4 ms·

If they can get games to be fun again, where you want to play, rather than just kill time, that would be awesome. I still play games on the old 8 and 16 bit co

If they can get games to be fun again, where you want to play, rather than just kill time, that would be awesome. I still play games on the old 8 and 16 bit consoles, where gameplay always shone. No matter how many times you complete R-Type, you still come back for more.

stegosaurus 10y ago
>> rather than just kill time Yeah, that's something I find really odd about most mobile games. They seem designed as a way to basically put the brain into a low energy state or something, rather than actually being interesting. My personal experience of games like Candy Crush is that people play them on the subway or whatever when there's nothing else to do. If they had a book with them they'd read that, if someone handed them a Nintendo DS with zero effort they'd probably do that (if they could get over the ego thing). I can't really imagine anyone setting themselves up for a marathon casual gaming session. They seem marketed to be one level above 'watching paint dry' and used in circumstances where that's the only alternative.
- throwanem 10y ago
  > If they had a book with them they'd read that You can fit lots of books on a phone!
  - NoGravitas 10y ago
    Smartphones are actually a terrific medium for casual reading [1]. [1]: http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/2014/02/_thats_one_of_t.php http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/2014/02/_thats...
    - throwanem 10y ago
      As were some Palm OS devices before them - those with 480x320 screens, at least. (They weren't good for much else!)
- TillE 10y ago
  It was a tired cliche for describing games even before smartphones existed, but the model for typical mobile game design truly is the Skinner Box. You press a button to get some shiny reward designed to make your brain feel like it accomplished something. It's a remarkably elaborate ruse to disguise the fact that there really is no "game" underneath all the chrome.
  - justratsinacoat 10y ago
    More pointedly, it's a way to monetize the dopamine reward. Most modern mobile games, after all, try to induce "fun pain" to get you to buy more turns/levels/clicks etc. There doesn't have to be a "game" -- just the "fun pain", and then a way to settle back into the dopamine bath via paying RL currency. I know I'm preaching to the choir a bit here, but it's important to note that not only is there no "game", but that they know that there's no "game" and that low-energy-with-periodic-bursts-of-reward state is the _point_.
- tdkl 10y ago
  They are engineered to be a placeholder for ads and environment for micro transactions while feeding the brain novelty. Everything else is secondary or non existing. But hey the governments love the mindless entertained drones and if someone desires to be one, it has the human right. But let's call it like it is.
- saturdaysaint 10y ago
  I probably have a similar sensibility in regard to games, but Candy Crush is quite the opposite of "watching paint dry" in a lot of respects. It's full of novel/weird animations, cute characters, satisfying sound effects. I compare it to a casino slot machine room - a lot of people just like to be mesmerized by pretty sights/sounds without that much of a challenge. I don't exactly respect it as a gamer, but it speaks to a weird/interesting human need.
wyldfire 10y ago
> If they can get games to be fun again They are still fun! But the bar for creating games has been lowered. On net, that's a good thing -- we get more games to choose from overall. But one bad consequence has been that people have created lots of games that aren't fun, and especially lots of pay-for-play games that exploit people's weaknesses.
- MustardTiger 10y ago
  It is incredibly hard to dig through the mountains of garbage to find the occasional good game. I'm not so sure it is a net good thing, I think fewer good games are succeeding now because they are being buried in crap.
  - oldmanjay 10y ago
    i will happily trade away your effort unto the end of time if it means I get a broader selection.
    - MustardTiger 10y ago
      Just because you are happy with it, doesn't mean it is an overall good.
mfoy_ 10y ago
There are some game developers striving to do that on the mobile platform, but they are mostly indie and not very well known. On a related note: Here's a shameless plug for the Trese brothers. They make mobile games with no ads, and minimal in-app purchases. For what it's worth, I have no affiliation with them other than backing their Star Traders 2 kickstarter.

stegosaurus 10y ago

>> rather than just kill time Yeah, that's something I find really odd about most mobile games. They seem designed as a way to basically put the brain into a low energy state or something, rather than actually being interesting. My personal experience of games like Candy Crush is that people play them on the subway or whatever when there's nothing else to do. If they had a book with them they'd read that, if someone handed them a Nintendo DS with zero effort they'd probably do that (if they could get over the ego thing). I can't really imagine anyone setting themselves up for a marathon casual gaming session. They seem marketed to be one level above 'watching paint dry' and used in circumstances where that's the only alternative.

throwanem 10y ago
> If they had a book with them they'd read that You can fit lots of books on a phone!
- NoGravitas 10y ago
  Smartphones are actually a terrific medium for casual reading [1]. [1]: http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/2014/02/_thats_one_of_t.php http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/2014/02/_thats...
  - throwanem 10y ago
    As were some Palm OS devices before them - those with 480x320 screens, at least. (They weren't good for much else!)
TillE 10y ago
It was a tired cliche for describing games even before smartphones existed, but the model for typical mobile game design truly is the Skinner Box. You press a button to get some shiny reward designed to make your brain feel like it accomplished something. It's a remarkably elaborate ruse to disguise the fact that there really is no "game" underneath all the chrome.
- justratsinacoat 10y ago
  More pointedly, it's a way to monetize the dopamine reward. Most modern mobile games, after all, try to induce "fun pain" to get you to buy more turns/levels/clicks etc. There doesn't have to be a "game" -- just the "fun pain", and then a way to settle back into the dopamine bath via paying RL currency. I know I'm preaching to the choir a bit here, but it's important to note that not only is there no "game", but that they know that there's no "game" and that low-energy-with-periodic-bursts-of-reward state is the _point_.
tdkl 10y ago
They are engineered to be a placeholder for ads and environment for micro transactions while feeding the brain novelty. Everything else is secondary or non existing. But hey the governments love the mindless entertained drones and if someone desires to be one, it has the human right. But let's call it like it is.
saturdaysaint 10y ago
I probably have a similar sensibility in regard to games, but Candy Crush is quite the opposite of "watching paint dry" in a lot of respects. It's full of novel/weird animations, cute characters, satisfying sound effects. I compare it to a casino slot machine room - a lot of people just like to be mesmerized by pretty sights/sounds without that much of a challenge. I don't exactly respect it as a gamer, but it speaks to a weird/interesting human need.

wyldfire 10y ago

> If they can get games to be fun again They are still fun! But the bar for creating games has been lowered. On net, that's a good thing -- we get more games to choose from overall. But one bad consequence has been that people have created lots of games that aren't fun, and especially lots of pay-for-play games that exploit people's weaknesses.

MustardTiger 10y ago
It is incredibly hard to dig through the mountains of garbage to find the occasional good game. I'm not so sure it is a net good thing, I think fewer good games are succeeding now because they are being buried in crap.
- oldmanjay 10y ago
  i will happily trade away your effort unto the end of time if it means I get a broader selection.
  - MustardTiger 10y ago
    Just because you are happy with it, doesn't mean it is an overall good.

mfoy_ 10y ago

There are some game developers striving to do that on the mobile platform, but they are mostly indie and not very well known. On a related note: Here's a shameless plug for the Trese brothers. They make mobile games with no ads, and minimal in-app purchases. For what it's worth, I have no affiliation with them other than backing their Star Traders 2 kickstarter.