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Talk Video: Why Exactly the Mobile Phone Is a Terrible Gaming Platform

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285

Original video creator(s): Arnox - script writer, video maker
Houseman - voiceover, second opinion

Description: This video is late, but it's been a long time coming. Today we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the mobile phone platform. Mostly the weaknesses though.

Game source: Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition

Thumbnail source: Noah Erickson from Pexels.com

Music source: Submerged (Chillstep Metroid Prime 2 Remix!) by Koba

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Script for those who like to read:
Phones have gotten a pretty bad rap, gaming wise, for a long time now. If you tell someone who plays games on a dedicated gaming console or PC that you game on a phone mainly, you'll probably be scoffed at. But is such criticism of the platform justified? Blizzard at least doesn't think so. They seem to believe that, like VR, the phone is an underrated piece of tech that could be amazing for games, just like dedicated gaming consoles were for the TV. So in this video, we'll be going over the strengths and weaknesses that the mobile phone platform has purely in terms of gaming, and why Blizzard is... Well, bafflingly wrong in their assertion.

First, let's go over its strengths. For one, the most obvious advantage is that the platform is, of course, completely mobile. Start a game. Stop it. Put the phone in the pocket, drive halfway across the states, and start it up again right where you left off. It's also convenient. We already have so many things we can do on our phone, and wouldn't it be great if we could also move gaming into it? One device for everything we want and need to do. Everything right in one place. There's also usually little need to worry about system requirements. If you got a smartphone that was made in even the last seven years, chances are, you can run any mobile game you like.

But now this is pretty much where the ride ends and the pain begins. To start, the mobility of the platform is completely one-upped by the entirety of dedicated mobile gaming platforms that have been around since the first Gameboy all the way back in 1989, and they do it much better too just by having physical controls, which the importance of, by the way, cannot be understated. Trying to control things on a completely smooth screen for anything that requires fast precise inputs like Super Mario or Castlevania is a frustrating endeavor to say the least. Another thing is that mobile games tend to drain the battery on your mobile phone, which you may need for other much more important tasks. The third problem, and one of the biggest here, is that no matter how powerful phones get over the years, they will almost ALWAYS be outstripped by sheer orders of magnitude in terms of processing power by dedicated gaming consoles and PCs. As such, those devices can utilize such power for bigger and greater gaming experiences moreso than phones could even dream of, not to mention the highly superior control scheme a PC has for many games in so many genres, even if the mobile phone somehow had physical controls as well that weren't clunky. And we're not even talking about how utterly bloated with garbage mobile phone app stores have become, nor are we talking about the big inherit disadvantage of mobile gaming in general.

Now, it is true that phones can accept gaming controller peripheals through its USB connection, but at that point, you might as well just buy a dedicated mobile gaming platform and not have to deal with the hassle of carrying around the peripheal and also hooking the peripheal up every single time you want to play something. So really, the only thing that mobile gaming has over its competitors in the end is the convenience of having your gaming with your phone, and that's just not enough to carry the platform at all. And that... Is why the mobile phone platform fails and will always fail as a serious gaming device. And that is why Blizzard's Diablo Immortal team was laughed off stage.
 
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Houseman

Zealot
Sanctuary legend
Messages
1,068
I sound too calm and relaxed. I think the next one I gotta amp it up! Maybe do some shouting and get angry.

Or maybe that's just the effect of the music in the background.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
Sanctuary legend
Messages
936
Why is the comments disabled? So that people will come here instead?

Yes..I had to go back and expand the text to get that info. Maybe put the Forum URL first, so it is seen?
And also why the comments are disabled, though I think that is doing the views and people willing to come here a disservice.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
Why is the comments disabled? So that people will come here instead?

Yes..I had to go back and expand the text to get that info. Maybe put the Forum URL first, so it is seen?
And also why the comments are disabled, though I think that is doing the views and people willing to come here a disservice.
Yeah, I do understand that it's a pain in the ass, but we DO need to get people to come here. Not stay on YouTube. And it also seems really silly that we have to compete with our own channel for views. We could do like the Escapist does and host the video here first and then upload it a week later to YouTube unlocked, but we can't even do that yet because nobody even knows Sanctuary exists. lol

I'll put a link to this thread though right at the top of the description so people know to come here.

I sound too calm and relaxed. I think the next one I gotta amp it up! Maybe do some shouting and get angry.

Or maybe that's just the effect of the music in the background.
You were kinda calm, but it definitely wasn't a bad voiceover. Thanks again for reading these out!
 
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Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
Sanctuary legend
Messages
936
Yeah, I do understand that it's a pain in the ass, but we DO need to get people to come here. Not stay on YouTube.
I get your point. The problem is that advertising an uncensored free-for-all forum by disabling comments seem counterproductive.
The more people who can comment on it and get invested and engaged, will share with others, and get more people to become aware of this forum.
 

Monoochrom

Disciple
Sanctuary legend
Messages
275
It's weird, I kinda both agree and disagree. Like, what you are saying isn't really icorrect, but I don't necessarily see those as THE issues.

Like the whole peripheral thing. You can hardly make that a complaint when a dedicated mobile Gaming device is in and of itself going to be bulkier.

I think the biggest problem is ultimately the lack of standards or any focus on gaming. You can't develope around a peripheral that most Users won't have because nothing comes bundled. And even if they did come bundled, you'd more likely be looking at a different peripheral for each Company (or worse even, product line), so, again you couldn't really develope anything specifically. A Peripheral could really solve all the problems and esstentially make any smartphone like the Switch.

Basically I think what keeps them from being better mobile gaming devices is the very fact that they aren't specifically made for that. Smartphones could however do the Games that work on such devices better. But I see that more as a issue with the Market itself and Consumer expectations. I recall a Dev who bitched about people not paying for his 5$ (I think) Smartphone Zombie FPS and thinking to myself that he should have just had it for free. I don't think a Zombie FPS can work well on a Smartphone, so I wouldn't pay 5$ to find out that I'm probably right. If the game itself is free however, what the hell, I lose nothing by trying it out.
 

gaijinkaiju

Lord Inquisitor
Sanctuary legend
Sanctuary contributor
Messages
612
Gonna agree with most of this., even though, as much as i hate diablo immortal, i'd say that it was more the fact that it got center stage where people were expecting a proper release (and the fact its a reskin of a chinese diablo clone) is more the reason, If it'd been quietly announced after the show and not had the stage light on it, i think people wouldn't have been so upset. Surprised you never mentioned the command and conquer(may they rest in peace) thing EA hyped at last years e3 and met the same fate. Also, good timing with the alien isloation sequel.

Not technically related, But i've been playing a duel masters game on gba, and i can't help but think that if that same game was released for mobile today, it would be riddled up the arse with micro-transactions.
 
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