Tablets and smartphones will eventually take over (uncomfortable truth)

[klaynexas3]

Ok ,ok maybe they wont kill console gaming completely but they should. Honeslty though how much more shit are gamers gonna take on the consoles? overpriced games for the same shit year after year. I respect mobile gaming they are changing the landscape good quality, titles are regularly offered for free, the are simple, fun and addictive all next gen will do is make prettier FMV sequences. Do you honeslty think that is worth the investment?

Microtransactions. Have you played a majority of phone games? Most will milk you of all your money, hiding most of the content behind a wall. The ones that don't have a play time of maybe 5 hours if you're on a bus or a toilet. The best phone game barely compares to a mediocre console or PC game. If you want to play phone games, go play your damn phone games. I'll take $60 for a Mass Effect or Dragon Age over a $3 Angry Birds.

Also, even when a majority of gaming is done on mobile devices like tablets or phones, you'll see worse price gouging than it is today. Think Australian prices if their dollar was worth the British Pound.

You talk about disillusionment, but companies are companies, so when they know they can milk an audience, they'll milk it dry, and you're the one that can't see that.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

Ok ,ok maybe they wont kill console gaming completely but they should. Honeslty though how much more shit are gamers gonna take on the consoles? overpriced games for the same shit year after year. I respect mobile gaming they are changing the landscape good quality, titles are regularly offered for free, the are simple, fun and addictive all next gen will do is make prettier FMV sequences. Do you honeslty think that is worth the investment?

Microtransactions. Have you played a majority of phone games? Most will milk you of all your money, hiding most of the content behind a wall. The ones that don't have a play time of maybe 5 hours if you're on a bus or a toilet. The best phone game barely compares to a mediocre console or PC game. If you want to play phone games, go play your damn phone games. I'll take $60 for a Mass Effect or Dragon Age over a $3 Angry Birds.

Also, even when a majority of gaming is done on mobile devices like tablets or phones, you'll see worse price gouging than it is today. Think Australian prices if their dollar was worth the British Pound.

You talk about disillusionment, but companies are companies, so when they know they can milk an audience, they'll milk it dry, and you're the one that can't see that.

Microtransactions are generally optional and you usually only need them if your crap at a game. Id rather pay nothing up front for a game then the odd $1 here and there to enhance the experience than pay $60 then $15 for some crap DLC. Again you quote games like mass effect that are little more than interactive movies with no challenge I owned this game! and I get far more enjoyment from a simple challenging game than playing an interactive movie

 

[DragonStorm247]

Yes they might take a more dominant position in the handheld field. No they are not going to replace console/PC. No one wants to abandon the comfort of your couch/chair with a big screen and controller(or kb/m is you prefer) that is designed for gaming. Unless you are saying we will eventually be HDMI'ing our phones into our televisions and bluetoothing a controller to it, at which point it basically is a console.

So no, the only thing that can ever replace that experience would be something like VR.

 

[Bonk4licious]

Maybe when we see dudes in visors fist pounding because they just beat their Bejeweled high score, but until then most of the major market still thinks that unless a key adjective of the game is "bad@$$" the game is either too dumb for them or doesn't require skill. We may believe to have the greatest taste in gaming but if the consumer doesn't change, the consoles won't either. Plus, as mentioned, it's all microtransactions, if we got shooters of similar degree on mobile we'd be paying to respawn by now (screw you, War Z), but oh my! The initial download was free!

Besides, the only games I play on my phone now are GBA and N64 ROMs.

 

[klaynexas3]

Ok ,ok maybe they wont kill console gaming completely but they should. Honeslty though how much more shit are gamers gonna take on the consoles? overpriced games for the same shit year after year. I respect mobile gaming they are changing the landscape good quality, titles are regularly offered for free, the are simple, fun and addictive all next gen will do is make prettier FMV sequences. Do you honeslty think that is worth the investment?

Microtransactions. Have you played a majority of phone games? Most will milk you of all your money, hiding most of the content behind a wall. The ones that don't have a play time of maybe 5 hours if you're on a bus or a toilet. The best phone game barely compares to a mediocre console or PC game. If you want to play phone games, go play your damn phone games. I'll take $60 for a Mass Effect or Dragon Age over a $3 Angry Birds.

Also, even when a majority of gaming is done on mobile devices like tablets or phones, you'll see worse price gouging than it is today. Think Australian prices if their dollar was worth the British Pound.

You talk about disillusionment, but companies are companies, so when they know they can milk an audience, they'll milk it dry, and you're the one that can't see that.

Microtransactions are generally optional and you usually only need them if your crap at a game. Id rather pay nothing up front for a game then the odd $1 here and there to enhance the experience than pay $60 then $15 for some crap DLC. Again you quote games like mass effect that are little more than interactive movies with no challenge I owned this game! and I get far more enjoyment from a simple challenging game than playing an interactive movie

Good for you, I'd prefer an actual experience to farmville, and I know I'm not the only one. Thinking that just because you prefer something doesn't mean it's the same with everyone else. Us having our good games doesn't prevent you from playing Cut the Rope. Enjoy it now, it's not like you'll remember those small games in the years to come anyway.

