Is mobile games gonna kill handhelds?

DarkGizmo

DarkGizmo

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A lot of people seem to believe that mobiel games you can get on your phone or tablet will kill off handheld consoles as we know them and that the 3DS and Vita are the last of handheld gaming consoles we will see because the mobile games you can buy for under $10 are just as good as the games you can get on consoles like the Vita and 3DS.
 
I doubt it. They're nowhere near as good honestly, some of the mobile games I've played are garbage - spelling errors/poor graphics/don't work. Some are just downright horrid. Handheld games take months if not a year or two to make, they're worked over with a somewhat finetooth comb and you know what you're getting. Yes, handheld games are way overpriced but you know there's going to be a certain quality.
I hope mobile games don't kill handhelds, because there's no way I'd fork over heaps of money for a game that's not guaranteed to work on my tablet.
 
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I think it depends on which games you, the consumer, like better and which hardware provides the better service. Phones and tablets are multipurpose but while both have developed extremely well to accommodate mobile apps, I like handhelds better precisely because they were created for gaming - sometime, specialization is important and there are specifications that I look for that they provide that phones and tablets don't have.

For those who don't care much about the things that handhelds do better, they would obviously prefer the variety of purpose that phone and tablets provide.For me though, until I can find more mobile games that I like than handheld ones, I still currently prefer handhelds to them.
 
I think dedicated handhelds will have a place in the world for years to come. Very few phone games come anywhere close to 3DS or Vita games in terms of quality.

Mobile phone games and things like the 3DS and Vita largely target different markets. Mobile games are for people who have a couple extra minutes to kill in between checking their Twitter and Facebook. Where as dedicated gaming handhelds are for the people who take gaming seriously.
 
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Mobile games lack in quality. I honestly don't think mobile games will surpass handheld systems for quite sometime!
 
I wholeheartedly agree with everyone. I don't think mobile games can ever replace handhelds because they're just time wasters. There are a few games I like to play but more often than not they're pretty lacking in features. As much as I don't like the games of today in general, the handhelds do perfectly what they are designed to do and now they can do a little extra. What I mean is on your 3DS you can play YouTube.
 
I think mobile gaming will eventually replace all types of consoles, or at least more accurately, it will start to integrate. From what I understand, Sony is already working on something that would allow you to play your games via stream so you could just play it on a tv or a tablet without having to buy separate gadgets for playing.
 
It's hard to tell, I think handhelds have much better capabilities and general cater towards more hardcore gamers, while mobile games are more for casual gamers. The markets do overlap but they are quite distinct. So long as Nintendo keeps Pokemon a console exclusive I think the DS is here to say, likewise for many other popular handheld exclusives that cannot be found on mobile.
 
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Squigly brings up a very good point! Some successful series keep the handheld systems alive. It is highly unlikely that Nintendo would ever want to make Pokemon available on mobile devices like the tablet or smartphone. However, as these devices are becoming more advanced, maybe people will be able to run the games on these smartphones or tablets by using emulators, because I know that's already being done with Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS games. Anyway, I think that handhelds will still be here for a long time because the mobile games on App stores right now can't really compete with the handheld games.
 
I really doubt that mobile games will kill off handhelds, mainly because most of the people that own a handheld also own a mobile phone. As an owner of both a Nintendo 3DS XL and an Android phone, I can truly say that I don't get the same experience on my phone that I can on my 3DS. The experience is not nearly the same on my phone.
 
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Zaney said:
I really doubt that mobile games will kill off handhelds, mainly because most of the people that own a handheld also own a mobile phone. As an owner of both a Nintendo 3DS XL and an Android phone, I can truly say that I don't get the same experience on my phone that I can on my 3DS. The experience is not nearly the same on my phone.
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Exactly. The thing is that there are a lot of mobile games out there these days, though mobile phones aren't intended for only games but a lot of other stuff too, while the sole purpose of handhelds is gaming and handhelds are optimized for that. While games on mobile phones are more of an extra feature (which drains a lot of battery) and you enjoy now and then on your mobile, a handheld is just pure gaming.
 
Most more serious games don't get enough buys and downloads anyway to warrant more full-fledged games coming to Android. And if a great-looking game comes, it is usually IAP-ridden very cheap or free game, which ruins the experience. These in addition to battery drain prevent better games from coming to Android.
 
I suppose that as time goes on, even though mobile gaming might look more relevant right now, handhelds are going to catch up and they will just be two different things. It's just how there are both computers and consoles. You can use consoles for everything, but there are some games that should only be played on consoles.
 
