Mobile Games

[Wolf Kanno]

By which I mean gaming on your phone or tablet as opposed to a dedicated handheld or console. What are your thoughts? It always seems like this medium of gaming has got quite the stigma against it, but it has become so predominate that I was curious to see if people's thoughts had changed on it.

[WarZidane]

I'm not even a fan of handheld gaming, but mobile gaming pretty much just takes what I dislike about handheld gaming and takes it even further.

Small screen, have to either constantly look down at the screen, slowly abusing my neck, or constantly hold the screen up to face-level. Controls are made for miniature hands and tend to not work well at all with movement, which is a big thing in most of the games I play, and never mind 3D, because then you have to move and control the camera at the same time, which..good luck ever accomplishing that properly with touch screen controls.

Beyond that, most mobile games that aren't ports of console/PC games are freemium games with no focus on the story whatsoever, also not a fan of that.

Only mobile game I ever played quite a bit was Puzzle & Dragons, which thankfully is relatively playable without spending money on microtransactions, and since it's a match 3 type game, touch screen controls were fine for it.

[Vyk]

Yeah, the only mobile games I could get into were Sudoku'esque, otherwise I agree completely with WarZidane. My thoughts haven't shifted much at all since the stigma started. And I've never really seen any justifiable reason for the stigma to be lifted. Even big name companies like Square and Nintendo don't make "real" games for mobile devices much, and when they do they're more of an afterthought. So it's kinda like VR, nobody is really trying

[Lord Golbez]

Not good. At best it has interface issues that makes games that would be good on console frustrating, so even using it for ports is kind of lame. At worst, possibly in recognition of those issues, they mostly make cheesy casual games that I have no interest in. But then I don't even like PC gaming, so really unless a machine is specifically designed for gaming with input devices specifically designed for gaming, I'd rather not.

[Galuf]

I'm not a fan of actual mobile games, although FFBE and OO are actually good for mobile gaming standards.

However, playing emulator on your phone is great so i cant be saying i wish all mobile games died. Also greedy tactics in mobile games arent even mobile exclusive at this point, pretty much every single game released in the last few years arent made with heart, but made with greedy intent... (not all, but a pretty large amount. id even argue FF has fallen into it with XV) so if we get rid of mobile gaming greedy tactics, please remove them from modern games and give us back games that actually had thought and soul put into it.

[Spuuky]

(a handheld console is just a phone that can't make phone calls)

[Lord Golbez]

Uh...no. Handheld consoles are designed specifically with gaming in mind. Phones are not. That means the interfaces used ny handhelds, which typically include things like d-pad and or analog sticks and buttons, are easier to play games on, while mobile games are just making use of interfaces designed for shit like texting. Heck, mobile phone interfaces aren't even good for the things they're designed for, much less games.

[Fynn]

Not a fan of mobile games that are designed to pull you in and have you play a little every day. But I do love the mobile ports of Dragon Quest I through III. They’re super comfortable to play on a commute because you can play them in portrait mode with one hand and that’s awesome imo.

[I Took the Red Pill]

Mobile games succeed for me when they focus on taking simple taps and/or swipes and doing something fun and/or interesting with this simple scheme. Anything that's trying to emulate the full-fledged console experience on a phone is a waste of time. Like who tf wants to play Fortnite on the phone?

Alto's Adventure is a fun one to just zone out because I don't actually have to do much, but it still manages to impart a feeling of speed. Puzzle games that are polished like Hitman GO are satisfying and a good timewaster.

That being said, I don't typically play mobile games anymore because it's not much harder for me to bring my 3DS if I'm gonna be in a situation where I'd want to play a game on the go. And that's just a more enjoyable experience in general. The phone gets used for the occasional game of chess or crossword but that's about it these days.

[Spuuky]

Uh...no. Handheld consoles are designed specifically with gaming in mind. Phones are not. That means the interfaces used ny handhelds, which typically include things like d-pad and or analog sticks and buttons, are easier to play games on, while mobile games are just making use of interfaces designed for trout like texting. Heck, mobile phone interfaces aren't even good for the things they're designed for, much less games.Sounds like you've used some really bad phones.

A game CAN be designed for a D-Pad or analog sticks. A game CAN also be designed for a touch screen. It can be just as good. Hey, it could be better. Some games play better with a mouse and keyboard (even ones people enjoy on consoles with a much inferior controller setup). Some games play better with a controller (even ones people enjoy on a PC with a much inferior m+k setup). Some games play better with the buttons on a DS. Some play better on a touch-screen surface. Some play better with a VR interface. If a game is made with its control schema in mind, it is good. There is nothing inherently limiting about a phone in terms of playing games.

[Lord Golbez]

It's the difference between an interface designed for playing games and games designed around an interface. You can design games for troutty interfaces, but they're still troutty interfaces and probably troutty games.

[WarZidane]

Sure, touch screen controls can be better for certain games.

Games I don't care about, like the freemium gacha crap that plagues mobile. :p

[Spuuky]

It's the difference between an interface designed for playing games and games designed around an interface. You can design games for troutty interfaces, but they're still troutty interfaces and probably troutty games.Suit yourself; the only person you're cheating with that mindset is you. PS: all consoles have shitty interfaces. And yeah, people have designed games around them anyway. Are some good? Who knows, I guess it's up to you to decide if good games can be designed for shitty interfaces or not.