 

[likalaruku]

I will always have a bulky rig for gaming. I need a fast machine with a huge screen that isn't covered with fingerprints that I don't have to worry about dropping.

 

[doomed89]

Anyone else notice that OP didn't mention a single phone game yet despite praising them.

 

[MammothBlade]

Anyone else notice that OP didn't mention a single phone game yet despite praising them.

OP has no game.

Ba dum dum tish.

Let's hear about these Wunderspielen of yours OP!

 

[Bonk4licious]

I swear to Allah if he brings up Draw Something...

 

[Something Amyss]

No psychical control = bluetooth controller support will be more standard soon Andriod now and IOS 7 soon.

And you know how many games support that? Not many. You want to segment the community? Devs probably don't.

lack of big screen expeience = HDMI out support and very soon wireless tv streaming support.

I sure hope they'll be upping the internal memory on tablets, as most models prefer 8 or 16 GB. HD support fior big screens will get costly, especially if you want big experiences.

lack of power = consoles have a 10 year cycle phones and tablet improve very, very quickly. Compare snake on nokia phones in 1997 to shadowgun or dead trigger now.

Of course, the same could be said comparing games from 1997 to console games now. One of the major differences is that phoens weren't intended as gaming devices. That sets up an artificial advancement curve. And non-portable power will always outstrip portable power. We're already running into power issues with portable devices, but surely you factored that in.

Can some please explain to me why gamers resist this so much?

do they?

are you happy with how things are now? $60 for a cut and paste brown, grey experience? lack of innovation? Say what you like about tablets and smartphones but the games are cheap and some are suprisingly deep and engaging. Vice city is £2.99 on android and apple but twice that much on PSN for the same game.

Your answer to "lack of innovation" is a port of a ten year old game?

Why are gamers so willing to put up with the overblown, overpriced AAA gaming market and take all the shit that comes along with it.

Why do you think that would change if gamers embraced tablets?

What makes me laugh even more is how gamers complain iphone and android games lack depth. Which basically means they lack fancy FMV cut scenes which gamers only a few years ago used to hate games that were oversaturated with FMV sequences and story. The utter blindness that gamers suffer from is almost laughable. You may call this trolling but I think if you really think about it and open your eyes to what is happening you will agree.

Just cut to the chase and say "WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!"

Destiny, Rise, Dead rising 3, COD ghosts look like slightly polished last gen games.

and that's how they will always look because the beginning of a console generation surely defines the whole thing! Especially when you list includes games that are cross-platform with current gen technology.

For the record, I don't believe you're trolling. I just don't think your claims are rooted in reality.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yes they might take a more dominant position in the handheld field.

And at this rate, they probably should.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Maybe, but software companies would jump at it since they can massively cut the costs of developing for different platforms. And if big developers/publishers jump on such a universal platform, manufacturers will have to follow by making their devices compatible.

There'll be 3 or 4 competing platform standards: Apple, Google/'Droid, and MS will be the main ones and if the Linux for Mobile Devices projects ever get a decent install base it will be the choice for hardcore techheads.

Smart TVs don't necessarily have the sort of versatility, or potentially, portability that the equivalent of an entertainment central nervous system might have. They'll use a technology such as bluetooth to ensure compatibility out of the box.

If you look at the way the technology is trending what will happen is the growth in the use of Network Attached Storage (NAS) will give rise to cheap home servers that will service all devices on the home network. Most of the tech is already there to do it but it's expensive and operating system interoperability isn't that flash yet... but with the moves Apple, Google and MS have been making in that area the interoperability problem won't be around that long.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

We're already running into power issues with portable devices

Yep, fact is that battery tech is not advancing as fast as portable processing tech.

Even if it was, there's a second problem... you increase the power input to a CPU and what do you get? increased thermal waste (that's heat for them what don't know). In a desktop system, and most desktop CPUs have an average operating temp well above the 'safe' temp range for portable CPUs, you can just bolt on a fuckoff huge HSF unit or go with liquid cooling. Neither is an option for a portable device that's going to remain portable by any reasonable definition of the word.

 

[Windcaler]

Yes I believe tablet and smartphone gaming will take over consoles soon, why? because the few things holding them back are very simply overcome,

No psychical control = bluetooth controller support will be more standard soon Andriod now and IOS 7 soon.

lack of big screen expeience = HDMI out support and very soon wireless tv streaming support.

lack of power = consoles have a 10 year cycle phones and tablet improve very, very quickly. Compare snake on nokia phones in 1997 to shadowgun or dead trigger now.

Can some please explain to me why gamers resist this so much? are you happy with how things are now? $60 for a cut and paste brown, grey experience? lack of innovation? Say what you like about tablets and smartphones but the games are cheap and some are suprisingly deep and engaging. Vice city is £2.99 on android and apple but twice that much on PSN for the same game.

Why are gamers so willing to put up with the overblown, overpriced AAA gaming market and take all the shit that comes along with it.

