Poll: Who here Bought a Smartphone "For Gaming Purposes Only"?

[Mr.Mattress]

As we all know, The Smartphone market is huge right now. That market is so huge, and is creating a lot of revenue for many companies, that some people are suggesting that the Handheld market is dying to it and that Handhelds will soon cease to exist. However, I have to ask members of the gaming community, who actually bought their Phones to only play video games?

I only ask because I do not believe that Smartphones can actually destroy the Handheld market. Handhelds are more niche and Smartphones are much more Generalized, so of course the Generalized machine is going to beat the Niche one. It's like saying "The Console market is dying to PCs!" Another thing here is that, while people buy PC's to play games, I don't think anyone buys a Smartphone to play games. Of course, people can and do play games on their Smartphone, but when you went into, say, a Verizon store, you weren't picking Smartphones based on things like "Graphics", "CPU's", "GPU's", and other things we take into consideration when buying Consoles/PCs.

This is not meant to be a discussion on Handhelds vs. Smartphones (Though It probably will), this is suppose to be a simple poll (With Detailed responses in the comments). So I ask;

Did you buy your Smartphone "For Gaming Purposes Only"?

EDIT: Apparently the Poll got eaten during the process, so just comment "Yes" or "No" and share your thoughts on Handhelds vs. Smartphones.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

No.

I honestly do not get the fascination with apps and playing a game on your smartphone. I have a HTC Sensation: XL and I rarely if EVER play any kind of game on this device. Why? The screen I have may be big for a phone but it still strains my eyes. I've never been into handheld gaming for the same reason. I find it uncomfortable to hold for a long period of time and it kills my baby blues. Plus, your phone is so sensitive and it's so easily to press an incorrect button and go back to your home-screen (it is on the HTC anyway).

Games on your smartphone are more... casual anyway.
Do you remember when Nokia released the N-Gage? It wanted a piece of the gaming market to mesh with a portable phone but it failed miserably. There's money in gaming on a smartphone but I believe they need to be short and sweet games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja.

I'll watch Youtube and listen to music on my phone but I draw the line at gaming. Why anybody would buy a smartphone solely for gaming is beyond me. Pick up a PSP or something.

 

[Starnerf]

I bought my Galaxy Player to use as an MP3 and audiobook player on road trips and for general exposure to an Android environment. The games were just a perk. I already had a phone that didn't really need to be updated so I didn't feel like getting a whole new one just for the Android exposure. I might get an iPod Touch for similar reasons, but not just for the games.

 

[Raikas]

No. And I've never heard of anyone who has. But that said:

As we all know, The Smartphone market is huge right now. That market is so huge, and is creating a lot of revenue for many companies, that some people are suggesting that the Handheld market is dying to it and that Handhelds will soon cease to exist.

I don't know that this is wrong, but not because people buy phones specifically for gaming, but because as phones come out with more gaming options, there's less of a drive to pick up a handheld.

I think tablets are part of that too - I was given an iPad as part of a work bonus last year, and I starting taking it (rather than my Vita or my old DS) on the train because I liked that it replaced more than just the gaming device. Honestly, if I'd had the tablet first I probably wouldn't have bought the Vita in the first place, because I wouldn't have felt like I needed another portable entertainment device.

 

[Juste Goose]

Not really.

One of the reasons I switched from iPhone to droid was that you can run emulators on droid without jailbreaking it, but it wasn't the only reason.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Ebooks, Music, mobile access to my work email and calendar.

My reasons in order of improtance. Note the complete lack of games anywhere on that list, heck I only recently put a game on it a few months back and that was due to the Humble Mobile Bundle offering game soundtracks I wanted.

 

[GoaThief]

Love my rooted Note 2 to bits, and I do love using a Dualshock 3 with it, but gaming is secondary to nearly everything else on there. Until phones are putting out graphics comparable to desktop PCs and consoles, which may never happen, then I don't see them replacing gaming machines on a widespread scale.

 

[antidonkey]

I got my first smartphone (blackberry pearl) for its ability to play mp3s and web browse. I got my first android phone for those same reasons only it had a larger screen. The fact that it was able to run games was just a bonus.

 

[FinalDream]

Nope. Web browsing. I haven't touched a smart phone game in years.

 

[Legion]

My main reason was for internet access, plus my old phone at the time was about two years out of date when I bought it and I'd had it for several years.

Funnily enough I spend more time playing games on it than I do any other platform, although that's only been in the last couple of months and I have had it over a year.

 

[Strain42]

Yes and No.

