Mobile Wishlist for 2014 (and a handful of ideas for devs)
2013 has been a long year full of many awesome releases both regarding hardware and apps.
We published a three-part article series about trends in mobile gaming for 2014 (1, 2, 3), and we thought you might like to let your mind fly for a while and wonder how we would like 2014 to be concerning mobile stuff.
NFC should prevail
NFC: the groundbreaking technology since Bluetooth everybody is talking about but nobody is actually making use of. It deserves bold developers to understand its possibilities. Beyond the obvious advantages on payment and serious stuff, it’s regrettable that not even a single social network has invested in the “high-five to befriend feature”. Likewise, games could bump-to-trade and couples NFC-kiss.
Of course, it all depends on Apple. If it doesn’t adopt it, it might well be left for dead and filed in the same folder infrared is, no matter how much effort GSMA puts on it. Even worse, if Apple chooses to go ahead and launch its own i-NFC, so to speak, chances are that we’ll have to choose between two incomplete features.
Android 5.0 Lollipop
There’s so much to discover yet about 4.4 KitKat, but there’s no harm in talking about 4.5, 5.0 or whatever-point-who-cares Android version. We have to understand that it shall have something to do with Glass and other paraphernalia (namely, TVs).
If 4.4 came to uphold and tie up Android system allowing -in theory, do you hear me, HTC?- all devices to be upgraded, the next Android version should be an expansive one, pushing the borders of what smartphones can do. I can’t wait anymore to order my fridge to buy milk through my lucky smart wristband.
Please, end the Beta and VHS war
Which is a kind way to call all developers and ask them to not postpone their games and apps for months once they’re released for this or that platform. Your PRs, we the media and above all, the users, will appreciate every time you release a game at the same time for both platforms. There are many ways nowadays to do so, as there are tools and studios specialized in porting games, so there’s no excuse left to not multi-launch.
And even though it may be obvious, but Google needs to crack down Play a little bit further to purge apps that don’t deserve that name; and Apple has to do something regarding the appliance terms, because there’s no way to plan a proper launching schedule.
By the way, the store fragmentation by countries must get to an end, no matter if we sound like a John Lennon song. Soft launches are a thing, but there’s no reasonable reason to launch an app only the US or wherever and forbid its use to the rest of the world.
Occulus reparo
In our article about trends 2014 we say how unlikely it would be to see a outburst of AR games next year, but who knows what will happen on 2015. Everybody is eager to see Oculus and other AR devices succeed (this can be the most hyped peripheral ever since Mario Virtual Tennis) and go nuts in your living room (camping behind chest-high sofa not allowed). Once again, whatever happens with Glass will mean much to Oculus and many other AR-related projects.
Anyway, we want our future reality to be augmented, at least as soon as we are able to unwear the glasses if we want to stare at the stars in a summer night. Oh wait, OK Glass, run Sky Map.
Alternative sport games
2014 will be the year of Brazil’s World Cup, so the stores are going to be full of soccer/football games and apps. We’d like to go out on a limb in defense of all the rest sports, many of them in need of good videogames to represent them. There may be not need of blockbuster over-budgeted EA’s NFL-like games, but at least, well, something.
Off hand, handball and volleyball would make great flick-and-swipe games; equestrian and skiing games only need Temple Run-like tech (and Russian Winter Games are around the corner); fencing and judo could make great rock-paper-scissors fast-lighting games; and artistic gymnastics and synchro swimming might well be excellent rhythm games with editable (and socially shareable) routines.
Please, everybody loves kicking balls (no pun intended) but we the rest of the world would like to play games about the other sports.
Twist that plot
Socially committed games must take a step further, no matter how you look at it. We already foretold a rising of the indie heart-moving gamedustry, but it’d be even greater if this new crop of games were really strong in what and how they tell and deliver their message.
In other words, the world needs games about new topics, for example bullying (what about a twisted dating game about it?); conflict resolution (forget war zones, condos are real strategy!), mental illness awareness (can you imagine a game where controls differ from you?), alternative currencies and ways of economy (yep, it’d be great a city management game based on social or time-based currency, or set on real of fictional settings such as Communism, Star Trek…); religion (c’mon, no “scantly angels vs dreadful dinosaurs: battle for paradise” tactical game yet?)
In case of doubt, stick to ninjas and pirates. And zombies. But at least, let them be socially committed ninjas, pirates and zombies.
Call me maybe
Let’s see. You’re playing the role of a ruthless, merciless and quite creative assassin, and your mysterious hirer calls you on a regular basis to assign new contracts. Then, your cellphone rings. It’s as easy as link your game on PC or console with your phone via that thing people call the Internet. You don’t have to receive a real call, just have installed the tie-in prank call app.
What we are asking for is creativity. Big companies have the resources and the right people to do whatever, but sometimes lack of mind-blowing, ground-breaking, hell gate opener ideas. We wish developers bravery to afford their most creative projects.
This also goes for other ways of connectivity. If we can bind phones to our brand-new TVs to watch to Youtube, why aren’t we playing Hungry Hippos on our 40" screen four players at once? What happened to Atmosfear?
