Mobile Gaming: 'No Reason' It Won't Replace Consoles, says Developer

Belias

what do you personally think of this article?

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Mobile devices have seen huge sales of late, and the market has become so huge that longtime industry veterans like Peter Moore are beginning to question the relevance of dedicated handhelds. But will there come a day when mobile devices will completely take over, serving as console replacements?
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read article here: http://www.industrygamers.com/news/mobile-gaming-no-reason-it-wont-replace-consoles-says-developer/

ScudzAlmighty

While smartphones are pretty liekley to replace the handheld market (DS, PSP, etc) if they haven't already, the concole market is a completely different experience from mobile gaming which draws it's audience for differrnet reasons alltogether.

I feel like this quote from the post sums it up pretty well:

So mobile game developers believe that mobile games are the future and will replace consoles, go figure. By the time smart phones are capable of achieving what current console hardware can do "the big 3" will already have their next iterations available to consumers, which I would assume will be head and shoulders over what is currently offered to justify new purchases. I highly doubt any of the current console manufactures will allow mobile gaming to impede on the already controlled and lucrative multi-billion dollar industry of living room gaming. That aside, so as long names such as "Call of Duty" remain relevant and in cohorts with Microsoft I honestly do not see "5 minute gaming" replacing the AAA titles we see today. And really, who wants to play angry birds on their big screen televisions?

To add to that last bit, for the Halo Reach comparrison, why would I want to play reach on my Iphone 3 inches from my face when I could play it on my 50" 5 feet from my couch?

crazyfingers

Until mobile devices easily bluetooth their screen in full HD to the TV screen, have input devices on par with controllers and keyboards, I don't see why these 2 platforms can't cooexist for several more years. But things are changing so fast it could simply be a single badass piece of hardware from apple, google, microsoft, or hell even some company in china that changes the future of gaming or at least shows enough potential that everyone drops what they're doing and sees that as the future. Some sort of multi input touch screen/ phone wonder child.

You can already feel an air of hesitance from the major players in the console war, console launches are massive investments that can take years to turn a profit on. This hesitance to wait and see what happens alone can have a profound effect on the market. The longer they wait and test the waters, the closer mobile devices will get to the power of the current consoles. Once they get close enough (which is happening very fast) I think it will have a profound, long lasting effect on the consumer, to see mobile gaming getting better so quickly, how can you not see that as the wave of the future.

And lets not forget about OnLive either. Sure it doesn't quite cut it in the current iteration but if the right phone comes out with a decent enough display and controller, it could justify more proliferation of game servers all over the nation and make an absolute killing. This is just one random thought, there is so much potential for where this industry may go. The only certainty is change.

ambershee

They're gonna have to come up with something way better than 3G to stream content like a game to your phone

Amusingly hand helds do offer at least one distinct advantage over smart phones - their physical interfaces aren't designed by clueless morons who have no understanding of tactile feedback - ergo, they have buttons and pads.

eld

Here we go again.

Every single person in that article is an app-developer.


In short, and I've said this before: the iphone market is gigantic, but it can only replace the other markets if it BECOMES those markets.

tokidokizenzen

This is sort of like when folks were talking about if consoles would replace the PC as a gaming platform. So long as there is a game that has a better playing experience on a given piece of hardware, there will be hardware for it.

Belias

i didn't like the article that much though...

dejawolf

the main question is: can you play skyrim on an iphone?

Lord McMutton

I'm a developer, and I could say that normal maps and the like are completely overrated. Doesn't make it true, though.

notman

I'm really getting tired of hearing this statement (about mobile replacing consoles). They are confusing their sale numbers, as validation for their theory. Just because people are buying a lot of apps/games on their phones, doesn't mean it's replacing their console games. Do they really think that all the people buying Modern Warfare 3, are going to substitute it one day with Angry Birds? Not likely. And do you really see yourself playing Modern Warfare on your phone? No.... just no.

JacqueChoi

Wow.

I was crucified for saying on these boards last year that the iPhone would kill the PSP2 and the 3DS. For the most part I think I'm right.

One thing to remember about technology, and technological advancements. NEVER EVER EVER EVER adopt a conservative mindset about it.

EVER.



5 years ago, if you told me I would be playing games made on the Unreal engine, on my phone with a very responsive touch screen, and that phone a processor more powerful than my desktop tower, I would have told you that you were completely on crack.

If you told me GTA, and Final Fantasy could be played on a phone in full 3D, I likely would have had you committed.

I never thought WoW could be played on a phone, and WHAMO Gameloft goes and creates a subscription based MMO that emulates WoW, and scores an 84 on Metacritic.




I don't think games will be be so diconomous that it will completely kill consoles, just like consoles never truly killed PC.

I CAN however see more integration between the two, and more immersive online experiences that integrate online gaming, with mobile gaming, with facebook, and keeps you completely locked in at all times.


Image if an MMO had an iphone app where you can run your dailies, or run a bot to do all your trading/fetch quests, or you can play as your main characters' pet. Then log into your facebook account, to buy/trade your auction items, when you get an SMS telling you that your guild castle is being raided for its relics.

Being nowhere NEAR your home computer, you go onto facebook, and start buffing your guild members, and cooking to make them additional potions, and then opening up your crafting app on your mobile to send them additional power-ups for the battle.



I dunno. The only thing I can say, is 5 years from now, it won't be what we all think it is. And it most CERTAINLY won't be what it is now.

Racer445

i have a pc.

Ace-Angel

I'm all for integration, but I prefer playing my games on my hardware at home. I don't like wasting bandwidth randomly, or to engage in stuff, in which our tech barely has time to adapt to. It's true, all this can improve in 5 years, but lets face facts, people don't improve anything until market forces dictate so.

With that being said, I also don't like where most mobile devices come from, especially Apple products. Talk about your phone having cost a human life in some cases.

JacqueChoi

I was explained to a Chinese friend that the entire Foxcon thing was so blown out of proportion it was not even worth mentioning.

He explained this to me with simple math:

According to Wikipedia, there are 15 suicides per 100,000 people per year in China (the US is 11)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate



Foxconn employs 920,000 people. Which would mean 138 employees committing suicide every year would fall in line with the average for the country.




So Far there have only been 17 suicides at Foxconn. That is MUCH lower than the national average per capita.





BTW just to clarify. Foxconn employs MORE people than the population of Seattle, yet it has far less suicides.

Ace-Angel

Media tends to blow up stuff, true, and you could even argue that a couple of hundred people who might suffer from personal issues in a population of 7B is 'nothing'.

I did however find it tasteless on every single mobile company rushed to secure proper channels to stop the information from spreading even more. I know telling people won't change much unless people are willing to a stand, but if they did nothing wrong, why sweep?

Ugh, this twist of topic has made me depressed. Which reminds me, I still need to assassinate some peeps in Skyrim.