MOBILE GAMES are short form for Mobile Games. A mobile game is generally a computer game which is normally played on a mobile cell phone. The term also encompasses all games which are played via any portable device, such as by cell phone, pager, laptop, smartphone or tablet, with and without internet access. Mobile games are great entertainment options and help to keep people entertained.
There are many mobile games available for download either free of charge or with a paid subscription service. Freemium is one such paid subscription service which provides a large library of free applications and games. Many of the freemium websites offer both free and paid versions of their respective applications. Users can download these applications through the freemium website and play them for free. In this way, users get to test the application before buying it.
Smartphones such as Blackberry and HTC enable users to access a large library of apps. On the other hand, the Android operating system supports the development of applications for most of the popular mobile phones which run on its platform. As a result, developers find Android platform a more congenial environment in which to develop mobile games. However, there are certain limitations with the Android mobile game development platform such as the inability to project 3D animation and use of certain control schemes such as buttons, sliders, and circles. Furthermore, Android devices tend to be quite expensive as compared to the iPhone and iPad and therefore not as widespread in terms of usage.
Based on the foregoing analysis it is suggested that there is substantial room for further growth in the mobile gaming industry and a steady increase in the total revenue generated through mobile games is expected in the coming years. The major contributors to this growth are smartphones with high resolution screens, higher density LCD panels, better battery life, faster processors, and high resolution cameras. The other contributing factor is the increasing popularity of smart phone users worldwide and the growing number of people who are ready to spend money on in-app purchases.
In the mobile games industry, there are two prominent players namely smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and Nokia and console game developers like EA Sports, Electronic Arts, and Vivendi Universal. These companies have established their own ecosystems where they promote their different titles and encourage third-party applications developed by third-party studios. There are also independent studios developing highly engaging mobile games in the Android ecosystem. As far as the competition is concerned, there is stiff competition in the form of games developed by third-party studios for the Sony PlayStation Portable and the Game PSP2 devices. In the case of the former, Sony’s PlayStation Portable has an advantage over the competitors as it is capable of running many additional media such as images, music, and video.
There are two different categories of users who can benefit from location-based mobile games. First, they include business users who use mobile gaming online as a tool to evaluate their employees’ performance, manage their budgets, and increase their productivity. Second, there are other groups of consumers who can be found playing mobile games through public networks such as Waze and Facebook. While the first category has the potential to boost the revenues of a location-based business, the latter may have a more profound impact on the lives of ordinary consumers. For instance, a location-based app that allows people to play games played in the real world can help people get used to the idea of using public transport in the future.