The element that is missing from mobile games when comparing to gaming in decades prior with older consoles is people. You could grab the disc/cartridge and go

The element that is missing from mobile games when comparing to gaming in decades prior with older consoles is people. You could grab the disc/cartridge and go to a friends house and have a blast trying to beat a game or beat each others high scores. That type of nostalgia and enriched experience of having fun with friends, food, staying up late, trash talking, etc. is going to be more memorable than playing a mobile game by yourself. It doesn't matter the complexity or hardcore-ness of a game, its comparing a social experience to an anti-social experience. Social elements of mobile games, to my understanding, are mostly asynchronous like sharing a score or turn-based games. The asynchronous part eliminates the enriching factors of making it memorable.