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What's holding mobile gaming back from being widely accepted by "gamers"?

Dacvak

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Obviously I'm not trying to say that mobile gaming (iOS, Android) is any less legitimate than dedicated portable gaming devices (3DS, Vita), but there's definitely a funk in the air anytime I talk to people about iOS gaming.

I was browsing this thread on /r/Games and I just couldn't believe how many "gamers" completely discounted the sheer idea of gaming on a phone.

Now, I get the complaint against touch controls. They, straight-up, aren't as good as physical controls (when they're strictly emulating physical controls), so if that's the answer to this entire question, I guess it's more obvious than I thought. But surely that can't be the only reason people don't take mobile gaming seriously, is it?

What about the prices? Or the low barrier of entry? The fact that there are 100 awful games to every 1 great one? I don't believe that more selection can degrade the existing quality, so I don't buy that either.

I love mobile gaming. I love dedicated portables, too. But even though I have probably thousands of purchased games on my iPhone, I still usually end up spending time with shit like Robot Unicorn Attack instead of GTA Vice City, and leave the "real games" to my 3DS. I haven't figured out why that's the case, either. Bastion is on my iPhone, it's one of my favorite games of all-time, yet I can never bring myself to play it. This makes virtually no sense to me.

I'm almost positive a lot of you are in the same boat as me. Maybe you have the reason figured out (and if so, enlighten me). But I guess the bigger question is: what will it take for mobile gaming to become "gamer-accepted"? (I'm obviously not talking about sales... mobile sales are crazy-high.)
 
Q

Qassim

Member
The main one really is controls. A game is no good if it is really awful to play. The controls limit the depth of gameplay mechanics in many genres, and most phones aren't particularly ergonomic to be playing games on for any significant time.

Also the viability of a more expensive, deep, bigger budget game on these mobile platforms that are surrounded by £0.59p games.
 
T

tnaden

Member
Now, I get the complaint against touch controls. They, straight-up, aren't as good as physical controls (when they're strictly emulating physical controls), so if that's the answer to this entire question, I guess it's more obvious than I thought. But surely that can't be the only reason people don't take mobile gaming seriously, is it?
Click to expand...

It is actually. That, and that mobile games are (mostly) bite-size experiences and not "full games".
 
T

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
It's a god damn phone. I don't want to play games on my phone.
 
S

Snapshot King

Member
You've got a Super Mario Brothers 3 avatar, OP. Could that game be done well on a touch device? No, not really, because it'd control like shit. And that game is decades old.
 
C

CheesecakeRecipe

Stormy Grey
jwk94 said:
no buttons
Click to expand...

First post, etc. It's the major difference between cell phone games and 3DS/PS Vita that really separates the two beyond the companies backing the games. Touch tech can be used to augment game experiences - see the DS/3DS, Vita backstrip and Wii U pad - but on its own it just isn't good enough.
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
Wilful ignorance.

Honestly, I have no idea. Mobile games should occupy a place in every healthy gaming diet. Sure, there's an awful lot of shit out there, but sift through it carefully and you'll find nuggets of gold.
 
10101

10101

Gold Member
I can't get on with touch controls personally. I bought vice city on my iPad and I just can't play it at all. Maybe I just need more practice...

There are some decent games though for sure.
 
M

Mudkips

Banned
The vast majority of mobile games are shit.

You've got your social media infested "buy more clicks" horseshit, your tower defense games, and your infinite runner games. That makes up about 90% of what's out there.
 
M

Marmaladefire

Member
Shitty controls, shallow gameplay and story, inconsistent mechanics and visuals.

And micro transactions. DLC is annoying enough, but to have the ads popping up at the end of every level? Disgusting.
 
Dacvak

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
jwk94 said:
no buttons
Click to expand...

+1

Feep said:
Deeper gaming experiences.
Click to expand...

I don't buy it. Maybe if you're only counting iOS-exclusive stuff, that list is a bit thin and/or tough to find. But if you start factoring in multiplatform games (see: GTA3/VC, Bastion, THPS2, everything by Cave), it just ain't true.

