Mobile Gaming — More than Meets the Eye
They’re all around us — sitting on the trains and buses, standing in line or waiting for an appointment and even in public places. They all have one thing in common — they just can’t seem to take their eyes of smartphone and stop playing with it.
Mobile games have taken the world by storm. As of August 2014, there are 1.48 billion mobile gamers worldwide, half of them coming from Asia-Pacific. Not only are they addicting people to play them, they also make money, and lots of it. Mobile games have already grossed revenue of more than 2 billion dollars in the last couple of years, and is expected to exceed those numbers and even surpass consoles as the platform of choice for playing games.
So why do people spend a great portion of time on playing games instead of doing more productive things, like reading a book, working out, or in other cases, working?
Video games — connecting people:
First of all, video games aren’t a necessary evil. It all depends on the games people play. You can spend your whole day playing “Candy Crush”, getting sucked into a world that spends your time and costs you money to advance to the next levels. On the other hand, if you shift your focus to playing trivia games, you have the ability to show off your knowledge, expand it in case you forgot certain facts, and in some cases like Gameit, even win discounts and expensive prizes you wouldn’t normally have in other games. Beating someone in a game, even virtually, is always fun — it doesn’t matter whether on a PS3 or on a smartphone. It gives you a sheer sense of competition as well as that feel good moment, even if short lived.
Competitive games, especially sports related, have always been successful. The classic FIFA and NBA games hold their position as some of the most beloved games in history, as they always manage to reinvent themselves according to the developments of their respective fields, technologically and on the sports end as well. Yet, many of the games that are played to win are mostly solo efforts, and they fit perfectly to the smartphone era.
It’s all in the game:
Games like Clash of Clans have been a huge success, grossing top dollar and changing the way mobile games are seen. You don’t need to have the backing of a big company like Nintendo or EA Games (Electronic Arts) to have a winning game. All you need is a good idea, a great design and the right platform. If the product is right, the gamers will follow you straight away.
From Pacman to Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog to Street Fighter, from GTA to Minecraft, video games have proven to be a powerful and somewhat existential source for fun and entertainment. Even though it seems like sometimes that people are detached and can’t get their eyes off the small screen — let them play. Mobile games are much more than just fighting monsters and collecting coins — they are a true and great world of their own, and people need that escapism. Just make sure they don’t bump into while playing with their smartphone, otherwise it’s a crash landing back to reality.
