Is Mobile gaming really the future?

[Professor James]

I've read an article about how this might be the last console generation due to the closing of many studios a couple years ago, the huge deficit that Microsoft is racking up on the Xbox, and bad sales by all three consoles in Japan. He then also claimed that Mobile Gaming would be the future due to apps like Clash of Clans racking in a million dollars each day, and app companies being rich enough to advertise during Primetime TV or even the Superbowl(a 30 second commercial costs 4 million dollars). I at first disagreed but now I'm not sure. Maybe PC gaming can pick up what consoles have left.

 

[Mezahmay]

Mobile gaming is a plausible future, but I am not yet convinced such an outcome is set in stone. I also think that PC as a gaming platform will not go away entirely for quite some time, long after consoles if nothing else. PC and mobile share a common feature: they are ubiquitous and (relatively) convenient. Consoles are their own institution and are not as nearly as necessary as a PC or mobile device is nowadays.

That being said, there may not NEED to be a console generation after this one. I remember hearing about Sony acquiring a game streaming service a while ago. A PS4 would essentially just need to be powerful enough to render video being streamed to it from a more powerful rig and transmitting controller input online. There's no reason that said streaming would become significantly more intensive in the future compared to current games, making the actual hardware kind of irrelevant.

 

[tippy2k2]

I still just plain don't understand why people think mobile gaming is going to take over...well....anything gaming-wise.

There are two HUGE problems with mobile gaming that no one has ever given me a solution for.

#1. Battery life
The more powerful the devices are, the more battery life you need. The more powerful the games become, the more power it's going to suck up on your phone. Shit, with your example of Clash of Clans, a tiny-ass power-wise app, I can play it in 10 minute spurts for about half the day before my phone goes down. That's not me playing CoC half the day; that's the tiny spurts that it allows you to play as a relatively weak freemium game. I'd hate to see what a Call of Duty or Madden or "insert your favorite console game here" series would do to the devices. This is also assuming people are fine with draining their phone batteries and hoping that they don't need it to make an actual call if something bad happens...

#2. They're uncomfortable
I want you to grab your Nintendo 3DS and go play any game for a few hours. Go on, I'll wait here.

Are you done? This is a device made specifically for gaming and if you're like most people, you had issues staying comfortable using it for a long gaming session. Again, a device made specifically to game on isn't nearly as comfortable as a console and we're expecting cell phones, which are not specifically designed to game on, to take this market over?

Now with that said, consoles themselves may be out the door but that's a different argument for a different thread...

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Nah, not really. It'll advance and all, and maybe you'll get gaming-central mobile phone sort of deal in the future, but handhelds have that market kinda cornered already. I think PC gaming will overtake console gaming in the near-mid future, since consoles don't have too much to add anymore, and limit the user more and more. That's a little way off though.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Isn't the mobile market bottoming out? Aren't responsible parents/savvy consumers are on the rise against the dumb sh*ts who buy $100 worth of gems in Dungeon Keeper mobile?
I can't see any long term market growth for the mobile industry. Their practices are so shady and they show no signs of fixing them that in a few more years, the entire industry will tank and dozens app start-up companies will go the way of Atari

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I hope not? I hate gaming on such a little screen.

 

[Keoul]

Nope.
It's the future of handheld consoles sure but not all consoles. We still got a lot of things keeping the whole console scene going like exclusives, plus if we count Oculus Rift as a console then we got a whole new contender giving you an exclusive experience.

Then there's the whole consoles being more powerful and being able to play bigger and better games thing and the fact that people still need their phone battery for things like calling people or texting people or things people normally do with a phone.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

It will, but not in the current form that you think. HDMI outputs and bluetooth controllers =console experience. That all you ned for a console experience its almost there, but not quite yet.

Mobile phones are getting immense in power we will see 4k screens that will power mobile VR and that will be something to behold. Pretty soon someone will solve the battery problem too. We will be having 4K VR while the project Morpheus will be stuck at 1080p.

The note 4 and other smartphones make the PS vita's power look pathetic, so mobile gaming has no chance, consoles will be next, its just a matter of time, next year we will be seeing 8 core 8gb ram phones, its almost unbelievable how far we have come.

 

[Smooth Operator]

It could be if they offered higher quality and superior compatibility. If you could take your device to any screen and hook up any peripheral for a quality gaming experience they would have a very good chance to push out the very cagey competition, because they only want their shit to work with their own shit which makes them a pain to deal with.

But considering their market growth has come from scam and spam tactics it's probably better if they don't get anywhere, because if that replaces normal business models it will torch gaming to the ground for good.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

I can see it now, The Angry Birds World Championship Series, it'll sell out entire stadiums, 50,000 in attendance and 5,000,000 streaming it online.

There is absolutely no way this will happen, for a number of reasons:
- They're too weak to do anything too intensive.
- Battery life. And any mildly intensive 'app' would shorten event hat drastically.
- Uncomfortable
- Small screens
- Very limited control options
- Etc.

The list is pretty much infinite.

 

[small]

i can see a mix eventually of a mobile device powerful enough to run whats classed as the latest games, but also allows streaming to it and for playing on a tv

 

[CommanderZx2]

If mobile gaming is all that is left in the future, I will simply play older games.

 

[Prince of Ales]

It's a separate market. Handhelds have existed alongside consoles for decades, with neither being to the detriment of the other. The mobile market may be increasing at an incredible rate, but it won't stop console and PC games being made.

