Talk Mobile Gaming Week RecapThe best things you said
Capping off the first week of Talk Mobile 2013, we gathered up the Mobile Nations Editors-in-Chief and hosts Cali Lewis and John P. of GeekBeat.TV to discuss how the week went down. Read on for our hand-picked comments from the week and thoughts on each from our editors.
Talk Mobile 2013 has been a long time in the works, possibly even longer than the interminable teasing of #TM13 we did in the weeks leading up to the launch. Now that the first week is out of the way, we'll give you a bit of a primer on how Talk Mobile is going to work going forward. As mentioned before, we've picked ten topics in mobile that we're going to discuss, attempting to move past the debates over features and specs to a forward-looking conversation about how we these advanced devices actually impact our lives.
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In order to give ourselves some breathing room, we'll be doing these weeks every other week, so this week was about gaming, we're taking this week off, and next week Talk Mobile will be back to spark a conversation about, well, you'll just have to tune in to find out.
A lot of what we're doing for Talk Mobile 2013 is being done for the first time in the Mobile Nations network. And while that's really quite exciting, it's also a bit terrifying at times. We'd be lying if we said we weren't scrambling up to the very last minute to our launch of Day 1 on Monday. And maybe a bit of panicking afterwards too.
We're really quite proud of our new commenting system that allows for cross-site commenting as well as multiple comment streams in a single article. There've been some growing pains as we implemented the new comments, but we're very pleased with how it's turned out so far, as well as the awesome and engaging discussions it has spurred. The quality of contributions has been outstanding, and each week we're going to reward the best ones with awesome prizes - yes, that means you'll always want to be participating. And to those highlighted as winning comments this week, congratulations, and we'll be reaching out to you shortly via email.
You can expect more this kind of recap post at the end of each week with another video podcast, though this is likely the last one for a while with the entire team in one place (thanks to the entire team being in New York City last week for the launch party - which was epic, though we'll recap that in more graphic detail at a later time). And that's not all we have in store for Talk Mobile, but as with next week's topic, you'll just have to stay tuned to find out what it is.
We say: This is certainly true, although this practice would probably have appeared without Mobile gaming spearheading it. It will come down to individual developers taking a stand against the practice as well as the public shaming of companies who misuse it.
We say: Your point is well made but we still believe there is a big cross-over at play here. However, mobile gaming must find it's footing in more than just the casual market before being a serious contender.
We say: For now yes, but once you can play PS2 quality games on your mobile that will no longer be the case.
We say: This is perhaps the most pressing issue for Mobile Gaming to succeed. Most of us need our phones all throughout the day and cannot risk enjoying a game on , say, a 3h flight.
We say: They will for sure but Mobile gaming is set to eat into the gaming market and probably relegate consoles to hardcore gaming only.
We say: We'd love to see this too. It's a perfect way to use your phone. How great would it be if you could use it to hone skills in the game - like reloading a gun etc - so that when you come back your character is better at it in the game.
We say: We've seen this too. The impact of reduced numbers of casual gamers is pretty major for the console industry. It will be interesting to see how that develops.
Day One Winning Comment!
We say: Absolutely. This and battery life - solve those and consoles will most likely be grouped with PC as hardcore gaming devices. There just wont be any reason for most people to own anything but their smartphone..
We say: We believe this is a real issue too. There are definitely times when boredome leads to creative thought. Although all of us can think of more times when boredome just led to sleep and/or eating candy...
We say: We're definietly not all in agreement on this topic but many of us feel that there should be some regulation in place. This is gambling - without a chance to win anything.
We say: Mobile etiquette needs to be taught in school and at work places. We've not lived with this technology very long and we're often at a loss as to how to behave with it.
We say: Or when you realise that you should have bought groceries so you could cook and now it's already late and you are starving. What? That never happened to us...
We say: It rarely is right? Gaming is fantastic, many of us are avid gamers, but you never want to walk away from a gaming session feeling like you've wasted time.
We say: This is true. Gaming with your partner or with your kids can have very positive impacts on those relationships. Point is, we're doing something together and gaming just happens to be a great experience
Day Two Winning Comment!
We say: This goes up as one of the better ideas we've seen. Smart and up-front so there will be no hard feelings.
We say: This is the trick. We just wish for some more innovation around this. While Words with friends is enjoyable it does not come close to a genuine gaming experience for a more serious gamer.
We say: This is great to hear! Finally someone who's been enjoying multiplayer on mobile.
We say: We'd like to see this too. If it worked on the first PSP we should soon be able to have the same feature-set on our mobile devices..
We say: We're sure we've just seen the beginnings of companion apps - they make perfect sense and could be a hoot to play.
We say: A lot of people are asking for this and it really is a big opportunity for developers. Many gamers have the same problem with PC, PS and Xbox though so we're not sure this will ever be resolved satisfactory.
Day Three Winning Comment!
We say: This is a great concept! Having mini-games that ties into your bigger console titles would be real awesome. Imagine your team spending time on mobile to ready kit for your next Battlefield match
We say: Very true that bigger screens and sound often equals a more enjoyable experience... but does it have to? This is one of the key challenges facing mobile devs in the months and years to come... make the mobile gaming experience = the console/big screen experience.
We say: We agree wholeheartedly. Touchscreen controls are a huge sticking point for most mobile gamers, in most genres. The trick will be developing controls and experiences on mobile that gamers will not want to put down.
We say: True, but mobile games can also sell on a much larger scale. We hope developers go back to charging between $4-$10 for their games.
We say: We have to wonder if this is due to the implementation of those touch controls or touch controls in general? Some games definitely lend themselves better to touch.
We say: You make a valid point regarding immersive gaming but there are so many other reasons we play games; puzzle solving, strategy, trading, RPG etc. These do not neccessarily require full immersion and are possbily better suited for mobile devices.
We say: We agree. Please start charging properly for your games again, all is forgiven.
Day Four Winning Comment!
We say: Absolutely. Looking at E3 right now there are already tons of innovation being shown. Couple that with our phones becomming more powerfull on a tearly basis and we're heading towards an awesome future.
We say: The more you think about where we are headed... one has to think in the future the line between the virtual and real world will be blurred. This is awesome in some cases, scary in others.
We say: We couldn't agree with you more. Mobile Gaming is for all intents and purposes a newborn. It's going to be very interesting to see where we are 10 years down the road. The possibilities are almost endless!
We say: Interactivity based on location is only going to increase. In fact, we witnessed this yesterday during the WWDC Keynote. The ability to share files in iOS based on proximity... this is the kind of thing that will come to all platforms, and indeed mobile gaming, over time.
We say: We all have a different vision of the future on this one. It's hard to peg exactly where mobile gaming will go, and if it will replace the console. But with the rapid pace of development and new technologies these days, we're sure to find out sooner than we think.
We say: 10 years!! We cannot wait for this technology to arrive.
We say: There's no doubt we will see more 'cool' implementations of hands-off controls. However, one has to wonder if anyone will ever break things open, leading to adoption of these controls on a larger scale? Like you mention, we stand by to see if this is a good idea, or a passing gimmick.
We say: We agree that graphics and performance will improve exponentially... but how the touchscreen vs. physical controller problem plays out... remains to be seen.
We say: Deeper stories. Greater immersion... Richer experiences. YES.
Day Five Winning Comment!
We say: Excellent point, and thank you for both pointing out the current crisis as well as give us reason to hope for some amazing games in the coming years.