What do we think about playing games on phone

[Kidd]

Look up Roller Coaster Tycoon classic and Roller Coaster Tycoon III. Both are full premium ports of the pc games. The mobile one is gacha garbage.

There's a succinct commentary in itself...

[Euphonium]

Cellular phones are basically pocket computers with more horsepower than desktops of yesteryear. They can run a surprising amount of great games - not just microtransaction fests, but actual solid games. And even some of the games that HAVE microtransactions, like Fallout Shelter, are great games without paying one slim dime.

I'm well aware that my mid-range phone has massively more power than the K6/3-400 & Voodoo3 PC I keep around for legacy games. I just didn't realise that there were people making premium mobile games because the microtransaction pay-to-win model is so prevalent.

The other game I tried on my phone was Repton 3 from Superior Interactive, which I'd played on my BBC model B back in the 1980s. It was a good quality update of the game and microtransaction-free, but I found trying to control it on a 5" touchscreen was too frustrating so I ended up getting my old hardware out of the attic instead  :))

I think that for mobile gaming to work for me, I want something more like the Nintendo Switch, where I've got physical controllers rather than having to obstruct half the screen with my hand all the time. OTOH it looks like the switch is a bit big to carry in my pocket all day...

[Fallen_Raven]

But even if the power and potential is there, I dunno, I haven't seen any really seminal developments in mobile gaming - the Warcrafts and Red Alerts and Half Lifes of the platform.

Its a bit of a Catch-22 there. People don't want to pay AAA prices for a game on their phone because the expect Candy Crush, which means developers don't put in the time and money to make AAA games for phones, which means what you find is candy crush. Things will continue this way until expectations shift enough for people to pay significant sums for mobile games.

[Matti]

But even if the power and potential is there, I dunno, I haven't seen any really seminal developments in mobile gaming - the Warcrafts and Red Alerts and Half Lifes of the platform.

Ever heard about Angry Birds?

[Bedwyr]

I'm well aware that my mid-range phone has massively more power than the K6/3-400 & Voodoo3 PC I keep around for legacy games. I just didn't realise that there were people making premium mobile games because the microtransaction pay-to-win model is so prevalent.

Which is a fair impression as it is predominant. However, I think it's useful to read TouchArcade or similar sites to pick out premium vs P2W whale-driven games. Other examples of premium games I've seen are the Beamdog editions of the Baldur's Gate series, most of Rich Vogel's Spiderweb RPGs (though maybe only for iPad??), and under-the-radar types like Motorsports Manager. Stardew Valley was just released last week, in fact.

I think that for mobile gaming to work for me, I want something more like the Nintendo Switch, where I've got physical controllers rather than having to obstruct half the screen with my hand all the time. OTOH it looks like the switch is a bit big to carry in my pocket all day...

Yeah, the Switch is more of a backpack portable than a pocket portable. You're most likely looking to the 2DS XL and its back catalog to fit the bill. It's a bit cheaper as it doesn't do 3D (you lose cool bits like 3D Ocarina of Time and the Link to the Past "remake" Link Between Worlds) and also moves the hinge out and adds a sharper top lid to make the whole thing thinner and more pocket friendly than the 3DS XL while still retaining that unit's slightly faster processor.  I don't think I can help if you need something beyond its style of game: Nintendo platformers, JRPGs, Fire Emblem, Pokemon type games. Metroid Returns was very very good though.

[Bedwyr]

Its a bit of a Catch-22 there. People don't want to pay AAA prices for a game on their phone because the expect Candy Crush, which means developers don't put in the time and money to make AAA games for phones, which means what you find is candy crush. Things will continue this way until expectations shift enough for people to pay significant sums for mobile games.

It's partly that, but partly also because that Candy Crush business model pretty much pwns premium games in terms of total revenue. Like, not even competitive pwning. Developers and publishers like it because people aren't dissuaded by the upfront sticker shock, yet pay out more in the end (people are kind of silly that way). Plus it doesn't create release revenue (hopefully with a sustainable long tail) so much as it creates a revenue *stream*. That's gold to a business because the reliability means you don't have to stretch out your release revenue from one unreliable hit to hopefully another reliable hit. That also means you can keep your engineers, designers, and artists working on stuff steadily instead of having boom/bust dev. cycles in which you move your A team to pre-production on another title while keeping your B team on long-term support and DLC dev.

I sometimes wish the industry would switch wholesale to a Hollywood model where the publisher and production house contract out to standard packages of workers and then shut down once production/support are done. Or some hybrid model.

[Matti]

I think that for mobile gaming to work for me, I want something more like the Nintendo Switch, where I've got physical controllers rather than having to obstruct half the screen with my hand all the time. OTOH it looks like the switch is a bit big to carry in my pocket all day...

Since you're into old tech, like BBC Micro, I recommend you to get N-Gage QD and few games for it. Pathway to Glory is a good game, honest!

[DarkSpade]

To all who ever recommended Azur Lane to me: What did me and my phone's battery ever do to you?

[MadCapellan]

To all who ever recommended Azur Lane to me: What did me and my phone's battery ever do to you?

Failed to acknowledge His Majesty's Navy's Ship Girls' dominion over the world's oceans, methinks!

[Luciora]

So...uh anyone on the Lexington server with a fleet looking for members?

Failed to acknowledge His Majesty's Navy's Ship Girls' dominion over the world's oceans, methinks!

[Ghost0402]

My phone is 3.5 years old now.  Anything more then Sudoku gives it fits.

[Matti]

My phone is 3.5 years old now.  Anything more then Sudoku gives it fits.

Bah, my iPhone 4 is older than that and it runs Angry Birds just fine. Turn based war games work too (at least some of them).

[Ghost0402]

Bah, my iPhone 4 is older than that and it runs Angry Birds just fine. Turn based war games work too (at least some of them).

I prefer my battery to last longer than 5 minutes.

[Matti]

I prefer my battery to last longer than 5 minutes.

Have it changed to new one, preferably better. Had it done to my iPhone 4 and it keeps going whole weekend with some Kindle/iBooks reading (and mobile data turned off).