Why is mobile gaming so popular?

[kyrax12]

Apparently it is really popular in Japan, so this got me thinking. Why are mobile games so popular?

I would reckoned handheld games to be more quality than any mobile games in the market right now.


Mobile games are just really shitty in my opinion. Just micro-transactions and what not.

 

[Mai72]

In Japan and Korea mobile gaming has really taken off. That's because the children who are playing these mobile games can do it without their parents knowing about it. Also, they are still too young to attend the PC gaming shops in their neighborhoods. Most of the children in South Korea have smartphones now.

Smartphone games are rapidly getting better. The graphics are fast approaching what consoles and PCs are capable of producing. Game play although shallow is getting much better, and their isn't much of a learning curve.

 

[rh71]

Lots of down time while people are out and about.

 

[Crono]

The above, plus it's extremely easy and cheap (or free) to download an app. You also don't need to have a specific console or system, either, so it makes it easy for friends to recommend games to each other and increasingly play multiplayer games.

 

[kyrax12]

In Japan and Korea mobile gaming has really taken off. That's because the children who are playing these mobile games can do it without their parents knowing about it. Also, they are still too young to attend the PC gaming shops in their neighborhoods. Most of the children in South Korea have smartphones now.

Smartphone games are rapidly getting better. The graphics are fast approaching what consoles and PCs are capable of producing. Game play although shallow is getting much better, and their isn't much of a learning curve.

Wow I did not know this. What the heck 0.0

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always wondered this myself but when you think about it, there's probably several factors:
- Most people already have a phone
- Most are free, or very cheap
- Ease of use. you just click download, and done. No having to download DirectX, or .NET or any other dependency. You don't really need to have some crazy SLI setup or anything. It just works.

Some games are just time wasters but then people get hooked and play them more.

I've been wanting to learn mobile development myself, I should get on that. It's crazy how some simple games can make so much money. Flappy Bird for example took the coder like 45 minutes to code one night and if I recall he is set for life now. Same idea with games like Candy Crush and Angry Birds, they make thousands, if millions per year.

 

[Mai72]

I always wondered this myself but when you think about it, there's probably several factors:
- Most people already have a phone
- Most are free, or very cheap
- Ease of use. you just click download, and done. No having to download DirectX, or .NET or any other dependency. You don't really need to have some crazy SLI setup or anything. It just works.

Some games are just time wasters but then people get hooked and play them more.

I've been wanting to learn mobile development myself, I should get on that. It's crazy how some simple games can make so much money. Flappy Bird for example took the coder like 45 minutes to code one night and if I recall he is set for life now. Same idea with games like Candy Crush and Angry Birds, they make thousands, if millions per year.

It's a very overcrowded market now. I don't think it's as easy as it once was. I also think the person who created flappy birds just got lucky.

The freemium model seems to be working quite well. Who doesn't mind free games.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's a very overcrowded market now. I don't think it's as easy as it once was. I also think the person who created flappy birds just got lucky.

The freemium model seems to be working quite well. Who doesn't mind free games.

A lot of it is probably really dirty too, for example some games may be free, but it takes all your contact info and stuff and sends it to advertisers. That's how they make their money.

If I was to get into it I would not want to do anything dirty even if it does make more money. I see money in MMO type games more than single player. People will pay money just so they can be higher ranked when they are among lot of other people. So if that means having better items or simply being better etc, they'll pay for it.

 

[OverVolt]

I kind of take issue with freemium games out there. Its way too easy to buy stuff in games. So many people have smart phones. I kind of wonder how much of their money is REALLY coming from a kid who got ahold of their parents tablet, or people of less than adept mental faculties. Cause the audience is huge.

I find myself tempted at times to pay a little here and there and I'm pretty stoic about these kinds of things and know they're just trying to make me impulse purchase stuff in-game. I can't imagine how tempted people are to just click yeah one more life or whatever when I see 80 year olds with them, and disabled people, etc. etc. It rubs me the wrong way for sure.

Of note are like... that touch tetris game from EA that borderline makes it really easy to click on upgrades (seems like part of the normal game) to buy after every game and such. Once you play 10, 20, etc. freemium games its hard to keep track of what the hell costs money and what doesn't. I've bought a few apps I didn't regret but I haven't bought any freemium crap. I've actually quit freemium games entirely.

Like I know people who have ever had a TBI (traumatic brain injury) from car wrecks and such can often times have trouble with impulse control and these freemium games are like legitimately going to send them to the poor house.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Reminds me when I was playing Evony with a coworker. You could buy these various booster packages for like 5 bucks. Figured, meh, it's basically a coffee and donuts, why not. Well next thing you know we spent like 100 bucks on that silly game. Ended up quitting after a few months, it got to a point where I had to write scripts just to keep my troops alive as the amount of farming required was just ridiculous. All that and if I was attacked at night I could lose everything, it was almost a source of anxiety LOL.

 

[Mai72]

I was playing The Sims Free Play. The game is based on real time. If you set your Sim to do an activity for 8 hours, he/she will do it for 8 hours! You can buy lifestyle points to speed up the process. That's what EA wants you to do. They know people get impatient. I deleted the game and haven't played it.

 

[Fingolfin269]

There is not a whole lot else to do while sitting around on a bus or train. I went nuts on some Kingdom Rush over the past couple of weeks. Now that I'm back in the US and driving to work every day I don't have a chance to touch any mobile games.