Mobile Gaming
Reading 1: Mobile Games and Entertainment
This section of the book was about mobile gaming, somewhat of the history behind gaming and mobile video entertainment. In the late 1990’s Nokia was the first phone company to embed a phone game into their phones and this then launched mobile gaming. Mobile gaming started gaining more popularity in other places of the world but didn’t gain popularity in the U.S. until 2003. Mobile gaming was and still is primarily significantly more popular in Asia due to cultural differences. The culture of their gaming has players looking for a more immersive gaming experience that is similar to more standard console gaming. I also found it interesting that in the stats about mobile gaming it talked about how women are more loyal to fewer games where as men are constantly looking for a new game. Another thing I found interesting through reading the chapter was the reason behind why Asia and Europe somewhat dominate the mobile gaming industry. If because there is a much larger use of public transportation in these countries, allowing users to spend more time on their phone when getting from point A to point B. Overall, mobile gamers are going to tend to be those who have a more mobile lifestyle, those who have experience and perspectives about mobile devices.
Reading 2: SuperGaming: Ubiquitous Play and Performance for Massively Scaled Communities
This book excerpt is about social-network, the communities associated, and several examples to help further explain this. But I want to focus on Ubiquitous computing and Supergaming, because I did not know what these concepts were prior to reading this. Ubiquitous computing is essentially the process behind embedding more mobile computing devices/network technologies in public spaces. The concept behind this is about trying to create better scaled large communities, this allows for more mutual communication and a larger percentage of those communications. Supergaming is something that is also similar to ubiquitous computing and I found some commonalities between the two. Supergaming are large scaled, publicly projected gaming. The point of it is that it heightens the capability that players have. I thought both of the concepts were pretty interesting and innovative because it allows user to connect on a much larger scale in a public setting while still being a part essentially of the social networking/mobile gaming community.
Technology Application:
This topic of mobile gaming and the overall evolution of it largely connects to our course topic of mobile media. Mobile gaming has expanded largely over the years and game app developers and gaming companies in general have incorporated social media and online communication into their online technology. The fact the you can share your score or level up on a social media platform such as Facebook for friends to interact with is huge. This is also a huge concept for advertisers just like most things on social media. It’s basically free promotion that guides other to download the game and play with friends. Overall, the connection between mobile media and mobile gaming has allowed users to play games against friends, share gaming updates on social media and expand the industry in general.
Technology Example:
The technology example I think applies well to the concepts of mobile gaming and mobile media is a game such as Words with Friends. This is a game that allows users to take turns playing a version of scrabble, it’s a very similar concept. When you play the game, you are able to play against your friends and share you results online. For me personally, this is one of the first games I was aware of where you were able to play with the friends you wanted instead of random opponents online. The app allows you to play with both but for my generation at least I think this is one of the games that started the concept of making online gaming more social.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you have games on your phone that you play frequently?
- Do the games you have on your phone, or have previously played allowed for online interaction with opponents or social media sites?
- Do you think it’s surprising that other countries such as Asia and Europe have a higher mobile gaming rate than the United States?
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