Mobile Game Rant

Games in the mobile industry have become more "pay-to-play" than ever. I was playing a game the other day where you had energy which went down each time you played a level. Once I ran out of energy, I was prompted with a "Wait x amount of time or buy more now" popup. The quality of mobile games has dropped to the point to where we can't even play a game for more than 10 minutes straight due to these type of restrictions. Being a developer myself, I understand the point of using these tactics to either gain profit or make gameplay feel more special since you have to wait for it. But, I think these tactics are just plain dumb and I uninstall these games right away. Big-name developers rule the mobile app markets and continue to use these tactics to stay at the top. Forcing the user to wait extended periods of time to play a game is just unethical. Others most likely share this opinion, but unless more people begin to hold these views, the mobile game industry will soon be overrun by these greedy and low quality apps.

@shay4545: There are many pay to play games, you're right. There are also a whole boatload of games that are NOT pay to play, that are fantastic games. Some are ports, some are originals.

This is why for the most part I'm not a massive mobile gamer, but the model itself is like that. The whole mobile game industry is shifting towards free-to-play, so where are developers supposed to make their money? In-app purchases are how. The situation you encountered is common on a huge amount of big games - Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, Boom Beach. You can play them all for free but if you get itchy feet then you pay money... it's just the way of things. I'd much rather have a situation like this than a pay-to-win model that completely ruins the experience for non-paying gamers.

Yeah, mobile games are mostly trash. That's why crap like Monument Valley is revered.

@Blabadon: Several years ago you succinctly claimed that gaming will ultimatey end up a success on the Android platform, and that "hell will freeze over before iOS is ever even considered a legitimate gaming platform." iOS has grown to be the mainstay of mobile gaming, usurping PSP and 3DS, Android is an afterthought and a lot of times ignored by developers, and hell still hasn't frozen over. And now you say mobile games are mostly trash. Damage control from your rooted failure. Good one.

@mister-man: yeah good luck proving that.

Several years ago I was actively buying titles like NOVA, Modern Combat, Cube Runner, and the like on my iPod touch 2nd gen. I was rewarded with decent experiences that hopefully led to brighter futures. That didn't happen. I have an iPad 3rd gen, an iPod touch fifth gen, had a Galaxy Note 3, now an S6 edge, and a Galaxy Tab S.

Mobile games are shit. :)

Deal with it.

@Blabadon: Fates Forever and Vain Glory says no. Vainglory developed an impressive competitive scene in the short time it's been out, and these MOBA's are something that can't be done on a PSP.

Bastion, Transistor, Limbo, Don't Starve, Swords and Sworcery, Real Racing 3, Galcon and the Infinity Blade series gives iOS a well rounded gaming experience, on top of the more typical genres already in place in the likes of what you see on consoles. There are seriously too many good titles from every genre to even list that I'm certain you're absolutely ignorant of, considering you just name dropped the most mundane titles as if those three are representative of the entire scope.

Hundreds of RPG's, some typical, some big-name remakes, and some completely unique exist.

You're free to state your opinion, but the numbers of game title sales, the billions of dollars annually flowing from iOs gaming segment alone and the growing number of developer support isn't really an opinion of mine that you can argue with.

So.... Deal with it. ;)

@mister-man: LOL mobile MOBA. Basically promising yourself an inferior version of the genre. Great man, having your finger over the very screen you're playing the MOBA on sounds soooo intuitive.

Real Racing 3 is trash bro. Infinity Blade? Damn, what a case for mobile games! While other folk get games with depth like Tactics Ogre or Bloodborne, the mobile gamers have a game like Infinity Blade that requires swipes on the screen and nothing more. I'm sure you enjoy cat videos on the internet too. The rest of your games listed are either crap, have no depth, or ports from better systems where you don't have to cover up the screen with your fingers to play.

I'm sure it's lovely having Ghost Trick and The World Ends With You - until a software update breaks the games, that is. I'm sure your lovely RPGs like Chaos Rings are fun -they're just hilariously outclassed by any other system's RPGs. Mobile games get like one Device 6 for all the thousands of amounts of F2P, shitty rip offs, or lowbrow money making tactics that exist, hooray.

All the billions flowing through mobile games? Great. You get games with puddle depth in them because they often serve to the lowest common denominator, you get Angry Birds as basically a mascot which lol they have to make a sequel to now, you get Flappy Bird as a "hit" (as opposed to Batman, Skyrim, Dark Souls, etc), you get to play FIFA with your touch screen covered by your fingers, you get bastardized versions of Dungeon Keeper and Final Fantasy (hooray, All the Bravest!) etc.

Argument ad populum is so boring when you don't have the games to back it up. And unfortunately, your deal with it doesn't make too much sense. We're still waiting on you to prove your first statement towards me.

Mobile games lack depth, are often crap F2P and are money making schemes before they are legitimate games. That's the sad truth. Welcome to 2011.

@Blabadon: Yawn. Still no evidence of mobile games being trash. Whole lot of opinions. Non existent facts. Numbers back up my statement in the form of demand. You cry terrifically good, though. ;)

@mister-man: look at the best games at the end of each year. Or the site you're one.

No one would recognize mobile games because they have credibility. Simple as that.

