC allowing for a state save at any point, you have a perfect portable time waster there.  Perfect for the moments when you don't have a long period of time to play a game and want something "right then" for a few minutes.

It would "move in" on the market that phones and tablets are taking over.  Just quick few minutes here and there.  The older games are also simpler and easy for those that just have a few minutes to pick up and play.  Yes I know there are newer games that also fit that description, but many take longer to figure.

In short, if Nintendo is so worried about this, they have the perfect opportunity to strike back and possibly put themselves in a position that Xbox and Playstation could only dream of.  I know if the gamepad could be used as a portable system as well, I *might* reconsider the WiiU.  At this point i just doesn't *grab* me as anything I want/don't already have.  And I think this is the majority of consumers right now.


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## GameWinner (Sep 28, 2013)

The sales 3DS aren't bad. It's just that the original DS sold way more during this point in its life. It surpassed the Wii's sales so that's good I guess.


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## WhiteMaze (Sep 28, 2013)

I suspect this is the reason Nvidia thought ahead and released the Nvidia Shield.

They understand where the market is headed...unfortunately.


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## Psionic Roshambo (Sep 28, 2013)

I have been thinking about this subject on and off for a very long time, back when phones first started to play any sort of games...

After much time I have come to the conclusion that phones will not replace home game consoles or PC's or even dedicated portable consoles. The DS came out and even when the DS was brand new you could get a nice phone to play tons of cheap phone games and the DS went on to sell a record breaking number of consoles.

So far it looks like the 3DS may actually beat the DS in lifetime sales.

How did this happen?

The only answer I can come up with is that while phones can play decent games they are not the end all be all of gaming, but they are good enough to get people to play games that might not think about playing a game otherwise. I have seen people playing Candy Crush that have never touched a game console otherwise. What happens when they become bored of it? Some will search around find Angry Birds or Bejeweled or something and some will say "these video game things are not half bad what else is there, can I get a more involved game with a story?"

So what I think is happening is that phones are actually growing the market for dedicated consoles, hooking new customers in.

This is all conjecture on my part, that being said this is my opinion and I am sticking too it.... Until sales charts tell me to have a different opinion lol

Edit: Adding some thought in on the DS sales figures at the same time the DS broke records the PSP was also the most successful handheld ever released that was not made by Nintendo. All this happened at a time when phones could play really good games. So that just adds a bit to the whole "Phones are going to eat the portable game console market!!!" hilarious.


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## Blazer (Sep 28, 2013)

Personally I'm quite a fan of the "deeper, more authentic" experience that TV and handheld consoles offer as opposed to smart phones. I think it's noteworthy to mention I've been following the iOS systems since like, the original iPod Touch or something way old, so I get what's the big deal and why people are hooked. A lot of it has to do with size, ability to do multiple things with one device, and lastly social impressions. Instead of comparing the _games_, let's (and by let's I mean, "let me") compare the _hardware_ a little bit more.

Size: - Phones tend to be significantly smaller than handheld consoles, and naturally are much more portable than TV-based consoles.

Abilities: - Phones are well... _phones_. The oldest of phones could only make phone calls, but now even dumb-phones can do things like texting and checking e-mail, and smart phones can do a whole lot more, from GPS services to browsing online to music, podcasts, downloaded videos, streaming videos... SO much. All in one device that the average working person will probably carry around anyway because they need to. Heck, even people who DON'T work--people still in school--are finding ways to get smartphones, such that even kids in elementary schools can have iPhone 5's, and it's almost scary. The point of this is that phones are highly convenient and their ability to play games is just one of its many other features--buying a dedicated game console is something else entirely, where it's usually the other way around--we buy a 3DS to play games, and the fact that it can use the internet and stream Netflix is sort of just an extra bonus if we feel like it.

Social Impressions: - One thing I RARELY hear people talking about is the stigmas that come along with taking out your 3DS or PSP or Vita (and for the record, I have all these systems) and playing some video games. It can give people a "kiddish" impression, carrying that bulk in your pants can be a bit odd, etc., I'm a pretty avid gamer but I still find myself a little awkward when I take my 3DS out to see who StreetPass'd me at school. I do it because I want to make progress in my games and often times small bursts of free time are all I have, but despite me being as geeky as I am, I still find it awkward.

