Pixel Dungeon. Mini Metro. Race for the Galaxy (that works better on a tablet though). But above all ... I can play those games anywhere, and I can play them on a device I already have (a phone, any phone). A couple of games of RftG on the lunch break if I feel like it? Yes please. There's a reason why mobile gaming is bigger than PC and console gaming.
And I see a lot of stuff "I would never buy an app for a phone lol" and my question is, why not? If it's good, why not? This goes for games too, we're expected to pay for games in all other formats buy buying a PHONE GAME for like €5? Over my desecrated corpse! Then complain about all the ads everywhere.
Well I don't buy those games for pretty much the same reasons I don't buy online gacha bullshit on the PC anymore.
Its a glorified slot machine, you have no control over the content, everything is subject to change whenever. Fuck that. I'm not contesting that mobile games
can be enjoyable. But the overwhelming majority is just complete and utter junk and a waste of time. There are exceptions, but it really depends on how much time one has for 'on the fly' mobile gaming, if you don't NEED to play on that kind of setup, why would you? I think that's where I agree with
@AusWolf . OTOH when I compare mobile gaming to say a Steam Deck... the differences are night and day. Playing on Deck doesn't quite feel like a box of uncomfortable compromises, you've got the same calibre of games, more often than not cheaper and much more expansive, you've got all the control you have on a PC over your content. But its still mobile; nonetheless I'd never just get my Deck to 'play a ten minute game'... if I game, I'm
gaming.
Epic can offer me free money and i'll refuse it.
Right? I'm playing through a free Death Stranding and Control and still... I don't even feel the slightest urge to give them money. And I even love what Tim Sweeney is doing to the market for digital distribution, fighting a good fight. But as long as their EGS is such a slow, unresponsive mess I just can't, don't want to, and will minimize my visits there. To illustrate, I've even put my Death Stranding shortcut straight on the desktop so I don't have to go through the EGS library and store to start it up. I click the icon, EGS starts in background, and I'm in the game. I don't do this for ANY of my Steam based games, or GoG.
I didn't read the "I won't buy" as "I'll pirate". Rather "I will not play mobile games". I'm not assaulted by ads because too many people steal but because the companies just want more money. You'll routinely still see ads after you purchased the product outright, you'll still see in-game transactions for a game you bought, the company will still monetize your data even if you are a paying customer. And eventually you'll be asked to pay to keep a game you already bought but don't own. These are the real reasons people don't want to pay and prefer to just not play or steal. It's never the "poor companies suffering and having to resort to lowly ads", it's the customers always suffering. Don't underestimate corporate greed. You get ads on your $5k TV, more ads on the streaming service you pay in full, ads on the OS you bought retail, and you don't even own the games you buy.
I agree that some games are probably very good and also only playable on a touchscreen. Different paradigm. I'm not a fan of those games and also actively want to avoid looking at the phone too much so I have 0 mobile games on my phones. Not a brick breaker, not a tower defense, nothing, neither bought or pirated. I'm sure many others are like that, hence "I will not buy [or even get for free]" argument.
Exactly this. I just feel in every fiber of my body that I'm entering a commercial clusterfk and I've learned to avoid that like the plague. Simply because it NEVER stops at just being a good deal for
everyone. They always want more. Greed never stops, and with that, you're committed to undergoing constant changes that you need to keep track of, to avoid being screwed over. I present a massive middle finger to that strategy by just not taking part in it. No, you can't incentivize me, salesman, now kindly fuck off while I manage my own entertainment at a price and set of conditions
I want. And with that, you haven't got anything to sell me anyway; I've already got a better product in my hands. I'm a big promotor of 'the customer is always right'. Either get with that program, or no deal - that's the balance of power as it should be. Commerce is here
to serve us. Not the other way around.
The funny thing is, lots of indie studios seem to have understood that kind of demand in the market for gaming. Lots of independent creators too - they give free content and open a donation 'whatever you want' button next to it. With the ultra-low barrier of entry to actually make half decent content, I think that's the way to go. Yes, the price for content will and must go down, not up, which has been the mojo of triple A gaming lately 'because development is so expensive' (its really not, that's just a simple matter of project management and scope choices) - and then you learn the better half of the budget is actually spent on marketing campaigns. In other words, you're not only paying that price to pay for THEIR marketing to sell YOU a game, you also know that money hasn't actually gone to making a game at all. Oh yeah, don't forget franchise and licensing 'costs', another thing that we don't really see in the game itself other than the logo and reskin they chose. And suddenly it becomes crystal clear why indie games tend to just be better and offer more.
'I hardly ever use my phone for anything other than media consumption/browsing the net or playing said games'
