Mobile Gaming

With the introduction of mobile phones as important parts of our every day lives, new opportunities opened up for people looking to release their products on a mobile platform, one of the biggest markets being mobile gaming. Mobile gaming is not unique to phones though, Nintendo and Sony being the biggest proponents of mobile gaming with systems like the Nintendo DS and the PS Vita. However, there is quite a big difference on the perception of mobile games on phones and mobile games produced by dedicated gaming companies like Nintendo and Sony. Games released on the Nintendo DS and PS Vita are generally seen as very legitimate and respectable titles, while games released for phone are not seen as favorably. Personally, I play a few mobile games, specifically ones that fall under the gacha genre, which typically involve summoning for characters that can be used in different forms of gameplay and which heavily rely on in game microtransactions as most of the games are free to download and play. These games can be fun ways to pass the time and remind me very much of collectable card games, where the main appeal is the collection aspect, which is even more appealing when the characters you can collect are from your favorite TV show or game series. I think one main problem that people have with these types of games is the sort of predatory nature that is inherent to microtransactions, where you are heavily incentivized to spend money to make the gameplay experience more enjoyable. These monetization methods are very successful, even to the point that games released on major gaming platforms have started to adopt these methods, much to the dismay of gamers everywhere. To a lot of people, and my self included for the most part, the microtransaction form of monetization feels sort of counter-intuitive to the traditional ways games are monetized, where you pay a singular fee and are free to enjoy the full benefits of that game. When you spend money on microtransactions, you still get to play the same game you were already playing for free, but with a few added extra benefits, that usually dont last very long until you spend more money. I think another main problem people have with mobile gaming on a broad scale is that most games lack a lot of depth due to the limitations of the system. Traditional gaming systems are going to run games better than your phone 9 times out of 10, which is a huge turn-off for some people, especially when a game is available on mobile and on traditional gaming platforms. This lack of depth also provides less interest for people seeking a engaging experience, where gaming systems are going to have more tools to provide that type of experience, leading many gamers to see most mobile games as very casual and not worth their time. However, as more and more companies recognize the amount of potential money to be made in mobile gaming, I think we may see newer and more ambitious takes on the mobile gaming formula. Many companies have already started porting their older, less technologically intensive games to mobile phones, providing some already decent games for people to play. As mobile phones are enhanced and given more power to run more intensive games, I think more and more companies will look to mobile gaming as a serious option for releasing their games and we will definitely see improvements in the quality and engagement provided to us on our phones. Every gaming platform has to start somewhere, and I think we have only seen the beginning for mobile phones as serious options for gaming.