Tomat said:
It's a god damn phone. I don't want to play games on my phone.
Click to expand...

Me either. I'm trying to figure out why. :/

SmokyDave said:
Wilful ignorance.

Honestly, I have no idea. Mobile games should occupy a place in every healthy gaming diet. Sure, there's an awful lot of shit out there, but sift through it carefully and you'll find nuggets of gold.
Click to expand...

Side-question: If Apple released a universal controller-esque device for iOS, would this be a potential solution?
 
C

cafemomo

Member
I honesty cannot get into mobile gaming for some reason.

Only games I've ever touched on iOS and Android where the GTA ones and the FF titles (ATB, I, III, Tactics) and they it didn't feel right playing them on a phone.
 
M

Mihael Mello Keehl

Banned
Just not fun to be honest, real racing 3? Id rather play forza, sonic racing? rather play on 360, infinity blade? Lol, cut the rope? No. Temple run? Will I reach the end? Angry birds? C'mon son. The amount if headache I get playing gta without buttons? Priceless

yea I know it dont make sense but really just not worth it.
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
Dacvak said:
Side-question: If Apple released a universal controller-esque device for iOS, would this be a potential solution?
Click to expand...
I think it would address the number one complaint, but all that would really happen is the number one complaint would change.

Personally, I hope they don't. The best mobile games are good because of the touch controls, not in spite of them.
 
Dacvak

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
zakislam said:
You won't find the same deep experiences you'd get with console gaming.
Click to expand...

Again, I'm just calling bullshit. They're out there, even if they're a bit harder to find.

Mudkips said:
The vast majority of mobile games are shit.

You've got your social media infested "buy more clicks" horseshit, your tower defense games, and your infinite runner games. That makes up about 90% of what's out there.
Click to expand...

Right, but 10% of 100,000 is still 10,000. Just because most of the games are shit doesn't mean there aren't good ones. When has this ever plagued an entire platform before? Even the Wii, which was undoubtedly mostly shovelware, still sold huge numbers for games that were fantastic. Why is it so much harder to find on iOS?

Marmaladefire said:
Shitty controls, shallow gameplay and story, inconsistent mechanics and visuals.

And micro transactions. DLC is annoying enough, but to have the ads popping up at the end of every level? Disgusting.
Click to expand...

What I'm getting here is that everyone seems to have these preconceived notions about what "mobile gaming" is. It's "shallow experiences", "DLC", "ads", "low quality". But these are all software characteristics that do not affect all of the games. Sure, it may be a common trait across a majority of the titles offered, but in no way does it dictate the quality of all games. And yet, here we are, with this collective thought that "that's just how mobile gaming is." Shit. Why?
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
That damn Virtual D-Pad. Seriously, you'd think after the games on the DS that mobile developers would develop action/adventure games on mobile that simply required you to touch the screen to move a character to that direction. (Ex. Ninja Gaiden:DS, LoZ:phantom Hourglass)

Besides that I love mobile for Puzzle Games but I wish more TCG/Card Battle games were on mobile.

Current favorite games on my Cellphone are Puzzle Family, Puzzle Family VS, and Slice It! All of them are by Com2Us so right now their my favorite dev.

Edit: As for the RPG genre, I think it would be perfect for some, especially Turn based, and Tactical RPGs, well timed taps and swipes for extra damage. I usually question the creativity when it comes to those games.

But I guess it's also to be said that all the good shit isn't free to play.
 
L

Larsen B

Member
Year Walk is something that strikes me as a very unique experience that was entirely suited to a touchscreen device and would probably have been rubbish on a standard console.

So if they just made more games as good as that, the perception would hopefully change.
 
F

Ferrio

Banned
Controls are the only thing setting it back. People are going to blame shitty games and microtransactions... but really the only reason those things are popular is there's just so much you can do with 100% touch controls. So they keep repeating the same games over and over since there's not much else they can go.
 
