Mobile Gaming Doesn't Compare to Portable Consoles

Joystick Division - After years of kicking, screaming and doing anything within my power to avoid upgrading to a smart phone, I finally took the plunge recently and got myself one of these newfangled devices. Being the person I am, however, what I was most interested in was how this bad boy would stack up as a gaming machine.

Over the past several years I've heard many games journos herald the end of portable gaming, stating that mobile was the wave of the future and, with a smart phone in your pocket, who needs a dedicated gaming device as well?

[zeal0us]

Hardware wise mobile has overtook portable console. Look at the Nexus7 and compare it to the 3DS or the Vita. The Nexus7 is actually stronger. Downside is that there isn't many games to fully utilize the hardware.

Not only that but some people still prefer physical control over touch controls. Android 3.1 and higher do have gamepad support. So you should be able to use your 360(if the device support usb) or PS3(bluetooth ftw) controller.

*List games with gamepad support*
http://forum.xda-developers...

[MasterCornholio]

So the Tegra 3 GPU is more powerful than the one that the new iPad uses?

XperiaRay

[PoSTedUP]

The Vita owns with better graphics, better games (imo), better controls (2analogue sticks+face buttons). front and real cameras for AR/virtual reality.

was just playing Virtua Tennis4 online with a character that looks exactly like me against an opponent that replicated himself as well. it was pretty surreal lol.

handhelds will get the bigger and better games for a long time to come.

[Hisiru]

"Hardware wise mobile has overtook portable console"

So what? Can you name a game which is better looking than Uncharted Golden Abyss?

Also, when we talk about hardware, we are also talking about physical buttons. And gamepad support is only for some games (and it's a crap support because the games are made to be played on the touch screen only).

Both Vita and 3DS has MUCH better core software than smartphones, it's even stupid to compare.

You won't find Uncharted Golden Abyss, Resident Evil Revelations, Wipeout, Mario Kart 7, Gravity Rush, Mario 3D Land, Little Big Planet and Kingdom Hearts 3D on your smartphone. If you want to play cheap smartphone games, go ahead, I want to play real games.

[zeal0us]

This test was base off the tegra 3 found in the transfomer prime vs the A5x in the iPad

http://androidnachrichten.i...

The A5X actually outperform the Tegra 3 in some test while the tegra 3 outperform the A5x in a few test.

ASUS done put out 2 new transformer tablets since the transformer prime. The latest is the Transformer Infinity, which uses a 1.6 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9. The Transformer Prime used 1.2 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9.

Other than Apple no one know the actual speed of the PowerVR SGX543MP4(GPU in the iPad).

[Waddy101]

The Nexus 7 is not stronger than the Vita, the 3DS yes but the vita has a better CPU and GPU.
I don't really care if the games have gamepad support because practically none utilise it properly whereas for games on the 3DS/Vita the games are built from the ground up with the controls in mind.
Name one mobile game that is as good as Uncharted: Golden Abyss or Super Mario 3D Land. I don't think there is any.

[Zetsomaru]

So what you're saying is I should lug a controller around if I want to play these games with decent controls? That doesn't sound very mobile at all.

[piroh]

technicaly, mobile gaming is comparable to Game boy / Game boy Advance - similar games, similar graphics, similar approach of developers = low-budget games

there's no mobile game that looks better than GOW ghost of sparta or Gran turismo for PSP, i played some games for android but it's a huge difference

[zeal0us]

Shadowgun, Deadtrigger, N.O.V.A 3, Infinity Blade 1&2 are decent looking high-end mobile games. There isn't a game boy/advance game that can be compared to them graphically.

Asphalt 6HD looks better than Gran turismo for the psp imho.

[Hufandpuf]

well, you have a smartphone. there isn't much you can do with that in terms of games especially if it's an android.

If you had an Ipad I would recommend Infinity Blade, Real Racing, Asphalt, Modern Combat 3, Battle Heart, and many more of the apps that double as legitimate productive programs that can't be used on NDS or Vita

[daggertoes83]

I love my iPad and using it to type this but it will never take over my vita and 3ds.

