The Rise of Casual and Mobile Gaming

HardcoreGamer writes "The New York Times has a lengthy article about the simple pleasures and growth of casual mobile gaming. Trends show that 'more and more people are playing simpler, quieter types of electronic games on the Web, cellphones and hand-helds.' The growth in lighter, less time- and resource-intensive games (like those by GameLoft, Jamdat, and WildTangent) is spurred by the ability to play anytime, anywhere, as much as the rising development costs and production times for a traditional game. A wireless game can cost $40,000 and take a few months to develop, while full-fledged PC and console games can cost $5 million to $10 million and take years to deliver."

Comments

too busy..

[itallushrt]

Damn I was too busy playing Ms. Pacman on my phone to realize that I just missed first post.

Maybe next time.

Casual Gaming

[sbszine]

I totally understand the move towards casual gaming. After working a long day I can't devote the hours to a time-intensive game (e.g. Resident Evil). Now I find myself playing retro shooters and suchlike, games that can be crammed in between work and endless bloody domestic chores.

Re:Casual Gaming

[Zork the Almighty]

I prefer simpler, well done "retro" style games. Games don't have to be the biggest, most elaborate technical juggernaut to be good. Interesting gameplay, solid graphics, and polished sound has always been a sure thing. BTW, I love Frozen Bubble on Linux, and I'm considering Space Tripper. Can anyone suggest other great games for Linux ?

Re:Casual Gaming

[Pxtl]

I have one problem with this: while the games are simple to learn, they tend to be designed as simple timewasters. Things like Tetris, or some level-uppage RPG games.

Games can be simple and quick and episodic but still have depth in their play. I've been waiting for a handheld version of Z (yes, it is planned). Most often the "handheld fun" games are extremely repetitive and mind-numbing. I like a game to be simple and easy to grasp, but still mentally-challenging and preferably multiplayer. Yes, they do exist. C64, NES, and SNES are full of those. Remember Spy Vs. Spy? Star Control 1? Simple, easy, but deep games - and games you can challeng another player in - which is the true test of a game (IMHO) - its easy to make a game where you jump a single player through hoops - making it both fun and balance for two players is a real trick.

Re:Casual Gaming

[Joe Tie.]

Can anyone suggest other great games for Linux ?

Mame :)

Re:Casual Gaming

[Heartz]

BzFlag We've been having tonnes of fun with it in the department!

Re:Casual Gaming

[AvitarX]

QuakeIII

I know it is not quite the same level of not resource intesive but it runs on what now is a fairly old system. And can be found new in a tin on ebay for under 10.00 including shipping.

I find that un modded, or on a server where you get insane reload rates etc. it is great for a pop in and play 5 minutes scenario. My biggest problem with it is that it takes about a minute to get started so unless I have 5 or ten minutes it's not worth the time.

Of course I find I need about that much time to get into Frozen Bubble so it is really not that far off.

Also Sim City 3000 is fun and sub 15.00 on ebay(including shipping). I find games like that an addiction though, and cannot just pop in for 5 - 10 minutes. I always end up for at least an hour but YMMV.

I would say the QuakeIII was the best invetment I ever made in gaming. With the mods it covers a broad spectrum of feels (of FPS so a narrow spectrum overall). And it is great to jump in frag a few people, get fragged a few dozen times and then go to bed (I suck).

Re:Casual Gaming

[Jagasian]

Tetris lacks depth to its gameplay? Have you ever played the game? Have you ever seen good players play the game?

Simple Games are Fun

[nickgrieve]

Just look at the popularity of Tetris.

I have friends that only play simple puzzle/breakout style games, flash ones generally.

They are perfect time killers, no in-depth tactics or plot to worry about. Beating a high score is about as deep as they get, and then you can just walkway from them when your bus arrives.

Re:Simple Games are Fun

[fatalist23]

Absolutely. I find "classic" games some of the best out there, for a variety of reasons.

They often have really addictive gameplay, as after even a few moment playing you can easily grasp the games premise and controls, and be happily playing along. That doesn't mean that they don't have strategy; I'm still getting better at puzzle games like Tetris to this day even.

Some old classics: Frogger, Breakout, Space Invaders, Tetris, Pac Man...

