News People Need

Mobile gaming has come a very long way since the introduction of crude & simple games like Snake and Pong which were available on early Nokia phones. Older generations still remember dragging along a Game Boy or Game gear and imploring their parents for another game. New generations literally have access to 100’s of thousands of games on their mobile phone. In a nutshell, mobile gaming has exploded in just a couple of years time. In the month of July 2016 there were 63.1 million arcade games downloaded & games in the Strategy category generated $195M revenue. In a latest research study over 37% of mobile application users with half a hour of free time choose to play games over any other activity. 

So what does all this mean for the future of android gaming? For starters, the huge amount of revenue and user interest in Android games has bolstered continuous innovation and fierce competition within the global marketplace. Just twelve months ago, top executives were saying they did not see any major benefit to augmented reality. Virtual reality is another area which has been picking up steam in latest months. You can now buy virtual reality headsets at local gasoline stations for a mere $30. Or if you are on a spending budget you can buy Google Cardboard for as little as $7.00. 

You may still find only a limited number of VR enabled games, but that number is increasing daily. This is similar to the development cycle of a mid level Personal Computer game release on Steam. The game features mass controlled troops, world building elements and impressive graphics. A couple of years ago this will be considered a major release for the Google Android platform. With over 2.4 million applications and games currently listed on Google Play it is become harder and harder to stand out. This is in fact great news for gamers as developers are working faster and harder to create new innovative titles to attract users. 

I firmly think that both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality titles are going to gain more adherence in 2017. Major developers who can pump out triple A content cannot be left in the dust while indie developers pump out AR and VR enabled games. There are various gimmicky games available that utilize the phones mic, gyroscope, camera and accelerometer. These sensors along with AR and VR could bring a whole new experience to gamers. Imagine walking through a recreated 3D world that represents your neighbourhood, submerged in full virtual reality, and utilizing your phone as a pointing device to defend against waves of zombies. 

Combining meticulous graphics with well thought out virtual reality experiences will be impressive indeed. If you are familiar with Personal Computer based virtual reality demo’s you already know how engaging the experience can be. It is only a matter of time before these same experiences make their way to our mobile devices. It masse.