[Godmars290]

And yet consoles haven't really delivered on the level of diversity handhelds. Even though they've only maintained the standards of consoles from last generation.

[schlanz]

Its difficult to have diversity and take risks when development and marketing costs are millions upon millions of dollars and you have to trust people to spend a rather exorbitant amount of money at retail to try it out. Mobile development is far less costly to develop for and distribute.. much easier to take risks and your game doesn't need to look bleeding edge graphically to find success.

[Godmars290]

And that's on the devs as they complain piracy, sales, and how systems are limited as they rely on limited, expensive, resources.

[Xperia_ion]

I think they're all good, whatever makes you happy and entertains.

[thebudgetgamer]

I tried playing Super Mario World on my phone and it sucked, platforming with no psychical buttons does not work.

[schlanz]

I tried playing it and it was perfect, then again I was playing it while it was hooked up to my TV and paired with a PS3 controller via bluetooth.

Really seems like the argument is against touch controls, not necessarily that its on a phone. I'm sure the experience is much better on Xperia Play.

[silvacrest]

the thing no one mentions is why mobile and portable gaming haven't been combined, and the xperia play does not count, its underpowered and has barely any playstation games

sony would have an easier time doing this, having sony mobile and sony playstation

[AWBrawler]

That never needs to happen lol as a fan of Nintendo, I can tell you now, a Nintendo phone would suck and be missing a lot of features

[Xperia_ion]

Nintendo isn't going anywhere, they have tasty cookies. Mobile gaming is here to stay and there is nothing wrong with that just play the games and don't think about loyalty.

[silvacrest]

at least explain why a nintendo phone would be a bad idea?

personally i cant think of one, nintendo would be entering the mobile phone and gaming arena and could get serious dough if done right

same goes for sony but they need to be serious, no half assed stuff like the xperia play

[Unexpecta]

The problem with touch gaming, is that, you're just touching. There's no pressing, no guiding, no feedback. It's a close ended world.

Where as if you have buttons, triggers, and analogs, then there is a sense of fulfillment. You feel real. Gaming then is skill.

Everyone loves pushing buttons, and it's very much not the same as when you touch "to press" the button. Just like how in video games when you're shooting the bad guy or an alien, it's a totally different experience pressing the trigger on your controller than touching to shoot the gun.

That is why mobile gaming doesn't compare to portable gaming.

[schlanz]

And explain to me why it is unfathomable to have a smartphone with buttons? (Hint: Sony Xperia Play)

Before you slam the Play as a failure (I know people that love it but personally I thought it sucked) lets at least accept the likely possibility that future iterations will refine and eventually perfect the marriage of mobiles and physical buttons. I think that is a natural progression once mobiles become taken more seriously as a worthy gaming platform and not just as a "me too" casual endeavor as so many people like to emphatically declare.

[AWBrawler]

also some buttons are pressure sensitive which touch screens can't emulate.

[CommonSenseGamer]

Doesn't matter which one may or may not be better. Fact of the matter is smartphones are more desired by the masses. The Vita has proven that a gaming only device that is priced like a smartphone just doesn't sell.

[schlanz]

Priced like a smartphone with games priced like PC games

[ChunkyLover53]

Well yea it doesn't compare, the thing is, most people have a phone that can play cheap games. Those types of people don't want to pay $300 for a handheld. No matter how much better the games might be on a handheld.

[schlanz]

Sure, it doesn't compare.. for now. Why can't gaming journalism and gamers in general be more forward thinking rather than looking at today's mobile gaming market through a lens?

[AWBrawler]

Are we still on this? my smartphone is for business and the occasional game on the crapper. My 3DS is for full game experiences.

excuse me if infinity blade, though i did enjoy it, does not feel like a full game to me

[bboykame]

SmartPhone games are getting better and better each year....Just insane high-quality games for that cheap price D: Nova3,Mc3 etc...

[souljah45]

Mobiles cant even run a full game in terms of MGS:peace walker or GOW:ghost of sparta. They need to be better than psp before they can even dream of being better than psvita