What makes me laugh even more is how gamers complain iphone and android games lack depth. Which basically means they lack fancy FMV cut scenes which gamers only a few years ago used to hate games that were oversaturated with FMV sequences and story. The utter blindness that gamers suffer from is almost laughable. You may call this trolling but I think if you really think about it and open your eyes to what is happening you will agree.

Destiny, Rise, Dead rising 3, COD ghosts look like slightly polished last gen games. Same brown grey ugliness and overblown budget. How the console market has survived this long is nothing short of a miricle. But if you think that in 5-7 years time we wont be playing better looking and more user friendly games on mobiles and tablets then you are sadly disillusioned

Well to put it simply we dont resist these devices outright because theyre tablets and phones. I happen to play extreme fishing and zookeeper battles on my phones quite a bit. However these are not gaming devices in the same way that consoles and PCs are. I CAN play Dungeon defenders on a tablet but WHY would I want to when the PC version (that I already bought) feels much better in every way? Just to put this in perspective Im a guy that bought a $1500 dollar gaming tablet called the razer's edge. Go look it up, its the most powerful tablet on the market right now and I CAN run battlefield 3 on it but again WHY would I want to when I get a better experience on my PC? My tablet is pretty much only for traveling via train, car, and plane where Im expecting a long trip and the best thing is it has buttons! Yep those revelutionary things where I can feel though my finger tips that Im on the right button instead of always having to guess if my fingers are on an interface thats commonly obscured by my own hands. Freaking amazing technology those buttons!

There are two game related issues with platforms like phones/tablets and regular gaming. The first being that AAA gaming is only one side of the coin and its not always dull gray and brown. Sometimes you get some very unique stories. For example while I dont like dead space as a game I can certainly admit it has an interesting story. I also dont like the last of us as a game (it feels rather generic to me) but its got a great story and characters. There is also the indie side of gaming and the lesser talked about A side of gaming. There are some great indie games out there like Fez, Killing floor, or Sang Froid. On the A side of gaming you have published games such as Blacklight retribution, Dragon's prophet, and Raiderz that are far from what you describe in the AAA world.

Now as to gaming on Phones and tablets. Can I just mention that its horrible in a legal sense? Games get copied all the tiem and with no backup from the companies who make these devices. For example Vlambeer had three of their games (Super crate box, Luftrausers, and Extreme fishing)outright copied. On top of that Apple seems to think that games are for kids since it actively censors game with any kind of political/social meaning behind them. How can anyone trust a company that builds a service where IP theft is allowed and goes unpunished outside of the law but also censors games?

As for lack of innovation. Im sorry what? With the PC market we have just recently gotten a tablet that allows us to play PC games on it. So yeah if I want to on a long train ride I can play skyrim. How about Project shield which will allow us to portably play our PC games through in hosue networked streaming? Then finally theres the various steamboxs which will allow us to play our PC games at the TV in our living rooms as if its a console. Even consoles have innovation going for them in this next generation whether its good innovation well you can ask the console players. I dont feel Im qualified to answer that question since I primarily play on PC

On that note, even if you want to go "oh gray and brown shooters are everywhere" well no they arent. Some maps in some games are gray and brown. Others have much more vibrant color schemes. Go play Operation metro in battlefield 3. That first map is all green because of the foliage in a park and the later maps are more of a gray and blue. Go play port valdez in Bad company 2, its white and blue/black. Also how would you do a desert map without it being primarily brown/tan? Ive never got that.

Somethign I agree with you on is the whole cutscene argument. I dislike it when control is taken away from me. Maybe I want to look at a poster on the wall in detail. Maybe I want to look at the menu in a taco stand and ask why theyre $10.50 each. The events in cutscens can happen without taking the players control away

 

[NiPah]

Oh hey there, I see you've made a controversial post written to be intentionally antagonistic while backing up your reasoning with subjective opinions and outright lies.
I also noticed you never mentioned these amazing depth filled tablet/smartphone games, or even provided us with information on future releases that would rival current gen consoles.
Lastly I completely agree with this:

You may call this trolling

Good day'

 

[Something Amyss]

Yep, fact is that battery tech is not advancing as fast as portable processing tech.

Even if it was, there's a second problem... you increase the power input to a CPU and what do you get? increased thermal waste (that's heat for them what don't know). In a desktop system, and most desktop CPUs have an average operating temp well above the 'safe' temp range for portable CPUs, you can just bolt on a fuckoff huge HSF unit or go with liquid cooling. Neither is an option for a portable device that's going to remain portable by any reasonable definition of the word.

Indeed. My tablet gets super hot running games like Knights of Pen & Paper, which, looking at the stats on Steam, would count as intensive in no way shape or form in the PC world. Worse if I'm charging my battery at the time (which runs specifically into the battery life issue, to boot) My PC is like 60-70% empty space (I have no way to accurately measure total volume used), combined with the airflow from multiple fans to keep it running relatively cool. I've probably got more than is necessary, but I'd rather e safe than fry my CPU. And if I didn't, as you say, you have options beyond adding circulation.

It's amusing to picture a tablet or smartphone buried under heatsinks, fans, or liquid coolers. Especially with the current obsession with thin devices. It's also impractical as hell. Especially with the current obsession with thin devices.