It's too bad that new games are often forced to have good graphics. From what I understand, console manufacturers are reluctant to carry 2-dimensional sort of games as they see each game as a way of presenting the console; thus, when they sell a 2-d game they think that every person who sees that game will think that 2-d graphics are all that console is capable of. It's really sad; we're probably missing out on some really quality games that way.

Re:Simple Games are Fun

[nickgrieve]

You know the secret to space invaders?

I was shown this by a guy that had a real life coin op machine. (you probably know this already, but its not often one gets to talk about classic game strategy)

--Spoiler warning-- :-)

Shoot them from the left to right in columns rather than rows. They have to move farther and farther across the screen and advance downwards slower.

Re:Simple Games are Fun

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a secret? In that case, you may be interested to know that you can also hide behind the shields. That way the enemy fire can't destroy your ship. ;)

Re:Simple Games are Fun

[giblfiz]

See I always thought that the secret was that they used a piss poor randomization algorithm in the arcade game, and that if you shot the bonus ship on a shot mod 34 you got the max random bonus score

May the good 'ol days come back!

[Da VinMan]

Personally, I relish games produced on constrictive hardware by a bunch of rowdy upstarts! I think that is where the PDA game market is right now too. The hardware isn't good enough to support elaborate studio style software, so they have to innovate with the gameplay instead of the video and audio. IMO, the best game designs have come from this model. Yeah, I like UT/Q3/GTA:VC as much as the next geek, but I'm just as enamored with Tetris, SameGame, and Bejeweled.

Can't wait to finally get a PDA+PCS cell phone device! I'm cooomming precious! :+)

Part of the culture now

[agendi]

It's interesting, at my last place of work (which hopefully is dying a painful death) you had the tech types coming in (about 10 a.m) hot brew in hand spending the next 15 minutes catching up on mail, slashdot, web comics and so on (maybe it's more like 40 mins after spam now) and shooting the breeze about counter strike. More often than not on my travels through the office, the admin staff would come in for the morning with juice in hand and settle into a session of bejewelled!

Lunch time comes around and you can hear the happy tones of popcap games in the hallowed halls of the business world.

Long live work-place recreation.

Re:Part of the culture now

[rampant mac]

You work for the government, don't you?

Actually, I can't say a word. I work civil service where my career goal is to TOTALLY beat Freecell. *sigh* 26,341 more games to go before I can retire.

and...

[cybercuzco]

And development of a TI-8x game can take several study halls to develop and cost six cans of mountain dew and a bag of skittles.

Isn't for everybody

[Jad LaFields]

I just finished playing an excellent game of Day of Defeat, and I can say that hardcore, intensive games aren't going away any time soon, and certainly not for me (I need my daily Nazi-killing fix =).

But for many other people, I can see how these casual games would be so appealing. Many are simple, easy to grasp concepts*, like Tetris or card games the users already know. I knew a girl who was incredibly hooked on Snake. Or Nibbles, whatever its called. Anyway, I'm rambling, so umm... err... GRENADE! Run! =)

* not that Nazi-killing is all that confusing of concept either

No More Toilet Reading

[bfree]

Just play games on your phone instead!

PDA + Retrogaming

[Jungle guy]

Personally, my iPaq got a lot more fun after I came across Pocket Nester, a Nintendo emulator licensed under the GPL. Now, whenever I am on the subway I can play Super Mario 3 and remember of simpler times.

It's true

[the_Bionic_lemming]

I built myself a nice 2ghz system - and bought myself a dell Axim - I find myself gaming more often with the free Missle command program than I do with all my other software.

I DID spend a few hundred dollars when I was a kid playing the game - and this version is better than the atari's version of missle command.

I hadn't noticed I was doing so till this article got posted. Thanks for pointing out my 260.00 Axim is entertaining me more than my thousand dollar computer ;/

simpler games

[niko9]

The game I like to play didn't cost anybody a dime to develop, has been passed down from generation to generation, and when finished, provides ample amounts of satisfaction.

It's called... Spank The Monkey

"Son! Don't do that, you'll go blind!"
"Dad...I'm over here..."

Re:simpler games

[bad_fx]

Not to mention the endless replay value...

