I used to hate mobile gaming with a passion. Before I go into my little rant, let me say that when I mean mobile, I don’t mean dedicated portable gaming systems like the DS or PSP. I mean mobile like cell phone games. I looked down upon that entire segment of gaming. I hated the lack of graphical horsepower. I hated how weird it was to get games on your phone. I hated the poor quality games. I hated the controls. I don’t think any game controls well on a number pad. There was a point in the early-to-mid 2000s when analysts were predicting the cell phone market would expand tremendously, and I scoffed at that notion for all of the problems I mentioned above. Up until the release of the iPhone, I was absolutely right.
Now in 2010, I don’t need to tell you how popular mobile gaming is. It’s perceived as just a part of the overall gaming eco-system. On a more personal level, I’m now seeing mobile gaming as an important part of my life. If you’ve been reading my site of late, you’re probably figured as much.
Part of this shift in my attitude definitely comes from advances in technology. My iPod Touch and iPad are way more powerful than cell phones of the past. Having the iTunes store makes it much easier to get games. And while the touch screen is not the best for playing games originally designed for traditional controllers, it does do a good job at replicating it at times and does a great job when developers create games with the touch screen in mind.
Beyond control inputs, the game quality has improved dramatically. You no longer just get Bejeweled and Bejeweled rip-offs. Pretty much every genre of game has titles that play great on mobile devices. I never thought I would see the day when a mobile version of Street Fighter would take me aback. Whoops.
Pricing on mobile games is almost absurdly low when you think about it. I grew up in a market where new portable games were $40 on my Gameboy Advance or DS. Now you can get a totally awesome iPhone game for $0.99. Even the “high-end”iPhone games are roughly $10 max. Being able to get these relatively cheap games at the push of a button makes it a really easy and lucrative scene to jump into as a gamer.
On a personal level, mobile gaming (particularly on the iPod Touch) just fits my life better right now. Other, more important factors of my life, such as my family, girlfriend and full-time job make it difficult to hunker down in front of the TV and play something. Even when I do have the time to play, I often resort to something like Street Fighter, which I can feel like I had a complete experience within a matter of minutes.
It’s not hard for me to play an iPod Touch game, because I carry it with me almost everywhere I go. I can get in some good gaming action during any down-time that occurs throughout my day and carry on with life as quickly as I started the game. As far as iPad gaming goes, it’s definitely not as portable, but getting into a game of Plants vs. Zombies within seconds from anywhere in my house and the ability to stop instantly makes it easier to fit into my current lifestyle.
It’s good to see mobile gaming grow up. Thanks to the strides in technology, the industry is growing way faster than the consoles did. Outside of the iPhone and other cell phones, that Nintendo 3DS looks pretty sweet too. I’m not sure if I really need two devices that can play games in my pockets at any point, but I should be a winner either way.
In Third Person 