It’s no secret that casual gaming is on the rise, thanks in large part to social media and to the portable gaming systems most of us now carry — you know, those little computers that we play games on and occasionally use as phones. Smartphones have made games with simple designs, controls and graphics easily accessible to a large population, and the popularity of these games is influencing the video game market.
But these games are so simple! Smartphone gaming can’t really be a competitor to “serious”
console gaming, can it? Thanks to technology like WHDI, these “simple” games are becoming a lot more complex and enjoyable, and the line between “simple” and “serious” gaming is blurring.
Sure,
Angry Birds and the
Halo series seem to inhabit completely separate worlds, so it’s easy to think the two don’t relate. However, that in the previous paragraph, the smartphone is compared to console gaming and not the PC. Fifteen years ago, that would not have been the case. Back then, the sentence would have read “but these games are so simple! Console gaming can’t really be a competitor to ‘serious’
PC gaming, can it?” Look how that turned out.
As smartphones and tablets become more powerful, the necessity of a dedicated gaming machine wanes. Multipurpose devices are gaining quickly on their stationary competition, both in technology and in the quality and variety of games available. And, the games come at a much lower price.
Despite the advancements in smartphone technology, gaming systems still have a clear advantage in graphics and processing power, so they should always stay ahead, right? Well, tell that to the PC industry which was overtaken by consoles even though they remain superior in graphics and processing power today. The PC gaming industry got beat by the price and convenience of console gaming, and smartphone gaming is in a position to take the same path.
Take heart, console gamers, the end of the gaming experience you covet is not necessarily nigh. With advances in mobile technology, so too are there advances in the connection between mobile devices and the rest of your entertainment system, possibly in the form of a game console. WHDI technology is making possible new relationships between tablets, smartphones, televisions and consoles. WHDI technology is on the leading edge of progress towards a wireless entertainment experience capable of communication between all devices, shared content, and a gaming experience that mirrors the games you carry in your pocket to your TV. The experience of console gaming is changing, but with technology like WHDI, the change is certainly for the better. The story is not casual gaming vs. serious gaming or smartphones vs. consoles. The story isabout combining all of these things for a better gaming experience.
This month, we have been writing about how content becomes mobile and streaming. Those two trends define the modern consumer. However, there is something else content is increasingly becoming … games! Maybe Call of Duty finally making its way to the iPhone and iPad unleashed the gamer inside all of us, because now almost everybody is playing games and it is no surprise that, just like shows on Netflix or on Hulu, games are being streamed to our mobile devices.