How does this all add-up?

Okay, let's take this hypothetical person working in an office at some job. He has a phone, lets just see how convenient it is to use it:

- He needs his phone anyway because he needs to be safe/have a way to contact people, needs to check his e-mail, needs to text his girlfriend or wife or whatever
- The phone is a standard electronic device most people carry around. It's not odd to be seen using it (for the most part), and it's not odd to be seen carrying it.
- The phone can do everything else he needs, and on top of it he can quickly start up a little game as he likes.
- By just pressing one button on his phone (e.g. the home button an iPhone), he can quickly "pause" the game, while going back to it whenever he wants.
- When he DOES decide to slack off and play on his phone, it's relatively silent, and doesn't take much effort to get started (his phone is probably already on, has solid battery life, and doesn't require a stylus or the continuous pressing of buttons if it's a smart phone with a touch screen).
- The games are either free or cheap and allow YOU to decide how much you want to play, without the pressure of "I need to beat this game", "how longer until I beat this game", etc. that many games give players.

When you add this all up, I can honestly understand while mobile gaming is a thing. Even if the person is just a student, there are still the same conveniences, social worries, etc., the circumstances for a lot of people are the same. Not only that but it's easier for someone to approach someone playing a game on their phone, ask what they're playing, etc., it just doesn't have that same social awkwardness because a phone is also a device where some "serious" things can be done, I mean I've typed short papers for class on mine XD.

In short, the iPhone has superior convenience and ability and less social awkwardness.

Now, I said at the very beginning that I'm actually a fan of the OTHER side of gaming, the one that's been existent much longer. I love my deep games, my iconic/mascot characters, my beautiful music and storylines and everything else that you can't really find as much of on smartphones (with rare exceptions--Square Enix released "The World Ends With You -Solo Remix-" for the iOS for a hefty $18-$20 considering its a mobile game and despite many TWEWY fans being disappointed, it was a pretty complete game experience on my phone and I loved it, and _yes I have played the original and know how to actually fight on both screens_).

With that being said, I'm definitely a little worried. I'm worried people will become complacent with simpler games, or epic games on console will sort of become a thing of the past. I mean, I can't really picture myself playing Xenoblade Chronicles or Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on a handheld device. It's just not big enough, I can't sit back with my controller and enjoy myself the same way. I really hope it is as someone said, that people will eventually look for deeper gaming experiences and come to dedicated gaming consoles. I have nothing against mobile phones with gaming capabilities--most of this post is praising their abilities and my theory on why they're so popular--but if I can't play games like Fire Emblem or Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky or even an actual HIGH definition racing game on a good TV (not some portable version with crappier graphics/sound), then I'll be seriously disappointed.

This post doesn't actually say anything about what should happen or change or whatever. I'm not sure. However, I know that if Nintendo and Sony consoles sorry but Xbox has nothing to offer me so if they die out the few noteworthy exclusives they have can just be ported over to a Playstation system *shot* start to become less significant because of mobile phone gaming, I will be seriously disappointed, because that means less games I TRULY enjoyed. The only game on an iPhone that I would consider a true gaming experience (and I've played a ton of iPhone games, as I said) was TWEWY, and that was a port of an existing handheld console game that was extremely pricey given that it was a phone game, so yeah.

Mobile phone games are great for killing time, but gaming isn't just killing time for me. I'm sure it's the same for some other people. We play video games because we want some real fun, and mobile games just don't sate our hunger. For them to do so, they'd have to... well, they'd probably have to become more like the current handheld gaming consoles, and well, if those already exist... I think you can see where I'm going. XD

Anyhow, I will continue to do my part to support the "authentic" gaming experience, because mobile gaming does not really offer the level/type of content I am looking for. It's fun, but at the end of the day I only really want to play iPhone games because they're convenient, not out of their true inherent value. That is to say, I'm not going to sit down on my bed and play an iPhone game, because I'd rather do something productive OR play on a dedicated gaming console where the experience is greater and more worth focusing on. But I'm in between classes and I don't have time to kick out my 3DS? Sure, I'll cut rope, slice fruit, shoot birds, or spin some weird ball thing to avoid obstacles (how else would I explain "Pivvot" or w/e, I don't know). 

