In the olden days, if you wanted to take your gaming with you, you had a Game Boy, Game Gear, or even a Nomad. While these systems definitely pulled their weight in the industry, they were considered companion pieces to the in-home consoles. (Heck, this was quite literal at times. Remember the N64’s Game Pak or the GameCube’s GBA cable?)
But, in the “newden” days, mobile phones have snatched this market space from the long time champs of portable gaming and now are gunning for the big guys. Just take a look at any industry web site and you’ll see just how concerned it is about the iPhone, Androids, and even Windows 7 Mobile. Not only are these guys outrunning handheld gaming machines in hardware units sold, but they completely blow them out of the water in software sales. And all of this with new fangled things like free games with in-app purchases or free add supported games; both paradigm shifts in industry economic models. (Not to mention the, less weird, $0.99 games like Angry Birds.)
So, the industry’s vanguard has their tails between their legs. They’ve been doing things the old fashioned way for decades and they’re scared that this new, kinder, way of selling games might steal money from them.
But will they? In short, yes! Most of the casual gamers that once spent their allowances on Game Boys now get their games for free on their phones. They don’t even have to go to a store to get their games. Not only that, but the cost of the hardware is subsidized by the cell phone companies, making it more affordable for them. So, mobile phones have hit the casual gaming trifecta; affordability, convenience, and usability.
So, what does this mean for the 3DSs and NGPs of the future? It means that they need to deliver in ways that they never have before if they want to stay viable. They need to market to hardcore gamers and deliver new, spiffy, features to those casual fans; ones that are cool enough to pull them away from their iPhones and Androids. They could try to compete with the mobile phone markets and offer similar games at similar prices, but the high cost of the hardware that they produce makes this risky, so this is doubtful.
Handheld devices that only play games will have to adapt or become economically unfeasible. Believe me, I’m sad to say it - I’ve still got a pile of GBA games not more than 3 feet from where I now type – but times are changing, and so must the gaming industry.
