The frustrating potential of mobile gaming

In-app purchases, cheap cash-in microtransaction farming games, Candy Crush Saga, touch screen controls. The list of frustrations that I have with mobile phone gaming is a long, aggravating one. But do I think that mobile gaming will never be a legitimate platform? Controversially, I would say no. Mobile gaming has the potential to be a fully-featured and satisfying game platform in the future.

This may shock some of the more ‘hardcore’ gamers out there, many of whom will have looked upon the mobile gaming landscape with scorn and mockery. The word ‘casual’ is thrown around a lot when discussing mobile gaming. There is a kind of stigma in the topic where gamers feel that some genres are more legitimate pursuits than others. In terms of simple, ‘time waster’ games that are only made to entertain during short commutes, perhaps this criticism is somewhat valid. However, when talking about mobile gaming’s potential, there is certainly a possibility of more worthwhile gaming pursuits. 

In terms of raw power, the mobile phone market is more capable than it’s given credit for. Razer, a brand famous for PC gaming products, have even found value in the mobile gaming market. The Razer Phone carries 8GB of RAM on top of a state-of-the-art Snapdragon processor that matches rival flagship brands. The result is a mobile powerhouse that can output 120Hz gameplay, a standard not to be sniffed at by any means. 

Even the games themselves are quickly starting to catch up; the surreal experience of playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on a mobile phone is testament to that fact. The humble smartphone is more than capable of handling complex 3D gameplay and graphics. The presence of Minecraft, Don’t Starve, and a growing indie market show that there is more than just Candy Crush available. With mobile’s signature portability, versatility and multi-tasking capabilities, it’s arguable that the platform could even become a preferred medium for the right kind of gamers if the technology is there. The Nintendo Switch is evidence of the fact that there is a desire to play fully featured, low-compromise games in a portable form, and undoubtedly it won’t be long at all until mobile processors come within grasping distance of Nintendo’s highly-successful machine. 

So what are the problems with mobile gaming? Firstly, it has to be said that those gamers who scoff at Candy Crush have a point. The install base of lifestyle users, as well as the barriers of simplistic touch-screen controls, make it difficult to see any real, quality entries in the smartphone space. Why would anybody create a relatively high-price, complex and rewarding phone game? It will make practically nothing in the face of massive, saturated competition that churns out exploitative low-price, free-to-play games that can capture the lifestyle market easily. Gamers on mobile are less tolerant of any game that has a price tag of more than a couple of pounds, so there is a massive culture change required from gamers on mobile expecting everything for free.

On top of that, touch screen controls just suck. To relate back to San Andreas, attempting to play the game on anything but a controller is an infuriating, painful experience. There is no kind of tactile feedback to help your hands know what to do and all you can do is vaguely rub the screen hoping it can catch some semblance of what you want to do. Not only that, but this control scheme means there are great finger-sized areas of screen being entirely blocked out from view. To play any kind of game that’s more complex than swiping at fruit, a controller is most definitely the way forward.

What mobile gaming needs is a unifying standard of controller. Much like how the Xbox 360 wired controller for Windows became the de-facto controller mapping for games on PC that needed joypads over keyboards, there needs to be a brand or product on mobile that universally becomes adopted and imitated as ‘the’ standard for controller maps. If we can decide on how to control the games, then we can start to see more complex games on the market as gamers become adaptable to the playstyles of mobile. I feel that we’re almost there, in fact, as gamepads on mobile start to look to console controllers for inspiration. My own controller for mobile is actually a modified 360 gamepad with a frame for attaching the phone, which is connected to the joypad by Bluetooth. The result is a much more satisfying experience than touch-screen controls, and it works with a wide variety of apps.

Ultimately, the key to solving the problem with the mobile market’s saturation of terrible games is simpler in theory than it is in practice. It requires a wider adoption by more core gamers, and voting by our wallets. If it is proven that there is a profitable market for more satisfying, premium games on mobile, then you can be guaranteed that there will be development. If there is one area where mobile excels it is in quickly and dramatically adopting a profitable idea. 

Until this happens though, gamers will continue to view the mobile market with scorn and righteous mockery, which makes the mobile market one of the more frustrating problems facing gamers today. Unfortunately with its widespread adoption by non-gaming users, its Candy Crush saturation, and its lack of a unified control scheme, it is difficult to see mobile gaming, for all its great potential, become the legitimate and vastly enjoyable platform that I know it can be. But solve those problems, and mobile gaming stands a real chance of being a lovable gaming platform, where the real benefits of smartphones in their growing power and versatility can shine through in a gaming context.

My Favourite Co-Op Games

I am sad that two-player split screen has been on the way out for so long, to be replaced by online communities and competitive play.  So many of my fondest memories in gaming, particularly multiplayer gaming, have come from times spent on the couch playing with my friends.

There is so much to be said for playing on a couch with your friends. The experience of being together, shouting at one another and having loud, rowdy fun is just difficult to match. I love couch gaming with my friends and some of my best social memories are with them!