Toodles~!

P.S.

Sorry for the long post.

I rarely post so when I do, I try to make it unnecessarily long and detailed, to get all my feelings out._  _If something I said offended someone, I apologize and chances are I won't check this thread to see me get flamed or whatever, so you'll have to just pretend I got mad or something if you're one of those people.


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## stanleyopar2000 (Sep 28, 2013)

with all the pay to win free to play freemium crap that mostly plagues smartphones? I hope not.



Satangel said:


> ......_*GOOGLE DIDN'T mind emulation, now they do some things to stop it*_.


fixed because when Android first came out...it was the goto device for emulation and downloading ROMS as some apps directly downloaded from [censored]rom and others. and they didn't care what apps people made. from movie downloaders and watchers to ROM downloaders Google didn't censor anything on the "android Market"

Now a few years ago Google is whipped out the good ol' DMCA and slapped it in android dev's faces saying emulators break the "intellectual rights" part of the DMCA [despite years of not giving a shit] all of a sudden and most emulator, rom downloaders, and even AD BLOCKERS (which were on the android market since the Droid OG) and more gone from the "PLAY STORE. (not including the fake n64 emulators that are completely ripped from n64oid and MupenPlus that show up every 3 days from every tom dick and harry developer that get removed every week).

To get emulators now you have to google the APK on google or use a repository and a certain app. or buy them from slideme.

Source - Android User


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## bj4e2 (Sep 28, 2013)

Let me start out by saying I love this thread, it's really interesting to think how far gaming has come since I began 20 years ago. I feel that "apps" as they should be called are not full featured games, they tease you with what consoles and handhelds have.
I have a 3DS, with 15 retail games and 8 eshop games. I have a smartphone with 6 "apps". The problem I have is I hate carrying around my 3DS and switching out games on the fly whereas I carry my phone on me almost all the time and can load up a quick "game". I don't play casual games, I play mostly puzzle games or strategy games, so in a world where I can go up against anyone in the world in a quick game, is fun for me. It will never replace my 3DS or the real games I have(legend of zelda, kid icarus, mario kart, pokemon, and fire emblem) but it does give me a chance to play a quick game on the commute to work or when I'm on the go.
There is still that stigma with playing games in public and I never cared before and it still doesn't bother me as much as it should. The world is always changing it's views on taboos and what was once never talked about 20 years ago, is now being made into mainstream media.
I can never give up buttons for a touch screen, it's very awkward to play with huge fingers. Just using the screen to type is very frustrating. Many a times do I curse at my phone for messing up my move. Oh well, that's my 2 cents.


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## relminator (Sep 29, 2013)

After the Ps2, mega rpg games died and that really impacted me on my choices.  I have 2 dslites, a psp, a 3ds and a ps2.  The only 3ds game I constantly play is fire emblem.

Last month, I tried replaying Valkyrie Profile 2 on the ps2 and I instantly felt how better those games are if I compare it to say an rpg on the psp(mostly mission based crap).

I am playing eternal legacy on my s3 and felt that it may not be great but good enough to play and it's on my pocket so I could play it when I feel like playing.

The games on smartphones may not be that good but they are with you all the time.

Still, if consoles go out of style, it would be the end of video games for me.  Touch controls just suck IMO(and I'm developing for android).


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## urbanman2004 (Sep 29, 2013)

Are u freaking kidding me? People who are into mobile gaming are mainly your usual casual gamers and that's a different market segment than that of the console gaming market. Those same casual gamers weren't gonna buy a console to begin with because it's much convenient for them to use their cell phones to play games.


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## notmeanymore (Sep 29, 2013)

I see the difference between mobile games and console/PC games as being the difference between television and a movie. They're essentially the same medium (a video), but are different enough to be considered separate entities that are judged by different standards.


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## Blazer (Sep 29, 2013)

relminator

I dig ya, Fire Emblem is awesome and so is Valkyrie Profile, wish they would make Fire Emblem games quicker and would make another game in the Valkyrie profile series. And like you said, RPGs are so mission-based now adays, it is kind of boring/stale, the format of how you progress through the game is important to me as well, so many games just have it where you go to some "guild" or something and play through missions/quests off a list, and in mobile games you have levels and you just go from one level to the other with no connecting element or sense of a greater game, if that makes sense.