Something you've got to understand about business. Business isn't first-past-the-post. Business is more like proportional representation. It doesn't matter what the most popular market is; not every business will flock to that. The smart business looks for a market which is under-represented. So long as alternative markets have demand and profitability, then there will be businesses supplying to that market.

Lets say that mobile gaming has surpassed consoles and PC; we may have already got to that point, I don't know, but lets pretend. Does this mean that every developer should abandon PC and consoles, and make games exclusively for mobiles? Of course not. If everybody did that, the market would be over-saturated, sales would plummet, and all the developers would be out of pocket. Meanwhile, that one developer who stuck his ground would have free reign over the console/PC market and be printing money like a Tory chancellor.

It's supply and demand, and we are the demand. So long as we keep buying PC and console games, then PC and console games will continue to be made.

 

[likalaruku]

Nah....I'm sure that decades ago, folks in Hollywood though TV series would crush the movie industry.

The market is a varied place. There will always be a demand for casual ways to pass a few minutes on-the-go, & a demand for deeply engaging time sinks with a massive screen.

 

[stroopwafel]

Not really, as they are seperate markets as previous poster mentioned. At most, mobile games are a distraction and not something most people would consider entertainment. I also don't think any developer will ever invest millions(let alone hundreds of millions) for a game on a smartphone or tablet when there are thousands of f2p shovelware titles on it, made in an afternoon for a few bucks and that eventually drip-feed millions(or hundreds of millions) through garbage dlc anyway.

I think this is what eventually can 'kill' gaming as we know it. It's a business after all and businesses tend to go where the profit is. The current model where a developer or publisher need to risk huge amounts of money and where an entire company is often put at stake to recoup the investment is under stress to say the least. Espescially in like 2012/13 or so one developer after another went bust simply b/c they couldn't make the cut. More developers/publishers will probably ask, why risk it?

We see fewer and fewer titles being released and I think that is indicative of that trend. Either companies can't keep up with bloated development costs or they rather turned to garbage smartphone titles since that's a mostly low investment/zero risk market anyway. Where the potential for profit is high without a fraction of the risks associated with console game development(espescially the current-gen).

The only games that will probably still be developed for consoles are those made by the 'big publishers'(EA, Activision, Squeenix, Bamco) and smaller developers backed by platform holders Sony or Microsoft(for exclusives to sell the system). I think it's cool that espescially Sony is so welcoming to indies and smaller scale developers though, as it atleast demonstrates an understanding of the problem.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

I don't think mobile gaming will completely replace consoles, PC, or handhelds. Those are all specific platforms with their own benefits and drawnbacks. Mobile gaming is just a newer sub-market that has grown enough to influence the others as they have done to each other as well.

For handhelds, the controller is built in. With most smartphones, the only input built in is the touchscreen, which limits the games to either swipe and point and click controls or virtual d-pads and buttons *shudders*. If you want to use a blue controller, you either have to get one that doubles as a nice case for your phone, get one that attaches easily to the phone (which probably means removing your existing case every time you wish to play) or prop the phone up and hold the controller separately. The former two options also require that the controller fits your phone. Also, battery life and chip efficiency will improve as time goes on, yes, but so will the players' demand for better graphics and, in turn, the developer's demand for more powerful hardware. Furthermore, with a separate handheld, one can play games without worrying about the charge of their phone when they are on the move. The only thing mobile will do to the handheld market is possibly kill Nintendo's competition. (Regrettably, the Vita looks like it might become the first example.)

For home gaming, there might come a time when tablets/huge smartphones replace consoles. That either means the gap between console power and price to tablet (with HDMI output) power and price (with a controller) closes to the point the market chooses the later or cloud/streaming gaming becomes viable enough that a weaker device like a tablet, phone or even the TV itself will be all that's necessary. The cloud scenario is still years/decades away though, as the internet infrastructure of much of the world will still necessitate a full powered machine at home. I'd bet we will see at least one more console gen where the device can play all games fully themselves and the companies will simultaneously try to sell their cloud service to both the console owners and to users of third party devices.

There are still many people who hate the cloud only concept (Yours truly is one of them.) and/or will never have the internet connection to play games off of a server halfway across the region/country. PC gaming will probably be the haven those people flock to when no other market leader bothers with making a comparable ecosystem. PC as a gaming platform will probably also only die when we run out of the resources to make the components, as it is so open that no open company can truly control it. (Some can argue Microsoft, and to a lesser extent Valve, has the greatest influence, but there is always competition for both of them.)

 

[CaitSeith]

Smartphones strong point is convenience; and unless they start to be sold with some kind of gaming kit, the convenience won't be there. And when I say a gaming kit, it could include a wireless controller, HDMI cable and adapter (with a dock for putting your phone) to connect the smartphone to the TV. You put the phone in the dock and presto! Instant console! Not enough graphics power? Don't worry. Game Streaming (similar to PlayStation Now) will have you covered.

I still see unlikely for console gaming to disappear. Maybe the number of AAA publishers could go down, and AA developers would get a chance to reappear. But if for some reason console gaming goes down, handheld and PC gaming would be more likely to be its replacement.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Possibly since my brother used to worked in a web brosed kid games company but got lay off cos their company were losing money due to kids were moving to mobile games.

Still as another person brought up, mobiles gaming has it cons (battery life and handheld comforts). I guess once they made a much longer battery and a way to ease everybody hands (no idea how they would pulled this off without making a platic handheld with an attachment to the phone), mobile gaming will be more dominate.