[Galuf]

It's the difference between an interface designed for playing games and games designed around an interface. You can design games for troutty interfaces, but they're still troutty interfaces and probably troutty games.Suit yourself; the only person you're cheating with that mindset is you. PS: all consoles have troutty interfaces. And yeah, people have designed games around them anyway. Are some good? Who knows, I guess it's up to you to decide if good games can be designed for troutty interfaces or not.
if interface counts as controllers, then the n64 had a horrible controller and yet the games managed to be awesome so i definately agree with that lol

[Vyk]

To be fair mice and keyboards weren't technically designed for playing games. Games were designed around a mouse and keyboard. And i still feel it's the inferior option. Analog walking beats WASD. And I'm honestly baffled nobody has really addressed that problem. So i guess phones are the same way. The interface was already there. At least consoles are designed around the concept. There are gaming phones that have interested me. But I still don't think anyone has made games good enough to justify the dive. Unless someone invents an awesome new genre I can't imagine how an epic rpg would pan out with a gripping story and touchy tappy controls. But if and when it happens I'm sure it will be a media sensation

[WarZidane]

Chaos Rings probably got the closest, but it was still very simplistic and the movement was the same "pretend there's an analog stick on your touch screen"

I'll still give that franchise that they're some of the very few mobile games (not counting ports) that aren't bad.

[Spuuky]

You can't talk about WASD being inferior for walking without mentioning how vastly inferior an analog stick is for aiming.

[Vyk]

I'm willing to concede that but aiming is rarely a vital game mechanic for me. Mostly third person action games or slower stealth ones. I need analog movement to creep around. Or I play slower cerebral games where none of it matters what interface is used. I don't play overwatch or counter strike

[Spuuky]

Yes, which goes back to the core argument - it seems like a lot of people discount gaming platforms (such as phones and tables) because the very particular type of game they play isn't conducive to whatever interface they have decided is "worse." There's absolutely no reason interface-wise, for instance, why a game like FFT or Civilization isn't just as good or better on a touch interface than with a controller or M+K.

[Lord Golbez]

There's plenty of reason. It's not necessarily as crucial with games where timing isn't a major issue, but touch screens are pretty imprecise. On top of that it's an interface that by its very nature forces you to block the screen, which is your visual input, in order to input commands. Even for menu-based stuff, input by a d-pad and confirmation button is vastly superior.

[Spuuky]

If you think you block your view to touch the screen on a phone I don't know what to tell you, man. Try using one some day.

[Lord Golbez]

If you think you can see through your fingers, good job on the magical thinking.

[Spuuky]

I have no idea what this response I'm typing says, unfortunately, since my fingers are making it completely impossible to see what I'm typing. I hope it's smart, though.

[Lord Golbez]

Spoilers: it wasn't.

[Vyk]

I get the argument now. I was coming at it from the other side. The games i like aren't done well on mobile but aren't intended for mobile. Sadly that mostly translates to the companies who make the games I like have trouble making worthwhile mobile games. But I'll agree it probably can be done with other genre styles but i just personally haven't experienced it

[Pike]

then the n64 had a horrible controller

umm ok first of all the N64 controller was great. It was comfortable and functional. One of my all time favorites.

secondly games are games regardless of platform. I've been playing a lot of phone games lately because guess what, I can do that on break and at lunch at work. I can't bring my bigass gaming PC to work, yo.

A lot of phone games are super fun (and yes, challenging) and I've been enjoying them and feeling like I'm actually gaming again even if I am working 40+ hours every week.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I can’t speak much for phone games as I don’t play them that much. A lot of the puzzle kind of games I’ve played work great while some of the ports (like Sonic the Hedgehog) were horrible to control for me. I prefer buttons with platformers especially, and I’m very bad at using the touch controls there.

I do want to say that the Nintendo 64 controller was actually super comfortable to me and became one of my favorite controllers once I got used to it as a kid. I did prefer the dualshock generally, but I just really liked the feel of the N64 controller.

[Freya]

Golbez, spuuky. Stop being sassy pants.

[Spuuky]

Buttons are superior for platformers. And, in fact, almost anything in which you just control one single object and move that one object around.

[Lord Golbez]

The latter part corresponds to most games I play, where the object in question is usually a character. I guess it doesn't correspond to tactical games (which I don't play much of anyway), but you really only have to control one character at a time in most of those games (FFT style tactical games, I'm not talking RTS, which I don't play at all) so I don't really see the difference between them and single object games.

[botnslave]

I have tried alot of random phone games, most aren't as good as they look. But there is one mobile game that I've been playing for 3 years..... Boom beach, I have been in several top 50 teams and log in for approx 10min daily. I have met a ton of people who I still chat with in other apps.

There isn't a single console game that has ever held my attention for such an extended period. That alone speak to the power a effective mobile game can have. Even compared to console titles.

The strategic depth is there for those who wish and u don't have to spend a red cent if u don't want to.
But other wise yeh imo the rest are just data miners