10 Reasons You Need To Stop Being Snobby About Mobile Games
It's time to take another look at gaming's bastard son.
Can there really be more to mobile games than the stereotypes of pay-to win, resource-managing tap-fests designed to hook your Dad while he’s on the toilet? Is everyone playing these so-called games a mindless zombie, or worse, a filthy casual?
'Mobile Gaming' - just putting those two words together is often enough to give any gamer an excuse to indulge in some hefty eye-rolling.
Although, with Niantic’s herculean efforts on Pokémon GO and the “first one’s free” mentality - coupled with the fact the mobile gaming market is set to exceed $36 BILLION USD (£27 Billion GBP) in 2016 - is it not time to ditch the snobbery and give mobile games another chance?
With a seemingly impossible task ahead, let us look at 10 reasons to get onboard with mobile gaming:
--
10. The Dreaded Microtransactions
Depending on your age, you may resent them because you remember a time when games were a one-time payment, costing £2.99 and sold on a cassette rack at your newsagents.
However, not all microtransactions are created equal, and more popular amongst mobile games are the options to “Do the thing right now” in various guises of buying up extra coins, ammo, health or whatever it is you need to continue the game for just that bit longer. Patience is a virtue - and in this case can be a money saver - but just because some consumers are fine handing over money for instant satisfaction doesn’t make the games themselves evil.
We all lead busy lives, and game designers know that by offering the more impatient of us a fast track option they can make money AND keep players invested in something we may otherwise have already gotten bored of and uninstalled.
Timer-based microtransactions might be the most hated of all practices here, but it’s definitely proven profitable as King and other studios can attest. If the most tightwad of gamers can continue the game without having to spend more cash, then this trend is only a problem to those who resent taking a break - and will only exist as long as the insta-gratification folks are around to justify it.