Mobile vs Handheld

[Totalcross3000]

So this is a rising battle in the mists of the console wars I see. Some are saying that mobile games are taking up the space of handheld consoles and I don't see why. Mobile games usually are "freeium" games and usually are a little more popular well because anyone with an iPhone 5 can play these games. Short and sweet and to the point. (i.e. candy crush, angry bird, etc.)

 

But I don't see the in-dept kind of development that I see in traditional games. Where console games have deep plots and stories, and simple to moderately complex engineering tactical formats. Graphics haven't been a big discussion since the N64/PS2/XBOX era (at least in my experience) so there hasn't been a push for visually beautiful games because some games on the mobile market do look and feel good. There are always those low-quality games that are rushed to jump in on a gaming fad but I see far more cloned candy crush games as well.

 

Have mobile game developers taken a back seat to trying to publish a good in-dept story driven game (i.e. red dead redemption) or are we simply just stuck in the sophisticated version of the game 'n' watch era of phones? Could these phones eventually produce the kind of quality game that handheld consoles have given us? Are we in the age where its too risky to do something different because people are so jaded they think its all been done?

[IntenseFATE98]

I dunno why but I find myself spending more time playing mobile games than on Vita. Probably because mobile games are short, fun and free.

Edited January 22, 2015 by IntenseFATE98

[Super-Fly Spider-Guy]

I love my Vita, I still play the crap out of my PSP, hell I've been this close to buying a 3DS so many times and there's nothing on there I even want, I love me some portable gaming goodness.

 

And if it weren't for trophies, I'd have played the Vita's exclusives and been done with it ages ago, as much as I love it, there's not that much going on for it, FOR MY PERSONAL PREFERENCES AND TASTES, I'm not saying the Vita doesn't have games, because it fucking does and you're an idiot to dispute that, it's just that most of them aren't for me.

 

That being said, there isn't that much better on mobiles, and there's a metric fuck tonne of shittier games on mobiles though. Though, with THAT having been said, I lead on to my next point,

 

I had an Xperia Play until it died, then I got another one (it was a good deal, it was 40 more for a new one than it would have been to fix the old one) and then it started dying, then I finally (this was a few months into 2014 btw) bought a newish phone, the Nexus 5, which I still use as my main phone.

 

Now, I have a few accessories I picked up that make the phone that much better. 1: A Micro USB to HDMI connector, so I can play it on my TV, and 2: A MOGA Pro controller that charges my phone via USB when I play on it if I want.

 

The Xperia Play had a great library of games, most of which I would later play on my Nexus. PS1/N64 emulators on the XP were the tits, I also had Vice City on there, Max Payne, Modern Combat 4, a whole mess of great stuff.

 

But it's an outdated phone, enter the Nexus 5. On my phone at the moment, I have

Modern Combat 5. A full sized single and multiplayer FPS that's in most respects BETTER than anything COD's pumped out since MW1.

Amazing Spider-Man 2. A gorgeous freeroaming Spidey game that's more fun than the bloody PS4 version most of the time.

PPSSPP. A PSP emulator that upscales the shit out of PSP games, I'm not exaggerating when I say they look beautiful, and not just by comparison either.

DraStic. A DS emulator, or in my case, a Lego Star Wars and Mario emulator.

Several other emulators, Dreamcast, PS1, N64, Gamecube/Wii (don't get that unless you like playing in sub 15 FPS, but it's insane it even gets that far on a phone), etc.

SoulCalibur in HD, Crazy Taxi in HD, so many fucking rereleases, it's awesome, speaking of,

GTA San Andreas, in HD. It's great, you get all these cool new saving features, new lighting engines, you can adjust the resolution and shit and make it sexy as hell.

And so many other cool games.

 

All these things, by the way, work with the remote controller.

 

 

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The point I'm trying to make, is that yes, 98% of the crap on mobiles is garbage and shouldn't exist, my girlfriend has the same phone at my recommendation, and it kills me to see her playing crappy tappy free games that could be run on a potato...BUT! For ever 1500 shitty phone games, there's a kickass high quality game deserving of critical praise, speaking of, for those of you who like free shit and FPS's, download a game called Dead Trigger. It will run on anything and if you have a good phone it's gorgeous, I beat the whole game, unlocked a massive arsenal and everything, without paying a cent. There's a sequel out that improves a lot of things, but the option to spend money is more obvious and a few of the control methods pissed me off so I stuck with the first.

 

Bonus points, another thing that pisses me off, is when mobile games come to Vita and cost a bunch. Run Like Hell is a crappy endless runner that's been free on Android for years, came to Vita a few weeks back, it's like 7 dollars here, fuck that, fuck that and the horse it rode in on, out of spite, if that gets made free one day, I won't download it.

[CaptainAskHole]

I don't like the mobile games, i only play handheld games.

[AJ Maciejewski]

Personally, I play 3DS a lot more than any other on-the-go platform. There's constantly games that I love coming out. Although I preferred PSP to DS, it surprises me how much more I play my 3DS to the Vita. I still play Vita a lot, though.  

 

As for mobile, I couldn't really care less...

[TheVader66]

I only play mobile when I am somewhere where requires my attention like Waiting Rooms, Stores and Meetings but I play the hell out of my PSVita when I am at my house, friend's house or College.

Edited January 23, 2015 by TheVader66

[StrickenBiged]

I used to pay attention to what new games were on the App Store, but since Ridiculous Fishing, I haven't bothered staying up to date. I liked RF because it had no microtransactions at the time, and had a statement saying it would not implement them. Plus, it was a lot of fun. 

 

Then I got my Vita and I haven't looked back. Mobile gaming is far preferable on the Vita. 

 

I think the problem with mobile gaming is that, because its so easy to develop for mobile, anything that is successful is immediately copied and bastardised with a few replacement sprites. The touch screen format definitely favours smaller, "tappy" games or turn based combat. Anything that requires complicated and split second inputs, or twitch-games, just doesn't play well as, without the haptic feedback of buttons, you have to take a second to make sure you're about to press the correct thing.

 

I also think that a lot of devs forget when designing their mobile games that, at the point at which you're inputting a command, you will have to cover a part of the screen with your finger. I get incredibly frustrated when I die because I was supposed to have seen something that I couldn't see because it came from somewhere under my thumb.

 

Because of the general lack of quality on mobile, I do feel sorry for kids and young people who might be growing up thinking that these types of experiences are all that's available in the world of "gaming".

 

Just some off the cuff thoughts...

[InverseSquared]

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Edited March 15, 2017 by SeanStrange