I much prefer co-op to competitive gaming, because the act of working together toward a goal really builds the friendship and competitive can just get too heated sometime. It is nice to just unwind, kick back with a friend and a few snacks and play together. So without further ado, here are my favourite titles to play with friends on co-op!

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

This game is just excellent fun. I was introduced to this game by a close friend of mine who was a huge fan of Tomb Raider. The swashbuckling action is really well designed, as are the puzzles. I love the rolling-stone puzzles in particular and the way in which you can co-operate together to solve the different challenges is interesting and engaging. The top-down perspective, you wouldn’t expect to work so well with a Tomb Raider game, but here it works well, allowing interesting puzzle-solving opportunities in the context of the perspective of the game.

One of my issues with Guardian of Light is that it is a little bit on the repetitive side, however, especially as one works toward the endgame, and the difficulty can spike sometimes in an odd way, particularly when you are trying to work toward getting all of the collectibles, but overall it is a very fun experience when playing with friends and I would definitely recommend it.

Halo: Combat Evolved

I first was introduced to Halo by a friend of mine, just before the Xbox 360 came out. We stayed up all night with pizza and played co-operatively through the campaign, and then we binged Halo 2 the night after. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about how enjoyable it is to co-op Halo then I don’t know what will, but I will certainly try!

The game is just fun, and the way you can approach the missions basically makes it a playground. The variety of weapons both Covenant and human enable you to have a lot of fun playing around and finding a playstyle that works. The driving sections are also a great demonstration of how the co-op works in Halo, where one person can be on the gun and the other driving. I have had many fun nights shouting at my friend’s driving while he was sending us careening off of cliffs.

Halo isn’t without its issues, and sometimes with how dated the combat is, it can feel a little clunky to aim at times, and some weapons are just overpowered to the point of breaking the game, and oftentimes the game can be too difficult in places, particularly with the Flood. There are certain levels around the mid-point of the game that can extend overlong, and the drab colour on show in these levels when compared to the vibrant designs of earlier stages just makes it that bit more of a slog, but overall as an experience the first Halo is an adventure through-and-through, especially when played together with a friend.

Diablo III:

Many dislike Diablo III because of how it simplified and streamlined the series’ gameplay, and a few of the business decisions around the game. Putting that aside for a second, I love playing Diablo III with my partner and her brother. We always love to play an action-RPG game together, and I found that this game had a really fun style.

I often played a tank style as the Crusader, and my partner would play as a Witch Doctor, while her brother used to play as a Demon Hunter. We had a lot of fun playing through the campaign together, and it was one of my favourite gaming memories.

I can’t say I would recommend Diablo III for everyone. There are some gamers that are annoyed by a lot of its design decisions and I think that they are valid complaints. However, I love how the combat is so fluid and rewarding, and the nature of being so instantly gratified by ever-increasing levels of loot is addictive and intoxicating. If you put aside Diablo’s shortcomings for the series, I think underneath is a genuinely enjoyable co-op experience.

Super Mario 3D World

Taking the insanity of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and applying it to a 3D formula on the Wii U was a stroke of genius. The platforming and controls are as tight as we have come to expect from Mario games and the aesthetic and graphic style looks phenomenal.

Super Mario 3D World is not just an excellent co-op game, but it is also an excellent all-around game, possibly one of the best in the current generation. Each level is full of wonderful secrets and Easter eggs, and it is impossible to play without smiling at the many cute and exciting references that there are on offer.

Some of the best times in the game are spent racing to get the green stars before other players, and frantically fighting for the best score and the right to wear a crown on one’s head during the levels. The love put into all aspects of Super Mario 3D World, the sound, the graphics, and the gameplay is wonderful, and if you can pick up a Wii U, I would recommend this game for anyone who is looking to play co-operatively with a friend. There may be elements of competitiveness, but overall the experience of 3D World will just leave you with a smile.  

Honourable mentions to Left 4 Dead, an enjoyable shooter but marred by some poor spikes in difficulty as a result of the AI director. An extremely fun game, especially as things get frantic. I also would recommend Gauntlet, a fun dungeon-crawler with easy-to-grasp, difficult-to-master gameplay, and Gears of War, which, while extremely violent and sometimes a little too tied into modern FPS tropes, is just a well-polished, well-made game that is very fun to play, especially the Horde mode. Portal 2 is one of the best examples of co-op in gaming, but I haven’t played it enough to justify putting it in the list for myself.

It is a shame that co-op isn’t as emphasised these days in game design, and more games are trying to become competitive online experiences. Competitive gaming is inherently confrontational and sometimes is a little less fun to play as it can become quite frustrating, so to have games out there that make people play together is always a good thing. I find that co-operative games, as a result, have a better online community and are nicer to play with others. I hope we never forget that familiar image of two or more people sat on a sofa together being loud and rowdy and just having fun playing games that they love.