Re:simpler games

[fobbman]

If you like that, you'll love the multi-player mode! Just know that the offers that you'll get in email for "expansion packs" aren't legit.

Re:simpler games

[Suicide]

Heck, with the right girl(s), it's even multiplayer...

Eh, who am I kidding. You just keep enjoying the single player mode.

It'll be intresting to see how the market evolves

[mlk]

When things like JSR 184 "come of age". The "classic" games of 2006 could a quick game of network Quake while you wait for your bus.

More innovation in smaller games.

[Dr. Bent]

Smaller scale games also provide a better platform for innovative games because they can be the product of a single person or a very close knit team. On huge budget games for PC's or Consoles, it's not uncommon for graphic artists and programmers to meet each other for the first time at the release party. On small budget games, a single person can closely watch over the game as it develops (or just do everything themselves) to make sure it turns out exactly like they wanted and not "Like Diablo, but in space!"

This is similar to the innovation that occured back in the first few years of gaming (Atari, Nintendo, etc...), where the systems were simple enough that one or two people could make a game with a fairly limited budget and still have it be really good.

Pros and Cons

[SmartGamer]

Both forms of games- quick "coffee break" arcade-ish uncomplex games, and deep RPGs or involved, epic adventures- have their place, and neither is likely to go away.

I'm a "Wario Ware" addict. It's a Game Boy Advance collection of no fewer than 210 (actually more) little tiny games with little tiny five-second time limits. The goal is to see how many you can get through before you lose four times, as the games get faster and faster.

As you can imagine, they're not particularly complex. However, the fast pace of the game (a full set in Red Pig Mode only takes five minutes or so) and utter lack of depth make the game perfect for those little breaks between classes.

When I actually have time, however, I prefer the more complex games. Advance Wars is one of my favorites; Golden Sun is also up there. But they take a time dedication I don't usually have.

It's simple why the minigames are taking off: video games have become more accepted among the adult population. (Just ask my Dr. Mario addict mother.) But that adult population generally doesn't have time to get truly involved in a game- so the simple-but-still fun games, so perfect for coffee breaks, are getting played because that's what people have time for.

I prefer the more complex games, but I rarely have time to actually play them.

Re:Pros and Cons

[Babbster]

It's simple why the minigames are taking off: video games have become more accepted among the adult population. (Just ask my Dr. Mario addict mother.) But that adult population generally doesn't have time to get truly involved in a game- so the simple-but-still fun games, so perfect for coffee breaks, are getting played because that's what people have time for.

I think for many it's less a question of time and more one of inclination.

For example, I'm 31 years old and cut my gaming teeth on the Atari 2600. Most of the games on that machine were simple, like the ones on cell phones. Over time, as systems advanced and I aged with them, games became more and more complex in gameplay [if not themes]. For adults who never got into videogaming while it was still for kids and "gamers," it's a lot harder to jump in and try out the hottest new games for the current consoles. There are not only more buttons (remember when we just had one?) but the designs of many modern games make assumptions about fundamental gaming skills that only a well-designed tutorial mode can overcome. These assumptions are either true in the case of long-time gamers or undaunting to a young person who still assumes that s/he can learn and be good at anything, including any video game.

A perfect example of this is Neverwinter Nights. I can't imagine someone unfamiliar with RPGs trying to sit down and play that game without reading the manual at least a couple times and probably referring to it constantly while trying to play. On the other hand, people with RPG experience can [just about always] play it right out of the box and really only need to refer to the manual for specific character attributes/skills. While someone might indeed be interested in sitting down and playing NWN for an hour or two a couple times a week, the learning curve is such that busy non-gamers would probably quit rather quickly because their first 10 or more sessions would be spent just trying to get a handle on how to play the game.

Pac-Man, on the other hand, is understood easily within the first five minutes of play.

My mother, too, is a puzzle fan. I bought her a Gameboy way back in the day so that she could try Tetris. She loved it and I've been replacing/upgrading her Nintendo handheld ever since. She likes Dr. Mario, Columns Crown and the like but even Chu Chu Rocket is presenting her with some difficulty because it takes a little more time to learn and gain skill. On the Atari 2600, my grandmother liked to play...but only Casino because, again, the learning curve was small since she already knew about card games.

