Have you embraced mobile gaming?

[CrazyT]

Mobile gaming is starting to dominate japan more and more. Recently ive read that japan has had its worst retail gaming week ever, and this had led to a lot of discussion at neogaf for example.

But its got me wondering, will I ever be able to take mobile gaming serious? At the beginning when i got my first smartphone, I was actually pretty excited, but then i played chrono trigger on my iphone 4 at the time, and i really never felt like the type of games i love were suited on the platform.

Yet more and more devs are putting all their resources towards mobile now. With recently konami, i wouldnt be surprised more publishers will make the jump next after the horrible numbers.

Ive been able to adept to a lot of things despite me being very picky, but im not sure if im ever gonna be part of this new big mobile audience..

[Moody]

If I had a smartphone I'd take advantage of it, probably. I doubt it's going to replace traditional forms of gaming like some people say, but eventually it's going to be more accepted in more circles. Definitely never going to replace consoles as a whole.

[TimmiT]

I have no problems with games being on mobile phones, my problem is more with F2P games that handle microtransactions badly. Like while a game like Sonic Dash which really really tries to get you to spend money on it by making it so that it's easier to get a higher score by paying, I don't mind Crossy Road in which you can just play the game and pay money for neat extras, which you can also get by normally playing it.

Speaking of Crossy Road, I am excited for this new Pac-Man game that's by the same studio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRr9XZ-DvO8

[Aki-at]

Yes, infact I'm looking forward to Hortensia Saga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPuX2Qk_nJ8

Just publish it yourself SEGA instead of using third parties.

[SOUP]

I haven't really enjoyed many mobile games. It seems like most of them are packed full of pay-walls, and microtransactions.
Controls can be pretty hit or miss when they try to jam certain genres on to touch-based devices.

The only mobile game that I really enjoy is Threes.
You pay a reasonable fee for the game, and never get pummeled with adds, or requests to buy extra content.  The design is really intuitive too, and it's a great game for passing time.

[inthesky]

I can't, as I don't have a tablet or smartphone. And don't feel inclined to get either. =P

But to get to the spirit of the topic, I don't have an essential problem with mobile gaming, it's more that certain experiences will NOT be replicated on the platform (fighting games, to start) and any large-scale shift from Japanese companies that involves primarily focusing on mobile will involve the death/continued dormancy of IPs I like.

It's generally true that certain experiences like classical RPG's and visual novels and like can be replicated on mobile sphere (in spite of some of the stupidity involved with these ostensibly easy concepts, like Ace Attorney on tablet.) However a sufficient long transition period that could bring mobile/nondedicated gaming stuff to a more robust setup closer and yet a bit behind than we what we have today (better graphics, controllers, etc, complete parity is obv not an option any time soon)

My other problem is just the either-or nature of how the industry works. Japanese consumers have been dealing with some persistent economic troubles, and this makes the relatively higher-end traditional package game stuff less attractive. But it's not like these console gamers are switching - I think it's more that the mobile audience is bigger, for reasons that are probably obvious. In any case, I have a hard time not thinking that if things were different domestically in Japan the industry there would be healthier. Instead of the more polarized direction which is palatable to pursuit of the bottom line (blockbuster games, f2p, mid tier being squeezed out, etc.)

It's partially why I find Project X Zone 2's story so fascinating. It clearly bombed in Japan, but it very likely sold well enough in the US to merit its localization and production. The developers did comment that they waited until they heard about Western sales before moving forward on another. It makes me think that the West is the stronger economic force in gaming.

[Nirmugen]

I think the Westside of the industry is in a economic bubble with pros and cons in consoles but that doesn't mean that a project from Japan that fail it there could enter in the West and be successful because there is a niche in a handheld Console with a big consumer audience who will pay for that kind of game first day/week/month/season all the time.

It's more like how much the company that publish this game will pay for that localization and distribution and deal with every results. Bamco paid it and do a sequel for only please their obtained fanbase  and it's the only one that could do that with many of their heavy-licensing releases every year worldwide AFAIK. Because one simple reason: They have money to do so, a LOT of money.

Sega-Sammy kind of do that with Miku, DBFC and Y5 this year but it's more a try than a full plan. They have money to invest but no in the long run.

[George]

I have been playing games on phone a lot more since I got some really good stuff on the humble bundle, I think the Joe Danger mobile conversion was really well done, so surprised
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.hellogames.jdtouch&hl=en

I also suggest you check out Monument Valley. Its a bit simple but really fun, I found. Tho its just a pretty 'move stuff around till it clicks'.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ustwo.monumentvalley&hl=en

[Team Andromeda]

Gaming is  poor  on the mobile and only somthing I do when bored on the way too or in work,. but in most cases I just surf the web or look at facebook on the mobile instead  . The interface is all wrong for gaming imo , but its ok for puzzle games , but rubbish for most others - I got most of the Cave shooters on my Tablet and while there are arcade perfect - i so much rather play them  the PC through Emu or on systems like the the 360 Ect .

[MadeManG74]

Nope, I really don't have much love at all for mobile gaming.

When I first got a phone that could play games there was some novelty in 'wow, I can play this stuff on my phone!' which quickly became 'this is kind of dull/jank'.

Angry Birds is probably the most fun I've had with mobile phone games, and that was just something I played before going to sleep or waiting in line at the bank. It was a clever little game, ditto Plants vs Zombies which was fun for train trips, but the novelty has worn off.

I thought I would really enjoy Knights of the Old Republic, and it works really well on touch screen surprisingly, but even so I just find myself playing games on my phone less and less. I haven't even finished KotOR despite it being a good port of a game I enjoyed. I just dont' enjoy playing it on mobile for some reason.

In situations where I could be playing, I'd rather just read a book or watch a video or listen to music instead most of the time now.

Maybe one day mobile gaming will become more of thing, but as it is I really have no love for it.

EDIT: Also Touch Screen is terrible for the vast majority of game types, no getting around it.

[Centrale]

I just can't see how I could experience any sort of immersion or even intensity with a mobile game. I think it's unfortunate that Japan is shifting in this way, but I reckon it's due to the immense societal/business pressures there. Most Japanese people apparently have little space and dwindling free time for console gaming. It makes sense when most of their free time is spent commuting on trains. It's just unfortunate because as a kid growing up I felt a kind of cross-cultural kinship and with Japanese culture knowing we had this shared interest in games. Now that's ending. Japanese developers don't seem to have much passion for being technologically competitive anymore, either.

[George]

Well, 'Japan is shifting that way' is correct but so are the youths around the world. So you can pretend its 'lame' but its a market that continues to grow.

Also 'Japanese developers being technologically competitive', why? I think this is the lack of selling software. If Capcom can't make a profit on 4 million units, why bother?  I think this is called 'not having a market'.

[Centrale]

Believe me, I know - my tastes being out of step with the mainstream is nothing new. It's not that I'm pretending mobile games are lame. They're just fundamentally different from the video games I grew up with. The control scheme is just lacking. I can't understand why they threw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to controls. Touchscreens could have been great in addition to dpads, sticks and buttons.

[MadeManG74]

So you can pretend its 'lame' but its a market that continues to grow.

We aren't 'pretending'.

[Sharky]

yes.