10th January, 2008: A few more thoughts on mobile gaming
But first, a completely unrelated note: A few weeks ago I finally signed myself up for an account at 1up.com – because, although it’s not part of my usual daily reading list in Feedreader, there are still some interesting features on there sometimes. Also, quite simply, I’m just often a slave to social networking sites. Just ask Facebook! ;) So, I created myself a profile over there, and I’ve started syndicating some of my blog posts over there too, which had one or two comments. So imagine my surprise when I suddenly turn up on the front page of 1UP as one of their ‘Popular Bloggers’. Okay, so since then I’ve found out that the community doesn’t seem to think much of that list as it seems that gender plays a big role on who is selected, rather than actual content, but thank you anyway to whichever member of 1up staff deemed me worthy enough to go on there!
But anyway, that little anecdote does vaguely fit in with what I was going to say here, as it’s made the audience for my blog posts slightly larger than before, which is always appreciated! I’ve had a few comments on my previous entry regarding the N-Gage service and mobile gaming, and given a few comments both here and on the same entry at 1up, I thought I would clarify a few things. :)
Funnily enough, since I wrote that last entry, not only have I acquired a Nokia N95 handset, but also, rather unexpectedly, a PSP! :D
I actually make a differentiation between “mobile gaming” (which, I consider to be gaming on a device meant primarily as a mobile phone), and “handheld gaming” (which is gaming on a handheld console, i.e. PSP, DS etc)
So now, owning both a DS (albeit currently broken!) and, (as of two days ago!) a PSP, and I do not doubt the success and validity of handheld gaming one bit. In fact, what with the seeping (read: explosion!) of the Nintendo DS into the casual market, that’s something that’s only going to grow.
In terms of mobile gaming: The original N-gage did just as badly here in the UK as everywhere else, I believe. I liked the concept but not the execution! I am excited to see this new “N-gage platform” that will operate a mobile gaming service on new smartphones (because, the N95 is a very nice looking phone indeed, at least in my opinion!)
However, with moves such as the PSP gaining Skype functionality, and the N95 being more of a “full multimedia experience” on a phone, I do think that the lines between “mobile gaming” and “handheld gaming” will begin to blur until there is little to no differentiation – so maybe this whole issue is going to be null and void in future anyway. ;)
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