I'm rambling now, so on to what I think might be my point: As the population that has been playing videogames for years continues to age, there will actually be a decline in the popularity of the more simple games. I think they're experiencing a surge now due simply to the fact that such a large percentage of the population has access to PCs and cell phones where playing videogames for most is a by-product of having equipment that is by and large being used for other purposes. In 20 years, I can envision nearly everyone waiting in an airport terminal playing the future equivalent of a Gameboy and playing all kinds of complex videogames due simply to the fact that those people will be more likely to have grown up with videogames...whether or not that's a good thing is another issue entirely. :)

reinterpreting the classics

[tenzig_112]

some of the funniest and most fun stuff I've played recently have been hacks of old SNES ROMS or flash ditties that take modern gaming sensibilities and apply them to arcade classics.

This BREAKOUT clone is pretty funny. It's got a shot clock so if the game goes too slowly, weird things start happening.

I know a guy working on something he calls "Grand Theft Wagon: Oregon Trail" complete with squirrel killing side missions.

Spaced Penguin

[lamz]

It's actually meant for kids, but everyone at my work is hooked on Spaced Penguin.

Ti-8x games

[brilinux]

Yeah, well, try writing one in RPN on your
HP-48gx. That'll take at least 24 Dr. Peppers/
Mountain Dews and 3 bags of Skittles. But, in
the end it is rewarding, because no one else can
play it and the best you can do is a stupid guess
the number game without killing yourself. So you
get bored and turn on the TV in the lecture hall
with your IR port. Oh, well.

Wildtangent == Spyware

[Anonymous Coward]

lets hope they can make a profit with phones instead of abusing other peoples computers with popups,installing more spyware,stealing email,config etc

report on tangent here

can a leopard change its spots ? lets hope so

Nokia says: "It's all lies!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Portable gamming is going downhill because of its unhip-ness. Can you picture a 25-year-old pulling out a Game Boy while waiting in line for something? Oh yeah, buy the N-Gage instead. It's cool.

Interactive Vs. Non-Interactive

[Zenex13]

I think you can compare this to non-interactive media, like TV and movies. Movies are expensive and time consuming to produce, but are long, in depth, and have generally have a polished look, while TV shows cost less time and money to produce, lack the polish of movies, and aren't as in depth.

Compare this to video games. Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 (will) have considerable polish, cost millions (i think), and are longer and in depth. Tetris is cheap to produce, lacks polish, but is short and fun anyway.

The point is, if TV and movies are any indication, complex and simple games will both become popular, just filling different niches.

Not for me

[Enraged_jawa]

Needs to have at least a Super Nailgun to get me to try it..

Re:I beat all of you

[Anonymous Coward]

So developers for N-Gage weren't just a myth after all?

play chess over phone?

[Chad E Dirks]

Are there any chess applications available for mobile or pda/mobile combo that allow you to play a game of chess against someone on his or her own mobile? That is, with a visual representation of the current state of the game on an on-screen chess board, rather than just relaying the moves to one another.

Allow no time play to have a game go over the course of the day. The opponent is dialed up and sent the move you've decided to make (e.g. Nc3).

Allow a quick timed game to be played, for example, over break.

Allow an individual to keep several games going at once, that is, the state of several games at once which can be switched between on the on-screen chess board. Have three minutes? Tab through and make a move on each of the five games you have going.

If something like this isn't available, then it should be.

Re:play chess over phone?

[daybyter]

Hi!

I'm from the Java-Chess opensource project, and one of our tasks is to port some of our software to J2ME. You can see some very early sources running in the screenshot, attached to this message:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/java-chess/message/3 10
I guess, the best way to transmit the moves would be WMA, but this won't be available until MIDP 2 is more popular.
BTW: any help is appreciated! Visit http://www.java-chess.de for more details.

Ciao, Andreas

Re:play chess over phone?

[mooZENDog]

I guess, the best way to transmit the moves would be WMA, but this won't be available until MIDP 2 is more popular.

I certainly wouldn't wait for MIDP2.0 to become popular, that's a fair while away still (Nokia's 6600 is the first MIDP2.0 phone, I'd give it about six months before the technology becomes more widely accepted, and a couple years before it becomes ubiquitous for Java phones).