I don't believe mobile games will kill off handhelds for the same reason computers haven't killed off consoles. At the end of the day it's a lot more convenient to have a dedicated handheld to gaming that's effortless to use and has some well-known quality control backing it. There's always going to be a upgrade arms race, bluetooth controllers that may or may not configure properly with your device and non-existent quality control on smartphones and tablets unless something seriously changes. My current Android phone and tablet are both a little old so it can play some games on the market but not all games.

When you buy into a console or handheld you're buying into simplicity and knowing that what you're getting will play anything that is brought to it. A Nintendo console with have Nintendo games that you pop in and play with virtually no effort at all. People always argue that computers will always be way more powerful then console gamers and you know what, they're right. Look at how many games are getting cut from the 1080p, 60fps treatment because the Xbone/PS4 can't handle it. Despite that, you don't have to put the machine together, spend tons of money to get something that will hopefully play everything for the next few years, run into driver problems, run into hardware problems, run into issues with your OS if you stray from Windows for any reason, etc. Consoles just don't have that problem. While tablets/smartphones don't have as many problems for the average user problems like quality control, hardware upgrades, OS upgrades you may or may not get and other things are still a concern.

Despite people feeling mobile games are taking from the handheld buying demographic, the Nintendo DS is the 2nd best selling gaming system of all time and the 3DS is making its way to 50 million sold. Maybe the Vita isn't doing too hot, but neither did the Sega Gamegear about 25 years ago despite Sega being at their prime and this being before mobile games were a thing. I think mobile games have the potential to kill off handhelds but I believe they've got a ways to go before that happens unless Sony or Nintendo release the Nintendo/Sony Tablet or Phone.
 
While this might happen in the distant future, I don't see this happening anywhere close to the foreseeable future or the present. It might seem like mobile games are just as good, but that isn't often the case. Most mobile games are buggy and what would more than likely be considered a beta stage game in most other consoles. That being said, the games people like to play on a mobile phone app aren't often as good as 3D or highly graphic. While it's good as it's own form of gaming, I don't think it's the destroyer of handhelds.
 
At the moment, it doesn't look like that handhelds are going to become extinct anytime soon. Mobile games are pretty limited as to what they can do at the moment, and are extremely underpowered compared to handhelds, whose sole purpose is for gaming. However, mobile games do have the advantage of being able to be digitally downloaded onto your phone, so you always have them wherever you go. It's much more convenient.
 
I don't think so. The PS Vita has recently caught my attention and I couldn't believe there were so many games on it that I wanted to play. Even games like Injustice (that I currently own on PC) caught my attention, and is a game that I will definitely be buying once I get me Vita. Mobile games have their place. but I think handhelds will always be for more serious gamers.
 
I don't think so. Mobile games are for on the run type things, like when you're in a car. They can't beat handhelds, which can mostly be used anywhere. Also, I feel like a majority of people lose interest in a mobile game faster than a handheld game, only because the screen is so tiny, and they [the developers] can't fit a lot into a small device, such as a phone.
 
No. It's like comparing apples to oranges honestly.

Mobile phone games are generally more aimed for casual gaming experiences versus handhelds which are built for more diversity and depth. Then there's the fact that a smartphone can only do so much because it's a multi purpose device. And even though touch screens have come a long way, you still can't beat a handheld's overall design for gaming. I see mobile games as a distraction for when you're bored on the train/bus/on lunch break, ect. The market for mobile gaming is based on convenience. It's convenient to have something entertaining on your phone, it's convenient to be able to browse the internet on it and take photos, but compared to devices that are created purely for gaming, for taking photos, ect, it can't compare.

Sure, I can take somewhat decent images on a smart phone but compared to my Canon DSLR camera with a more high powered lens and multiple lens filters, ect- a smart phone's image quality isn't the same, especially if I want to turn an image into a desktop wallpaper or a stock photo for companies/graphic artists to use. Same can be said about gaming, just because you can do it and it's highly convenient doesn't mean that it's the best experience you can get out of it.
 
In my mobile, data is used so I only play for a few minutes to a hour in a day and the graphics have been good a simplified version of the actual games like Scarface and spiderman games. I think, mobile games are a casual thing and handheld games are better as all you have to do is charge the battery and the screen is bigger and does not use a lot of battery power. I thing the handheld games give the players a greater experience and more related to the console version of the game than a mobile game which is different.
 
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