We’ve heard about it for ages – have mobile games brought the death of the console?
Early last year, there were talks about how mobile gaming had killed the console gaming industry, The PS3, for all its merits, died at the hands of Smartphones, and as gaming began to take a life of its own in the mobile industry, so too did the mobile industry start to become dependent on gaming.
It’s this relationship that has pushed many developers into acknowledging the fact that mobile gaming posed a threat to the already-established platforms of PC and console gaming. Everyone had such high hopes for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, thinking that this latest generation of consoles would revive the console market, and for a while, the future seemed bright, with the PS4 sells 4.2 million units in 2013.
This year, however, tells of a different story. Most experts predict that while video game spending is expected to rise by 10% this year, only $4 of every $10 spent on video games will come from console gaming. The thriving mobile industry is said to be the culprit, and if console manufacturers don’t start adapting to the threat of mobile gaming, they’re bound to be left in the dust.
Why exactly is the mobile gaming industry killing consoles? It’s all quite simple: as one veteran games developer told TechCrunch, “The PS4/XB1 is the first generation to have technology worse than what is already out there.” O2 explains that there had always been two areas where consoles had the upper hand over Smartphones and mobile gaming devices: graphics and power. The latest generation of Smartphones, however, has become much more advanced, to the point that they can run high-end games without lag thanks to 64-bit processors.
Console-style games have also made their way onto Smartphones, and thanks to the limitless amount of accessories available, the gaming experience can be as close to console gaming as one would imagine. Smartphones can now be mirrored on widescreen TVs, and accessories like the Moga controller have also made console-like controls available to smartphone gamers.
There’s also the question of practicality. When the PS4/XB1 were released, they set gamers back by about $400 per console, and these consoles were hardly better for much else than playing games and watching videos. On the other hand, a good smartphone – which can do everything from play games, access social networking websites, take photos, read email, open and edit documents, send messages and make calls – will cost you no more than $200. As for the games themselves, the average PS4 game costs $60 brand new – a price unheard of in mobile gaming. Most mobile games cost nothing more than $0.99, and for the price of a PS4 game, a mobile gamer could download dozens of games, as well as get a head start with in-app purchases.
Let’s not forget that the mobile industry is also much friendlier to independent developers, and the cost of developing an app or mobile game is much cheaper than developing games for consoles – a process that could take years. This has led to literally over a million apps being born into the mobile markets, appealing to all niches. The casual aspect of mobile gaming also means that it’s much easier for players to launch and end their games. After all, all you’d really have to do is bring out your smartphone – no matter where you are – flick to the game you want to play, and start playing. To pause the game, all you’d have to do is lock your phone again. But as for console games, a player would have to go to where his console is installed, wait for the console to boot up, load a disc, and wait for the disc to be read. Ending the game would require properly shutting down your console, and in today’s fast-paced world, not everyone has time for that.
Do you think that consoles stand a chance against the mobile market, or have you been sucked into the Smartphone trend as well? Let us know in the comments below!