You could do it easily using a central server, making http connections to it when you make a move (passing the appropriate parameters on connection) - the server remembers who your opponent is, and the next time the opponent connects to the server, requesting an update, they are sent the updated moves, and maybe a short message.

It's not as elegant as WMA (I assume WMA just pops a message off, SMS-stylee, to the other phone, so your opponent doesn't need to check the server for any game updates, as with this method), as it requires users to log in and check their game list, like checking e-mail, rather than being seamless.

ATEOTD it's a tradeoff - MIDP1.x doesn't allow for true peer to peer communication (as with MIDP2.0), just person to person via a central server.

If you would like to discuss this further, give us an e-mail (available via my webshite, as linked - don't use the hotmail address, it's for the spam).

Nice title

[Anonymous Coward]

"The Rise of Casual and Mobile Gaming"

Oh yes... I play casual games all the time. I play lots of different games as they're all the same to me. I get everything I want out of one, "finishing" it, then I move on to the next. Sometimes I play a couple games at once over a certain period of time, trying to get a feel of which one I want to play more.

Not only that, but I just got into "group gaming," where I get to meet a bunch of other gamers like me and we play each other in groups of 3 or more. You should have seen this one time when we all played the same game, like 3 of us at once. We were logged in at different consoles but it was fun nonetheless.

If I ever find the right game, I want to try tantric gaming, so I can get more of a lasting and satisfying and "close" experience when I play. But that demands I find the right game that I can trust and stay with for a longer time than I'm used to. I just don't know if I have that kind of time and patience.

And to other casual gamers, make sure you are careful. Don't buy games that aren't shrink-wrapped or you might infect your system with a nasty virus!

hardware reality

[mattite]

Cellphone and PDA games are nice, but if you could play (insert favorite 3d game) on your handheld, wouldn't you? Of course people defer to simpler games on the go! It's not as if mobile phones have the computing power necessary to render Quake III, and most laptops do not come with top of the line video. At the current point in off-the-shelf technology, mobile devices simply aren't designed for demanding, 3d capable games. Maybe in the future. Who knows?

C64 games on mobile devices...

[dameron]

http://www.c64.com/detail.php?gameid=100207

Wizard, by S.A. Moore and Steven Luedders, and release (eventually) by EA in the mid 1980's is one of the best climbing games ever. It runs like a dream on my 300Mhz Axim with Pocket 64 from clickgamer.com. It's 171K in D64 format and the developers would probably -LOVE- getting a single dollar from this "property". In general C64 games run very well on modern mobile devices and fit the screen dimensions nicely too.

To be honest, I'd rather play a well crafted C64 game (like Wizard's Crown or the abovementioned Wizard, or any text adventure) on my Axim than even think about a modern game that'd use a great deal more memory and resources to battle nicely rendered gorillas...

It's just amazing, really, how much the C64 programmers got out of the hardware, and how effectively the emulator folk have translated that to the mobile market.

Druid:
http://www.c64.com/detail.php?gameid=105 1

Is a fantastic game.

Trust me, if you can find a C64 emulator for your platform then by all means explore some of the forgotten gems of the past.

-dameron

The direct-to-video of computer gaming...

[Kris_J]

Not that portable gaming is of a lower quality, but the lower expectations can allow for some low-budget, innovative titles. Apart from the Activision Anthology for the PS2, my last dozen mainstream retail video games purchases were all for the GBA. (Additionally I've purchased three "new" -- previously unreleased prototypes of -- Atari 2600 games) This is mostly because the limited development environment (more or less) forces the designers to include decent gameplay, or they have nothing.

Re:N-Gage is mad sweet!

[Babbster]

Sounds like SOMEbody needs a hug! {{{{{AC}}}}}

New game: I beat all of you

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, that's great. But the title needs a little work. It sounds a little violent.

So it's not just in Japan

[apetime]

It sort of surprises me that cell phone games are becoming popular in North America, but I suppose it all just comes down to how advanced cell phones are becoming.

