Mobile Gaming. Say these two words together and you’re likely to get the stink-eye from most of the gamers in the room who consider themselves to be “hardcore” (whatever that means.) Many gamers recoil at the idea of playing a game on a cell phone and cite the small screen size and lack of controllability as reasons for their distaste.
But with market penetration of cellular phones reaching an estimated 50% worldwide (or 3.3 billion according to intomobile.com), mobile gaming has taken off in recent years and has become a profitable stream of income for many software publishers. Though the hardcores scoff at the idea, mobile games aren’t going anywhere, and here are a few reasons why.
1.Penetration
Penetration is the name of the game, but not the kind you’re thinking of, pervert! Think of all the people you know with a game console. Now think of all the people you know who have a cell phone. Makes the number of people who own a gaming system seem pretty small doesn’t it? Mobile gaming gives software publishers the chance to make money off of not just gamers, but people who don’t even own game systems to begin with. Add to that the fact that they don’t have to worry about packaging, concept art, shipping, and all those other things related to physical media that drive up costs, and it’s a win/win situation for them.
2.”Take Your Quality and Shove it!”
“Mobile games suck!” “The graphics are TERRIBLE!” “You can’t control it worth a damn!” Such are the diatribes of hardcore gamers wondering how anyone would pay for something of such OBVIOUS low quality. If you care about the quality of your video games, you’re pretty close to being the gaming version of Jack Black’s snarky character in the movie “High Fidelity.”
The fact of the matter is, the general public DOESN’T CARE about quality! If they did, we’d still be listening to vinyl, Beta would have crushed VHS in the VCR wars of the 80s, and Bush would never have gotten re-elected (I couldn’t resist!). What the average consumer DOES care about is convenience. How simple is it to use? Do I have to carry anything extra with me? Does it work? These are the questions people care about, not “What is the framerate?” “Is the sound CD quality?” etc. Sure, some mobile games DO suck, but that isn’t the point. The point it, they’re simple and you don’t have to be a math major to figure them out, unlike the latest Final Fantasy game everyone loves so much.
3.You Can Always Take it With You
Yeah, I love my PSP and my DS, but chances are, I won’t have them with me at all times because frankly, I refuse to wear pants with pockets that big. For “portable” systems, these aren’t exactly easy to carry around at all times. A cell phone, however, is (unless of course you’re still sporting the Zack Morris phone that he had to carry around in his backpack.) I hate carrying extra stuff around with me and that includes portable game systems. But I always have my phone on me, and if a situation arises where I’m bored at work (heaven forbid!) or have some time to kill, I can whip out my phone, boot up Street Fighter II and flatten M.Bison and his cronies while I wait for….whatever. Many of us don’t plan ahead for unexpected free time, yours truly included, so in such a case, a mobile game can be a blessing.
4.”You’ve got a cell phone, whaddya need that game system, tv, and MP3 player for?”
Like it or not, mobile devices like the iPhone are the wave of the future and I predict a time when most of our computing will be done on hand held devices. While game consoles will never die, I’m betting that in another 10 years, your Game Boy Advance will be a museum piece, and by the time your grandkids are running into your arthritic knees, you’ll be able to play PS3 quality games on a device the size of a Blackberry. Call me Orwell, call me whatever, just don’t say I didn’t warn you!
5.Cellular Providers Love To Make Money
Your cellular provider loves you. And to show it, they’ll put in place services like Verizon’s VCAST to sell you a bunch of media stuff over your phone so they can make even more! Yeah yeah, I know, you’ve got the cheapest possible plan, but hey, if you’re like me, you check out what wares they’re peddling online every once and awhile and sometimes get seduced. Cell phone providers make a boatload on these peripheral media services each year, and you can bet they’ll only start offering more as the years go on. All they have to do is agree to sell an already-made product that cost them nothing to develop on their network and they get a chunk of the sales. Pretty sweet, huh?
Mobile Gaming Best Bets:
1.Tetris-Tetris on a mobile phone is like toast: hard to screw up. So it’s pretty safe to say that no matter what provider you have, no matter what phone, Tetris will be a good way to kill some time.
2.Devil May Cry Mobile-This one kinda depends on your phone, but on my Chocolate 2 it looks like a million bucks though the control can be a bit wonky at times. Based on parts of Devil May Cry 3, this one includes 40+ missions, several of the weapons and a few of the bosses found there as well.
3.3D Ultimate Chess-Only found on the Verizon, Alltel, and Cellular South networks, this is possibly the coolest chess game available. It’s also very complete. There are 5 different chess bots you can play ranging from the rank beginner to a high level bot that plays like a human might. It also includes chess puzzles, and unlockable backgrounds, chess boards, and pieces as well.
4.Castlevania:Order Of Shadows-Ah I hear fans at the Anti-Chapel and Castlevania Dungeon picking up their pitchforks and torches right now! OoS is a good little action/adventure game that offers plenty of weapons, enemies to use them on, and some of the best music you’ll hear in a mobile game to date!
5.Street Fighter II/Street Fighter II Champion Edition-For a fighting game, this one controls really well! While the Champion Edition has more characters, the screen ratio in the original is much better. Fantastic graphics & music and very faithful gameplay are the stars here!