It's not necessarily bad but sometimes it gets boring and I like a different approach to things is all


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## MarkDarkness (Sep 30, 2013)

Mobile games simply don't work as well as they should, unless their level of interaction is rather low. For instance, Jetpack Joyride is awesome; all the interaction it takes is a finger press. Whenever you attempt to get more sophisticated, the touchscreen simply can't deal with it well enough anymore. Even things that LOOK as if they should play well, don't. Aquaria, for instace, looked like a good proposition... it's more or less point-and-click, but nah, it just lacks the response of a real controller/keyboard/mouse. Those input mediums are so much faster, reliable, and plus, they don't stain all over and smudge the damn screen.

Adventure games are an exception to the rule, I guess... SCUMMVM works rather well, as do native games such as Machinarium.

But there will always be an industry for mobile games. It's just that now the very casual players are migrating. But I doubt you'll ever be hard-pressed to sell Pokémon, Megami Tensei, Animal Crossing and so on... it's just that the simpler games and players are moving away to something more intuitive to them. I see people a busses and the shit they play is fucking unbelievable. Somebody who plays hours of Candy Crush a day REALLY doesn't need a fucking 3DS.


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## Deleted-188346 (Sep 30, 2013)

Ryukouki said:


> Yet, with the decline of sales on the console front; for instance the Wii U, it slowly becomes apparent that mobile games are, in fact, rustling the feathers of these gaming companies.


You're suggesting that mobile games are the reason for the decline of the Wii U, *based on what exactly*? It couldn't possibly be that the Wii U:
- Currently has a poor selection of games.
- Is poorly marketed.
- Has failed to deliver games that interest several major demographics of gamers.
- Has to compete with the far more powerful PS4 and Xbox One on the horizon of which have gargantuan franchises announced for them.

Nope. Mobile gaming. People often browse the iTunes store and weigh up between purchasing a $2 game or a several hundred dollar Wii U system.


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## Kirito-kun (Oct 1, 2013)

Well, there is a way to play high-quality games on mobile devices. By using a virtual desktop program such a splashtop, it's very possible to stream games from a networked PC to a mobile device and play it on said mobile device.

If such techniques become popular, it's GG for dedicated handhelds. Why play 3DS games on the go when you can play Skyrim or Battlefield 3 on a tablet?

With Valve pushing streaming technology and internet bandwidth increasing, it is likely that mobile gaming will eventually evolve to a server-terminal model.


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## BlackWizzard17 (Oct 1, 2013)

Personally don't know what's so good about mobile gaming.
I hate touch screen it's hard to play games that look like AAA titles(yeah I can get a controller but I have a ps3 for that),I'd rather prefer a mouse and keyboard and I don't even play on a PC. Yes it's very easy to to pull out a phone and play games but to what extent. I picked a copy of Mario and luigi dream team for 3ds and I'm already 20 hours+ into it but I can't say I hav spent more than two hours into a game app. Sure I'm not other people but i just don't see moble gaming hitting us to the point it out performs or can give a real expirence I had with a ps3, heck I'll even say ps2,n64,psx,GameCube,wii,snes,3ds,ect.


Sure moble gaming is great and it sells fine but I'd prefer my handheld, or console over my piece of junk iPhone that constantly need to be upgraded because apples a piece of shit. Long live Nintendo handhelds (and Sony some what).


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## Hop2089 (Oct 1, 2013)

Blazer said:


> relminator
> 
> I dig ya, Fire Emblem is awesome and so is Valkyrie Profile, wish they would make Fire Emblem games quicker and would make another game in the Valkyrie profile series. And like you said, RPGs are so mission-based now adays, it is kind of boring/stale, the format of how you progress through the game is important to me as well, so many games just have it where you go to some "guild" or something and play through missions/quests off a list, and in mobile games you have levels and you just go from one level to the other with no connecting element or sense of a greater game, if that makes sense.
> 
> It's not necessarily bad but sometimes it gets boring and I like a different approach to things is all


 
I can't stand guild quests either, they feel like a chore, even worse in many games, you have to do them to get decent equipment or items to forge decent equipment, I rather just farm the items when I want to grind without going on a boring fetch quest.  The Tales of games have become worse with this aspect especially, and I hope Exstetra doesn't have a lot of this.


