Home Forums General Discussion Whats the primary design goal of a mobile phone game?

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    • #4566
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      When designing mobile phone games, there are quite a few directions to take. You can create one based on a well known license, possibly from the PC/console domain. This can be expensive upfront as you have to purchase the license, but may get the return from high downloads.

      You can decide to make it a level heavy game where you need to spend a lot of time making your way through levels before reaching a goal or sub goal.

      Alternatively, you can make the levels very short (about 3-4 mins of gameplay at a time).

      There are also advancements in the availabilty of 3D and Bluetooth enabled handsets so you can create games that are 3D and/or allow you to play against a friend in the same room as you.

      At the user control point of view, some games require you to use most of the buttons on the phone to in some way control the game. These tend to be complex games such as strategy or resource building games. At the other end of the spectrum you have games that require just the use of the thumb control. These tend to be much simpler in design.

      Are sound effects important on phones? Should there be a lot of sounds in the game or do you just turn the audio off as soon as you start the game? Often, mobile phone games are played when in public areas such as waiting rooms/queues etc. and you don’t want to annoy those around you with the sounds from the game.

      Are fast paced action games the best type of game for mobile phones or is it more rewarding to solve puzzles or use strategy to complete the game?

    • #25234
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      If someone could design a GameBoy Advance or a GamePack (or GamePark) 32, that was also a phone, our search for the ultimate piece of mobile equipment would be over.

      All I want out of a mobile game, is something like bomberman, pac-man, maybe mario kart, or super mario world. SNES / Mega Drive games are perfect. Anything else, like a FPS just isn’t the same on the small screen.

      Well…in my opinion anyway.

      And just FYI the GP32 runs every emulator going, plays MP3’s, DIVx movies, etc.

      Or how about some kind of USB-Device for the PSP, where it could become a mobile phone? Surely there’s some sneaky russians out there with some custom build of Slackware or Knoppix who would rise to this design challenge?

      Let my PSP send and receive a GSM signal.

    • #25235
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      All I use my phone for is phone calls and the odd sms. While I’ve downloaded games in the past I’ve never actually thought it was worth it. Any of the games I have played are quick to pick up, though puzzles are still important. I couldnt care less if if’s branded by a big name or game…. if its quick to pick up and makes the mind work a little its a decent enough game.

      And yes while thats all well and good, 90% of people who would buy a portable games device probably dont know about emulators, unless a device can get serious third party support like the PSP and DS it will not last long.

      (I picked 90% out of my head but I’m sure there’s some study on the net with a 90% figure….there always is)

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