Here in Japan, games on cell phones have been around since before the first Java enabled phones came out two years ago, but they've really exploded since then. It used to be that before, when you saw a high school kid on the train mashing the buttons on their phone, they were entering a mail with their super fast thumb-typing . Now, it's more likely that their playing a game of Tetris. It never occurred to me that it would catch on in North America though, cos the average Tokyoite spends 2 hours a day on the train, sleeping or staring off into space, but Americans mostly commute by car, which requires both eyes and at least one hand to do safely. I think it'd be interesting to see how usage patterns differ between North Americans, Japanese, and Europeans.

Re:wildtangent

[C32]

Wildtangent [webdriver] = spyware.

Re:Cheap Production

[dr.robotnik]

Gameboy was designed for mobile entertainment.

Cell phones aren't.

And this is one of the great strengths of mobile phone gaming... the fact that it's a device which you carry round all the time to serve another purpose. Don't get me wrong, I carry round my GBA most of the time as well, but my boss might look suspicious if i put it on the table in a meeting, whereas with a mobile phone you've got all your options covered for that quick tetris break ;)

Re:Talk about product placement

[chess]

No it is not product placement.
It is about the power of being close.

Just think about what the mainstream inhabitant of the developed world - be it female or male - carries in the pocket leaving home:
- Keys
- Money and ID card
- mobile (cell phone)

So mobiles are closer to the average population than PCs or Handhelds (that's why MSFT _has_ to enter the market of mobile phones).

Plus: People grown up on Gameboy are likely to appreciate a gameboy rolled into a mobile and use it.

N'Gage is definetely worth a try today for Nokia.

Next things to eliminate from the mobile toting humans pocket are: Credit and other Cards and finally keys.

chess

Doom

[Cackmobile]

I remember a while ago someone ported doom to a phone. I think this would be the besst. Imagine sitting on a train/bus playing multiplayer doom with random people. Your phone could send out a broadcast via bluetooth or somesuch, asking people if they wanna play. Then wooshka fragging that guy in the pinstripe suit. Can't wait.

The game I want

[LunarOne]

A wireless game can cost $40,000 and take a few months to develop, while full-fledged PC and console games can cost $5 million to $10 million and take years to deliver

Does this mean I shouldn't hold my breath for the day when I can play "Duke Nukem Forever" on my mobile phone?

Simple because they are constrained

[awol]

I agree that this phenomenon of simple gaming is increasing but I think it is only because of the constraints of the technology. The only games available on the bus are the ones in my phone (or previously in my Pilot PDA) and both are just timewasters because there is nothing better. I don't want to carry a book around with me all the time and I do not yet have a suitable "book" presence in my phone and so I can't read (which would probably be my preference) so I play a few minutes of tetris or the qix clone on my T68 (and is not that just a sucky phone) for the 15 minutes that my night bus home takes.

If I had a non intrusive way of playing quake I would certainly rather be doing that, but the technology is not yet there. When it is then the story will be "People miss more and more bus stops as immersive games go on the commute" or the like.

Retro Games

[stapedium]

This is where all those classics will show up in the next two or three years. This is good and bad news. Good news: you may actually be able to find your old favorites and play them for a quarter on your cell phone. Bad news: these games are ecnimically viable again so there is no way you can make an argument that those ROMS you downloaded are for "historical preservation purposes". Worse yet, if comanies start making real money on these cell phone arcades with retro games, you can expect a crackdown on all those ROM sites.

Love the trend...but not the games

[Junks Jerzey]

I much prefer smaller games that I can sit down and play, as opposed to extravagant time wasters in which most of the "play" time is spent wandering around a huge level and trying to figure what to do next (good examples are just about anything recent from Nintendo: Metroid, Star Fox Adventures, Mario Sunshine, Zelda). But just because large, modern games have failed in a number of ways isn't an excuse to rewind to the stale games of yesteryear.

Go to shockwave.com or popcap.com or any of these kind of sites and what do you see: worm eats things and gets longer games, click on the colored objects and have the items above them fall down games, retro scrolling shooters with the same batch of power-ups. Are we doomed to forever play endless rehashes of these same concepts?

In short, there's a big gap between these uninspired retreads and the hardcore gamers' games, and that gap is largely empty and unexplored.