Can mobile gaming kill the consoles? - Talk Mobile | iMore.com

Mobile gaming has entered a new stage of creativity and viability for two main reason: (1) hardware coming of age, allowing for high-intensity graphics and smooth gameplay that meets today?s consumer expectations, and (2) mass adoption of smartphones, making it financially attractive to produce quality gaming titles.

High-end smartphones in 2013 have all but pushed out the major mobile gaming devices such as Sony PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS. Indeed, Sony?s anticipated PSP successor, the PlayStation Vita, has barely cracked ten million in sales since its debut over a year ago. While those platforms are far from dead, their popularity has certainly dwindled as smartphones with advanced hardware have hit the market.

High-end smartphones in 2013 have all but pushed out the major portable gaming devices from Sony and Nintendo.

The rise of smartphones

Starting with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, smartphone sales have exploded, setting new records every quarter. In its first year of availability, Apple sold just over five million iPhones. Last year, Apple sold just over 138 million. 37.4 million more were sold last quarter alone.

Android activations have likewise exploded since the 2008 release of the HTC Dream. At the 2013 Google I/O conference it was announced that global Android device activations had crossed the 900 million mark.

When the original PDA was merged with the cellphone, creating the smartphone, the question naturally became - why carry two devices when you can just carry one? The same occurred with mobile gaming. Will the same hold true for consoles? While smartphones may not pack the same hardware power as consoles, they can make up for their deficiency in raw processing (and the lack of infinite battery life) through other methods, including becoming a second screen to augment console games, or utilizing onboard sensors to create new genres e.g. location-based social activities such as Android?s Ingress, or the accelerometer/gyroscope-driven gameplay found in modern mobile racing games.

In that sense, we?ve seen gameplay come to smartphones that can?t easily be duplicated on a console. Moreover, while playing a mass-multiplayer/first person shooter may not be practical on a smartphone, games like Modern Combat 4 have established that higth quality, first person shooters are certainly possible on mobile and are, in fact, enjoyable.

Of course, due to the mobile nature of smartphones, and the time constraints social conventions impose on our use of them - i.e. commuting, bathroom breaks, waiting for a friend - the platform naturally lends itself to simple puzzle games like Angry Birds. Likewise, the rise of short, turn-based games like Draw Something has accelerated. These games might not have been seen as profitable enough for consoles, but have become phenomenally popular on the highly portable, always-connected smartphone.

Logically, however, consoles will always be ahead of smartphones. That's because consoles are simply not subjected to the same physical size, battery life, or storage constraints as mobile devices. Later this year, Sony and Microsoft will be releasing the PS4 and Xbox One, their next-generation console hardware. Based on previous product cycles, those platforms should last the next five to ten years, including minor hardware revisions. Future iterations could support advanced body and facial recognition systems, or so-called Ultra HD/4K high definition displays, things which aren't currently practical on a smartphone.

For mobile to win, consoles don't have to lose.

For mobile to win, consoles don't have to lose. They?ll just continue to expand their capabilities. Being able to pick up and play more streamlined experiences that transition between a console and a smartphone is certainly doable today. So is taking a major title game and creating a mobile sub-game that utilizes a smartphone?s sensors (GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, cameras, etc.), social-networks and convenience will allow developers to create new avenues of creativity (and monetization). Ultimately, however, the restrictions of smartphone hardware will, like with all human endeavors, push the creative boundaries of the human imagination.

And that is very exciting.

Mobile is adding something to gaming that wasn't there on PC or console before.

- Anders Jeppsson, Head of Global Gaming Category, BlackBerry

Finally, thanks in part to the rise of the iPhone and Android ecosystems - more than half a billion iOS devices have been sold and almost a billion Android devices are out there - smartphones have become a mass commodity. Such wide adoption by consumers from every financial segment means that mobile is now an enticing market for the big gaming houses. No longer will they be catering to a niche but rather the large and growing mainstream.

That transition, which is expected to accelerate in 2013 through 2016, especially in emerging markets, means we will continue to see large development houses shift their resources to mobile. Combined with more powerful hardware, faster LTE networking, better battery efficiencies, and on-board sensors should result in a renaissance in mobile gaming.

Q:

Is mobile gaming good enough for you?

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Source: http://www.imore.com/talk-mobile/can-mobile-gaming-kill-consoles

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