Why I’m a Mobile Gamer

The currently ongoing Steam sale is making me realize something I’ve been too reluctant to admit. As my PC game backlog grows into an increasingly unmanageable length, I have to come to terms with the fact that my old gaming preferences and habits no longer fit the lifestyle I’ve adopted. I’m no longer primarily a PC gamer; instead, I tend to reach into my pocket, pull out my phone, and switch on an app whenever I feel the urge to play. And you know what? I’m pretty okay with that.

This is a response to a pair of point/counterpoint articles, where two Lifehacker writers duke it out in two articles over a specific topic. If you want to see the counterpoints to this post, check out Why I’m a Console Gamer and Why I’m a PC Gamer.

Years ago, a more elitist version of myself would have scoffed at the idea of playing mobile games primarily. Why bother wasting time with games that are designed to last just five to ten minutes at a time, often relying on getting players addicted to the cheap bells and whistles of a game with the hope of instilling within them an urge to spend on petty in-apps purchases? Well, let me just state for the record that if you think that way, this article probably won’t change your mind; even the really good mobile games aren’t really the kind of games the dedicated PC/console crowd would play. That said, here are a few reasons.

The best console is the one you have with you #

Yes, I’m ripping off a Chase Jarvis quote for this one, but only because it’s right on point. Let’s say you’ve got the best DSLRs money can buy, awesome lighting equipment, and a great studio to take the perfect shot—but you’re out on the field with just a point-and-shoot and a unicorn. Are you going to try and coax the unicorn to come back to your studio to take a few headshots (rhetorical question; everybody knows that unicorns disappear as soon as more than one person is looking at it, and how are you going to sneak a unicorn into your studio without it being noticed by another person?) or whip out your point-and-shoot for some in the wild photos?

Part of the reason why I have a huge game backlog is simply because I don’t carry my PC with me everywhere I go. I don’t spend a lot of time at home, and buying a laptop just to play games is out of the question. It should come as no surprise, then, that I’ll take advantage of my phone—which I do bring everywhere, and is powerful enough to play games on—for that quick gaming fix every once in a while. I put this reason at the top, but it should be considered as “rule zero.” It’s kind of a no-brainer, really.

Mobile games are designed with touch input in mind #

People will mock mobile games for their focus on touch and accelerometer-based input for as long as they’re in use, but I just don’t see the point in doing so when there are examples of well-designed games that make the best possible use out of them. Games like Infinity Blade, Fruit Ninja, World of Goo, Ridiculous Fishing and Contre Jour come to mind. Even QWOP, which was originally a Flash game before it was developed for mobile, feels better on touchscreens than using the eponymous keyboard keys to control. A good game design won’t be hindered by touch input. A great game design will feel enhanced by it.

Mobile gadgets are pretty powerful #

It doesn’t take a technophile to see that the gadgets we’re carrying in our pockets today are just as powerful, if not more so, than the consoles and PCs made just a decade ago. If you went back in time to just 2004 and you brought an iPhone 5S with you that had Infinity Blade III, Dead Trigger 2, Call of Duty: Strike Team, Asphalt 8: Airborne, and Deus Ex: The Fall, I’m sure you’d blow peoples’ minds.

If you are technically inclined, then the proof pudding is all the more delectable. Again, going with the 10 year difference (from Wikipedia):

	Playstation 2	iPhone 5s
CPU	64-bit “Emotion Engine” clocked at 294.912 MHz (launch), 299 MHz (newer models)	1.3 GHz dual-core
Storage capacity	PlayStation 2 memory card (8 megabyte), PlayStation memory card (128 kilobytes/1 megabit), 40 GB Hard Drive (add-on)	16, 32, or 64 GB
Memory	32 MB of Direct RAMBUS or RDRAM, 4 MB eDRAM	1 GB LPDDR3 RAM
Display	Whatever the connected TV is	4-inch 1,136×640 pixels (326 ppi) LED backlit IPS TFT LCD
Graphics	“Graphics Synthesizer” clocked at 147.456 MHz	PowerVR G6430 (four cluster@200MHz)

While this of course doesn’t give us the whole idea of the exact difference in capability between the two, it does tell us that we’ve come a very long way in terms of what our gadgets can do. You’ve probably already seen it, but games like Grand Theft Auto III and Max Payne—which made their initial appearances on the PS2 and PC—are oh so easily handled by many mobile devices today.

You don’t need as many accessories as you think #

One thing that I hear often from people when I talk about mobile gaming is that the whole concept of “mobile” gaming is defeated when one considers all the extra accessories needed. To this I reply, “What accessories?”

Very, very few mobile games I’ve come across so far have required anything more than the phone or tablet the app gets installed on. I can only assume people think I bring around a controller everywhere I go just to play Punch Quest, or they think I need a good stand to prop up my phone for better viewing angles while gaming, or maybe they even have it in their minds that I carry with me a full bluetooth mouse and keyboard just for the occasional round of Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies.

That’s all nonsense. The most I carry along with me are things I’d likely bring even if I wasn’t going to use my phone for playing games. For a decent experience, nothing more than my usual pair of headphones is all I use, as sound quality is something that a typical phone speaker doesn’t quite deliver. If I really wanted to get into it, I’d bring my external battery pack for extended gaming. I have a CoolerMaster PowerFort 5600mAh (yes, CoolerMaster apparently makes accessories for non-PC gadgets!), which is more than enough extra juice to keep my Samsung Galaxy Note II’s 3200mAh battery topped up during an extended session of WazHack.

They’re three different beasts #

So far, I’ve been defending mobile gaming by refuting some misconceptions about the idea. This next point will come off as more aggressive.

Why do I even need to state this? If you can’t understand that a not every mobile game will touch people the same way, or that PC games won’t click with everyone, or a console game’s universal appeal is out of your hands, then you probably are not a very fun person.

The other two point/counterpoint articles ended by highlighting the fact that PC and console gaming is difficult to compare, that they attract different kinds of people, that there are myths that should be debunked regarding both, and that at the end of the day it’s all up to personal choice. There’s really nothing more to be said, and it’s people who just can’t play and let play that ruin the experience for everyone.

I’m sorry you disagree with my playing Angry Birds, but it’s not my fault you’re offended.