The Growing Corner of Mobile Gaming
Video games have come a long way since its introduction in the early 1950’s. Yes, these virtual entertainment programs/systems have been in existence for more than 6 decades now and continue to endow gaming enthusiasts with exciting and thrilling moments.
A video game is an electronic game that fuses human interaction with a user interface to generate virtual feedback on devices that project videos such as TV screens, computers screens, or LED monitors. The word video implies to any form of a display device that can produce both two and three-dimensional images.
The electronic systems employed to play video games are known as platforms, which are now recognized as mediums like personal computers, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and more. These platforms range from colossal mainframe computers all the way to small handheld computing devices. Today, we can basically access video games anytime and anywhere due to the portability of these devices that support the software.
One of the current highlights of gaming involves the use of smartphones. Widely known as mobile gaming, these are video games that can be played on mobile devices. Although the younger generation is only familiar with mobile games that are supported by smartphones and tablets, the arena also possesses a rich background just like its sibling.
The first acclaimed mobile game was a Tetris game played on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device that dates back to the early 1990’s. A couple of years after its release, Nokia started to create games for their mobile phones. The most recognizable titles involve Memory Game, Bantumi, and of course, Snake.
With the dawn of smartphones and devices that are composed of powerful hardware and processors completely transformed the scene. Now, mobile games are usually downloaded at application stores. Gone are the days where phone manufacturers pre-install the games or embed it on the handheld devices before purchasing.
The growth of mobile gaming rapidly progressed as smartphones started to dominate the industry. The total global revenue from mobile games hovered around the $2.6 billion mark in 2005. While 2008 saw the figures doubling, 2012 marks a big year for the business as it reached an astonishing $7.8 billion.
Mobile games are developed using platforms and technologies such as Windows Mobile, Adobe Flash Lite, NTT, Apple iOS, Java, Google Android, and more.
Typically, mobile games utilize the following business models: pay-per-download, subscription, or free-to-play. The latter is one of the biggest perks of mobile gaming, making it a sought-after channel for gaming purposes.
On the other hand, as the niche continues to grow, there are other limitations that have yet to be surpassed by the industry. Mobile games tend to be smaller in scope and often rely on gameplay as opposed to graphics due to the lack of processing power. Yes, smartphones of today may boast astonishing numbers, but consoles also move forward alongside these mediums, making it difficult for the portable devices go toe to toe in terms of graphics.
Furthermore, another major hurdle for developers and publishers of mobile games involves describing the game thoroughly to an extent that it gives interested parties enough facts and figures to make a purchasing move. The majority of the mobile games revolve around a sole theme or a story line; making it difficult to market the activities for individuals are keen on features.