@mister-man: "Several years ago you succinctly claimed that gaming will ultimatey end up a success on the Android platform, and that "hell will freeze over before iOS is ever even considered a legitimate gaming platform.""

Did we ever get any evidence of this?

LOL! Numbers don't prove quality of the games, you big joke! You really need a tampon

From a choice between carrying a gameboy, a psp or a smartphone or tablet, gaming on a smartphone/tablet is worlds more convenient and varied.

Must be why PSP's and Gameboys sell so little these days.

FireEmblem man is just butthurt that mobile gaming on windows phones is laughable at best. XD hahahah

Yes, it's human nature to reject what isn't available at your camp. I understand

Lol get this, gaming is better when "it's convenient."

Forget the progress of multiple game mechanics, immersion, graphics, etc. Convenience is key.

You're so butthurt that you can't enjoy The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on your shitty iPhone! BOOM!

@mister-man: still waiting btw

@Blabadon: He is over 30 years old with "IT" experience... What a joke when his only backup claims to mobile games are sales. As for me playing games on mobile phones is second class. There's nothing interesting on any phones. Apple treats gaming as second class

@FireEmblem_Man: sounds like a MusicalMac alt to be quite honest

@Blabadon: Not at all! MuaicalMac is respectable, and knows the difference between mobile games and AAA games. @mister-man, on the other hand, is afraid to spout his BS agenda to the PC/MAC/Linux forum. So much for his argument of MS being a has been company when he cannot back up his claims.

<3 @FireEmblem_Man

Here's a fun fact for you elderly mobile game deniers:

'Hearthstone' is Making More Money on Mobile Than Desktop Now

Very interesting.

Making Money =/= Quality of Games :P

Making money DOES equal making more games, though.

Quality>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Quantity

Hearthstone = Quality. If we get more games of that quality because it's a profitable marketplace, that's a good thing.

Be reasonable, FE. Don't be a typical cynic.

Heartstone is good, but not great. Anyways, it's hard to find good games with a huge library, none of them actually standout compared to the greatness of the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Truth be told, I'm not even sure what this means. And opinions are opinions, that's for darn sure. And don't you forget it. ;)

Until I can find a game in mobile phones that is the quality of the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I stand corrected! Also, I'm enjoying streaming my Xbox One games to my Windows 10 Surface Tablet ;)

Witcher 3 on consoles, lol... So much better on PC.

(See what I did there?)

So your argument is that if a top tier console quality title in the likes of Witcher 3 is not possible in mobile gaming, then mobile gaming is crap. Okay, you've never owned a Gameboy or a Gamegear. New school gamer, got it.

It wasn't even four years ago that gamers enjoyed DS titles and PSP titles that weren't even close to what our smartphones and tablets can do now. I don't recall any MOBA's, MMO's, or RTS's on handheld systems back then, more less games pushing th boundaries of mobile graphics. Mobile gaming was a viable option then, enjoyed by avid gamers, and it is much more varied, numerous and unique now. Yes, there is garbage, much like how there were Barbie games on the DS and PSP, but there are tons of golden nuggets to be found. I don't blame you for having a lackluster gaming experience on Windows Phones, though. I can see where the belief comes from. We don't have that issue on iOS

Sorry. Too many good titles now, and in the near future.

Mobile gaming exploded and it apparently isn't crap according to developer and consumer interest.

Did we ever get any evidence of this btw

You never will, because his sales, stocks, and popularity contest is his only backup, plus his 30 years of IT experience makes him an expert at everthing in the tech world. The guy is so full up on Apple's ass, he thinks he'll win every argument regarding people going against Apple. Heck even @musicalmac can admit that Apple can't win them all.

@FireEmblem_Man: Yes, personal attacks is the higest form of admitting you have no argument. Keep the passive surrender going. ;)

I'm not making any argument nor making any personal attacks! You're over 30 years old, you should already learn how to read! I'm only mentioning on what you always repeat.

@FireEmblem_Man: Yes, again, personal attacks cement your position of lacking rebuttal. Very ripe, indeed.

@mister-man: Only because you can't prove @blabadon wrong at all and always resort to sales and stock markets

@harrykwool06: because those are actually games more often than not and not lame money making schemes.

Mobile gaming is mostly a joke, the only really good ones are the really obscure indie stuff or just regular PC/console ports. The entire scene is just a sad affair, like, seeing the Clash of Kings or Clans or whatever have adds with Age of Empires, Total War etc. pictures in them. Just reading the store descriptions and the pictures alone usually turns me off from even downloading them.

What I'm most sad about is that it had, and probably still has, potential. But right now it's in a massive gutter. Too many games are simple 3rd rate rip-offs of anything that is currently popular on PC/console, while alot of the rest are stupid clicker paywall BS. The biggest problem is that people for some reason don't like paying 10-20$ upfront for a game, yet always loose themselves in paywall schemes. If you look at the games that cost 10ish$, they are good, decent hardcore PC ports. But there's also the problem that any native "hardcore" development is really limited, with "native" mobile games being mostly really casual and simple, while the "hardcore" games being ports and clones of console/PC games.

For now mobile gaming is shit and a joke. But download TheoTown, it's ace. Cool Sim City 2000 clone, free, and made by one guy. No paywall crap or whatever, just download it so he gets more exposure.