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## Kirito-kun (Oct 1, 2013)

Also, do tablet also count as mobile gaming? Because if they do, I bring to your attention the Razer Edge Pro.



High-quality mobile gaming.


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## Ryukouki (Oct 1, 2013)

Kirito-kun said:


> Also, do tablet also count as mobile gaming? Because if they do, I bring to your attention the Razer Edge Pro.
> 
> 
> 
> High-quality mobile gaming.





Well, that's a curious little tablet. And yeah, sure, why not count tablets as mobile gaming devices?


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## Hop2089 (Oct 1, 2013)

Kirito-kun said:


> Also, do tablet also count as mobile gaming? Because if they do, I bring to your attention the Razer Edge Pro.
> 
> 
> 
> High-quality mobile gaming.




Pretty snazzy piece of hardware but that's considered a PC/Tablet hybrid, it even has i7 in it.


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## Ryukouki (Oct 1, 2013)

Ugggh, that tablet is also $1500. ._.


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## BlackWizzard17 (Oct 1, 2013)

Kirito-kun said:


> Also, do tablet also count as mobile gaming? Because if they do, I bring to your attention the Razer Edge Pro.
> 
> 
> 
> High-quality mobile gaming.




It's says its for PC gaming but it says (it's also home console) the irony.


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## Blazer (Oct 1, 2013)

Hop2089 said:


> I can't stand guild quests either, they feel like a chore, even worse in many games, you have to do them to get decent equipment or items to forge decent equipment, I rather just farm the items when I want to grind without going on a boring fetch quest. The Tales of games have become worse with this aspect especially, and I hope Exstetra doesn't have a lot of this.


 
Aye, I like the Tales of games a lot but it stinks when I'm really behind etc. because I don't grind, don't go for sidequests, etc., the game shouldn't be so much harder/more annoying just because I don't want to do stuff I usually consider extras.

Balancing difficulty has always been an issue with video games, ultimately we're still doing things like "modes" and not implementing difficulty curves that suit the player... with exception, there are SOME games the difficulty is more dynamic (IIRC Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 made battles easier every time you retried... TWEWY gave you the option to retry on easy if the boss was too hard... stuff like this). But for the most part you need to set the difficulty beforehand or else the game requires you to do tedious work just to progress in the main game. And putting a game on easy mode is an insult and can often times make the game less enjoyable. I just wanna play normal or hard mode without spending hours in preparations first. SMT IV, where generic enemies 1-shot you even in easy mode, unless you ground, and easy mode requires 2 deaths to unlock, which is a huge slap in the face... I'm looking at you


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## YamiZee (Oct 1, 2013)

Honestly the mobile platform has great potential to support great games! Sadly, the only things I can ever find in the app and google play stores are dumb simplistic games like angry birds or whatever fads are in atm. There may be some gems in there, but it's way too cluttered. I believe in the capability for awesome hardcore games on the platform, I just don't think people are taking advantage of it.

I also think people should make gamepad frames for mobiles more accessible, and make more games for to be specifically be played by such a controller.


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## kenjixx (Oct 2, 2013)

I dun think that mobile gaming gonna take over because the whole mobile phone environment is a mess. It's easier for me to go for 3DS or PSvita then going through every available phone choice. Mobile device can be outdated in hardware and lost manufacturer OS support very fast when you are not owning flagship device that cost a fortune. I am not sure how well can a Mobile device perform without the latest hardware and OS but if it's gonna be a main thing in the future this kind of issue gonna really ruin gaming experience
For me mobile device are meant to just serve it's basic function such making call and sending message. I am not going to get the best model to do those basic stuff and also not gonna update it frequently only to play the latest game that push the limit of the device


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## Chrisssj2 (Oct 3, 2013)

So what are these fabled games? Could someone please give me a list so I can check them out on my Samsung galaxy S2?


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