Re: Year-End Stats of the Video Games Industry

On Sat, 21 Dec 2024 00:08:32 +0200, Anssi Saari
<anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:
>

     - Mobile games absolutely dominates the industry, taking
       in more than twice as much as consoles and PC combined.

>
What do people actually play on their phones?  Is it all casual? I do
some crosswords on my phone these days but that's pretty much it.

I've three games I regularly play on the phone:
Solitaire (well, FreeCell), Soduku, and a SpaceEmpires clone called
"GalConFusion". All three have the advantage in that a match can be
finished in two to five minutes. They're games I can pick up and
finish whilst waiting for my hot beverage order or some other
similarly short down time.

Which isn't to say that's the only games I've on the phone; would it
surprise you to learn I've quite a collection there too? (I bet it
wouldn't). But I almost never PLAY them, because it just isn't an
enjoyable experience to play for long periods on a phone. If I /do/
have a long time to play, I'd much rather just fire up the PC and play
on that (and if a PC isn't available, I'll just read or something).

But I can get why mobile games are so attractive, especially to the
younger set. For one thing, a lot of them are free, and when you're a
kid you don't have the cash to waste on gigantic game libraries like
certain older folk you may be familiar with. The games themselves are
purposely addictive too, using every psychological trick to get you to
keep playing (and, hopefully, spending). Once you get locked into that
ecosystem, it's hard to escape. Plus, if your main introduction to
games is these short, grindy experiences, it tends to mold your ideas
about what a game should be. The fuller, more challenging games on PC
seem tedious in comparison; they don't provide the immediate and
constant dopamine hits even if the overall experience is more
fulfilling.

I know a number of people who play these games. I can't tell you
exactly what the games are called, but with the younger set, they vary
from block-matching games to world-builders to strategy titles. Older
folk stick with classic card and word games (wait... do I fall into
that category? Oh shit! Am I old?) But for a lot of them, those games
are almost the entirety of their video-game habit.