S

SpaceHobo

Banned
I try , every month I go through the iOS thread and checkout the recommended titles, and every month I end up disappointed.

Shallow games , crappy controls , hiding content behind IAP's and the majority of games being from 2 genres just kills it for me.
 
S

Snapshot King

Member
Dacvak said:
Again, I'm just calling bullshit. They're out there, even if they're a bit harder to find.



Right, but 10% of 100,000 is still 10,000. Just because most of the games are shit doesn't mean there aren't good ones. When has this ever plagued an entire platform before? Even the Wii, which was undoubtedly mostly shovelware, still sold huge numbers for games that were fantastic. Why is it so much harder to find on iOS?



What I'm getting here is that everyone seems to have these preconceived notions about what "mobile gaming" is. It's "shallow experiences", "DLC", "ads", "low quality". But these are all software characteristics that do not affect all of the games. Sure, it may be a common trait across a majority of the titles offered, but in no way does it dictate the quality of all games. And yet, here we are, with this collective thought that "that's just how mobile gaming is." Shit. Why?
Click to expand...

Fine, then it's 99.9% of it is total garbage. What do you say now?
 
K

Keasar

Member
Lack of tactile feedback.

Most games are really, really, really bad and those are the ones usually clogging up the Appstore.

All these damn social games.

In-App purchase Hell.

There are a couple of gems of course, like Kings of Dragon Pass, Baldur's Gate, Monkey Island, Cave shooters, a couple of digital board and card games, but those are all ports to the iOS that fitted well with a touch screen. Most original games developed for the iOS just haven't had the same appeal, in most cases just feel very shallow.
 
M

Mandoric

Banned
There are a lot of ports that suffer from control scheme even though they're "real experiences" rather than straight-up Skinner boxes. There are a lot of original games that control fine, but have depth issues. And they're selling into a market that's already thrown the "bite-sized fun" baby out with the bathwater and won't even touch, say, Cave shooters on 360.
 
D

danmaku

Member
I don't play portable games, so I don't play phone games. I like The Pinball Arcade on tablet, does it count?
 
G

GiantBreadbug

Member
My phone is not a device for gaming. It's something I use for texting, calling, and browsing the internet. If I'm in a situation where I have time to kill, I'll pretty much do anything but play phone games. They just aren't worth the time for me.

That, and even the good games to be found are bested by games on dedicated handhelds, which I always have on me.

Mobile games just occupy no space in my life, and I don't see that changing soon.
 
T

Thorakai

Member
Visibility is a big problem that prevents people from trying out iOS games. You don't see OT here about mobile releases that often so its hard to pinpoint the cream of the crop without digging through the all-purpose mobile game thread here. I can easily tell which are the big releases for consoles I don't own by looking at the OT and reading through list wars that pop up in fanboy debates.
 
D

Deleted member 20920

Unconfirmed Member
Too many clones of already bad games flooding the market that has too few gems. There are some pretty good games that are tailored to the mobile experience but a lot of games are just rehashes with questionable art and mechanic designs. It also doesn't help that many games are also made with micro transactions in mind. I would not mind paying much more if they made something really good that doesn't make you choose between paying money or waiting for countdown meters and energy renewals (and whatever equivalents in their various names).

The lack of buttons also means that many games become subpar copies of their augmented brothers on orthodox handhelds, consoles or the pc. Pc games that uses the mouse as the orimary controls can work on the phone touch interface but rarely do you get a similar experience because many games end uo being very shallow imitations of what they could have been if they were made on the pc.



Phone games can be good. They can be fun. But they are not valid replacements
 
T

TheD

The Detective
Because most mobile games are cheap and simple, the insane amount of shovelware that is front and center in the stores and the fact the controls suck.
 
K

KevinCow

Banned
Buttons.

Touch and tilt can add to the game, but they're no replacement. The number of decent phone game experience that can't also be done on a dedidicated gaming system are minimal, while the number of console gaes that can't be properly translated to phones is enormous.
 
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