I don't own a smart phone, I'm perfectly happy with my dumb phone It makes phone calls and lets me send texts. That's really all I need in a phone.

HOWEVER

I did buy an iPod Touch (which is basically an iPhone in every way except more awesome because it's not a damn phone) for the sole purpose of gaming. I love iOS games, and so my iPod is loaded with them.

I only have one non-game app on my iPod and that's Netflix. I don't even have any music on my iPod (all my music is on my mp3 player, a completely separate device)

It makes me sad though that a lot of people still seem to really look down on iOS games, calling them "casual" or treating them like they're "not real games" (I'm actually going on a tangent right now, not addressing anyone here) and its true, there are a lot of simple casual games that just exist for short sweet fun on the market, and those all have their charm, but there's also a lot more.

I find it especially odd people criticize these games when we live in a world where indie games on the XBLA or Steam are often heralded and treated as awesome gems of the industry. Would Limbo have been less of a game if it'd been originally released on the app store? There's a game called Nihilumbra that I think is better than Limbo in every way (and for the record, I think Limbo is a great game) that really only works with a touch screen (it's actually being updated and put on the Wii U sometime soon)

Or the Squids series (currently containing Squids and Wild West) are some of the deepest story driven character focused RPGs I've ever played, on top of having fun, challenging and addictive gameplay.

Level-5 created a Professor Layton spin-off for iOS devices called Layton Brothers: Mystery Room (which actually plays more like an Ace Attorney title) it's a great game, but people automatically dismiss it because it's on iPhones. Apparently if it had been a 3DS game no one would have cared. It's stuff like that that bothers me.

Games aren't considered lesser just because of the console they're on. I love the iOS market. It's full of several fun, original, and engaging titles with lots a variety of gameplay. It's not all just match 3 games and Angry Bird's clones like people think it is.

In a AAA market filled with military shooters, I was able to play a game that follows a love story between a dog and a whale shark that involves the dog being kidnapped, and the whale shark chasing after the kidnappers into space. Yeah...that's a thing (It's called Astro Shark, real game)

 

[The White Hunter]

Love my rooted Note 2 to bits, and I do love using a Dualshock 3 with it, but gaming is secondary to nearly everything else on there. Until phones are putting out graphics comparable to desktop PCs and consoles, which may never happen, then I don't see them replacing gaming machines on a widespread scale.

A desktop, so long as there are desktops and an enthusiast market, will always outdo the smartphone for the simple reasons: heat and power consumption. You simply can't eek the same performance out of a mobile device because the battery will die too fast and the heat would be dangerous.

They do make nice little time killing devices though, and there's nothing wrong with bite sized play and forget android games for killing a short commute or two, though I still prefer my Vita or 3DS to my mobile phone for that job.

 

[Fijiman]

The only games I play on my phone are forum games.

 

[DirgeNovak]

No. I bought my phone (Nexus 4) for browsing and social media when I'm away from my computer. I have a few games on it (Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Temple Run and The Organ Trail), but I rarely play them.
I am very interested in Deus Ex: The Fall, however. Hopefully it gets released on Android soon.

 

[anthony87]

Nope. I bought my phone for phoning and the alarm clock. It's only a smartphone because they're so affordable nowadays.

 

[VladG]

Nope. I use most functions my smartphone offers - browsing, e-books, vids, music, navigation, streaming, organizer and occasionally even a call or two. But I haven't found a game worth playing. I'd rather read something than play a crappy toilet game or a port that controls horribly.

Though I did use my smartphone as a GBA emulator a while ago. Games that don't require a great deal of coordination work quite well (stuff like Pokemon, Fire Emblem) and are actually worth playing.

It's a shame they don't make Droids with physical keyboards any more. I would play some GTA or Max Payne on it while on the go.

 

[Doom972]

The thing is, people don't tend to buy smartphones for a specific purpose, but for several. The multipurpose functionality of the smartphone is what makes it so popular. I used to take a cellphone, mp3 player, and a handheld gaming device (Gameboy Color/Gameboy Advance/PSP) when going somewhere where I have to kill time, and now I have all of them in one device (too bad the battery life isn't that good). The reason I got a smartphone is because my former, regular cellphone stopped functioning properly, but now that I have one, I can't really go back to using a regular cellphone.

So while people probably don't get smartphones for the purpose of playing games, they are likely to pass on getting an additional expensive handheld device for the sole purpose of playing games.

 

[DSK-]

No. I got this phone (a T-Mobile Vivacity - it's super shit!) as a birthday present because my faithful Nokia 6310 died. Honestly I wish I still had the Nokia. Was so much easier to get on with :/