Gametech 2011: Snack-sized gaming won't hurt portable space: SCEA

Who was there: Michael Ephraim, head of Sony Computer Entertainment's Australia and New Zealand businesses.

What they talked about: At Gametech 2011 in Sydney today, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia spoke to the local gaming industry about its upcoming plans for the release of Vita, the company's successor to the PlayStation Portable. But a key part of SCEA head Michael Ephraim's speech focused on the supposed tension between mobile, snack-sized games and more traditional portable gaming.

Ephraim said that recent years have seen a seismic up-shift in the gaming market, driven by the huge uptake of portable devices such as tablets and smartphones. He quoted figures from Morgan Stanley saying that in the near future, more people will be connected to the Internet via their mobile devices rather than with their PCs. This uptake in tablets and smartphones has also seen the ubiquity of snack-sized gaming, Ephraim said, with people now accustomed to filling in downtime with dip-in, dip-out gaming experiences.

Despite the growth in this "nontraditional" area of portable gaming, Ephraim said snack-sized games are an opportunity, not a threat, to devices like the PSP and the upcoming Vita. Ephraim said Sony research shows that while consumers are expecting the next big leaps in gaming to come from portable devices, current mobile and tablet devices just "aren't cutting it."

Ephraim said rich, immersive experiences are not going away. The sheer number of apps available on tablets and mobiles, he said, is actually moving consumers towards looking for richer, more immersive experiences. "People are seeking quality over quantity, depth instead of breadth," he said.

But despite the focus on the Vita, Ephraim said Sony still loves the casual games space, pointing to its upcoming plans with PS Suite on Android devices as one way it's trying to meet the demand in that space.

Takeaway: Sony said the Vita will provide those rich, immersive experiences portable gamers are looking for, but it's still keen to keep the casual side of the fence happy with PS Suite.