RipTen Videogame Blog » Mobile-Gaming

Gamers Are Expected to Spend Over $74 Billion This Year

Dave Oshry — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:43:07 +0000

That’s right, billion with a B.

The game industry is expected to continue it’s extreme growth that has been seen as of late and according to recent reports, gamers will be spending $112 billion a year by 2015.

In 2010, gamers spent $67 billion and we are expected to spend $74 billion this year alone! That’s more than Rush’s Neil Peart spends on drums!

However, the same reports also claim that the biggest growth will come in the form of mobile gaming, and that is no surprise to us. Games for iOS and Droid devices, as well as handheld gaming consoles such as the Nintendo 3DS and PSVita are all poised to see growth in 2011 and beyond.

Even more startling is the news that Activision made over $650 million in less than a week from the sales of Black Ops. Bobby Kotick can throw one hell of a Bar-Mitzvah party for his kids with all that cash.

Moreover, free-to-play games that use micro transactions to increase profits such as FarmVille have helped turn companies like Zynga into global cash factories.

The millions upon millions of World of Warcraft subscriptions aren’t hurting the economy either. Hell, even mine’s still active… just don’t tell Chad or he’ll make me heal BWL. ^__^

So, if $74 billion seems like a lot to you, just wait until you see what gamers spend next year.

Carmack Thinks 3DS and NGP May Be The Last Pure Gaming Handhelds

Dave Oshry — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:32:52 +0000

The legendary genius overlord of Id Software has made some very interesting predictions about the future of handheld gaming devices in a recent interview:

According to an interview with the Dallas News:

Carmack said there’s a chance the new 3DS and NGP could be the last generation of specialized handheld game consoles ever built.

Like many others recently, Carmack seems to think that as smartphones, superphones and other mobile devices become more powerful and capable of real gaming – there will be less of a market for dedicated gaming handhelds like the NGP and 3DS:

“The smart phone may turn out to be 80 percent as good at gaming as a dedicated gaming platform”

“People are going to carry their smart phone, and if it’s an 80 percent gaming device, how many people in the gaming market will be satisfied with that?

“One of the things that we’ve seen is the type of games that people play on the smart phones, at the moment, tend to be pretty casual games,” he said.

“If that’s what the consumers are going to trend towards on there, there may not be much as developers we can do about that”

I for one would have to agree. We’ve all seen how amazing games like RAGE and Infinity Blade run on mobile devices – and that is just the beginning.

As tablets and smartphones become more powerful – why would we need a dedicated gaming device if these devices can play games just as well? With the recent release of the Xperia Play it is clear that there is a market for these types of new hybrid devices – but nobody can be sure of what the future holds.

However, one thing is certain. When John Carmack talks . . . I listen.

Source: Dallas News via CVG

Sony Announces ‘Playstation Suite’ for Android Devices

Matthew Sims — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:30:43 +0000

Sony has announced at the Playstation Meeting 2011, that it is taking bold new direction for mobile gaming and smartphones. The technology aims to emulate PSone and PSP games on a mobile phone platform. The platform is set to be a “neutral framework” and every title will be “Playstation Certified.”

I’m sure what this means is that we will see completely new titles that are optimized to run on this Android specific framework other than simply Playstation 1 and PSP ports. The NGP (PSP2) will be able to play these games as well, possibly even sharing data with users playing on smartphones. The Playstation Store will also be made available to Android users when the PS Suite hits Android devices later this year. Only time will tell if this idea works as well as it does inside my head.

Epic Citadel Runs Flawlessly on a 50″ HDTV off the LG Optimus 2x (Android)

Dave Oshry — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:49:58 +0000

Let me start by saying that Nvidia did not want to let me do this. They didn’t think it would look right – they didn’t think it would run smoothly. They were wrong.

Powered by Nvidia’s new Tegra 2 processor – the LG Optimus 2x is capable of direct HD input to any television. Now, while being able to play regular Android games and flash games smoothly on both your superphone and big screen TV can be a ton of fun – What serious gamers want to know is, how will games that truly push mobile tech look and run when powered by Nvidia and LG’s new “Superphone?” The answer is – amazing and smooth. If there was ever a gaming tech demo for mobile devices, it’s the Epic Citadel – built on Unreal 3. The same tech that powers Infinity Blade – the best looking mobile game to date and also our RipTen mobile game of the year.

First check out the Epic Citadel running on the LG Optimus 2x alone:

Very impressive, very smooth, very sexy.

Now watch as Nvidia reluctantly lets me plug the LG Optimus 2x into a 50″ Samsung HDTV and run the Epic Citadel:

I think it goes without saying that the Android platform now has more serious gaming potential than ever. If the Epic Citadel runs like this – you can bet Infinity Blade and other Unreal 3 games (such as Dungeon Defenders) are not far behind. Only time will tell if developers will harness the power of Tegra 2 “Superphones” and use it to create the next generation of great mobile games. However, one thing is certain – the LG Optimus 2x can handle it.

LG and Nvidia have yet to announce what mobile providers will carry the Optimus 2x – just cross your fingers and hope that it’s yours.

Nvidia Tegra 2: A Game-Changer in Mobile

Brandon Fenty — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:31:41 +0000

Mobile gaming is a niche market that, until recently, was mostly comprised of card games and Tetris spin-offs. The graphics made 8-bit look good. Apple changed all that with the original iPhone, which was capable of pumping out some pretty decent graphics. The trend has continued, with each successive iOS device bringing more graphics power to the table, and better games that take advantage of that power.

Android, on the other hand, has been pretty much left in the dust when it comes to gaming. Sure, there are some interesting games out there for the Android platform, but until recently it seems like most serious game developers looked solely to iOS when looking to bring a mobile game to market. That’s started changing in just the past 6 months, with flagship titles like Angry Birds finally making the leap to the Droid. With some of the big reveals at CES out of the way, it looks like that is a trend that will continue; and from the looks of it, Apple’s got a real problem on their hands.

The Nvidia Tegra 2 GPU is a huge leap forward for mobile gaming, providing unparalleled performance for graphics on a mobile phone. The results are unreal. Galaxy on Fire 2, a space sim and one of the best games in the Apple App Store, has been ported over to the Android platform to take advantage of the Tegra 2 GPU. On the way, They’ve added 4x higher-res textures, 6 times the poly count, OpenGL ES 2.0 shaders, and all that running at a cool 1280×800 resolution with no slowdown. The game looks amazing, and definitely goes beyond anything we’ve seen up until now on a mobile device. Check out the video below:

Apple has enjoyed their reign in the mobile gaming market for four years, and have laid the foundation for the industry. At this point, however, Apple’s iOS devices can’t compete with the raw power coming from the Android corner. With such a push towards gaming, developers are sure to start taking the Android platform very seriously, and Apple now has a real competitor on their hands.

Check out the phone that will push mobile gaming to the next level – The LG Optimus 2X – Powered by Tegra 2.

VGA Live Blog Poll Results – Nobody Cares About Thor or Olivia Munn, Super Meat Boy Was Robbed

Dave Oshry — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:49:29 +0000

Last night, the RipTen team held a live blog from the press room at Spike TV’s 2010 Video Game Awards. Amidst the fun and chaos we took over 25 polls and found out quite a bit about what our readers thought of the show.

First up was the Arkham City trailer – after watching – were our readers excited? Survey says – YES

The Dark Knight Cometh in Our Pants

Then the lovely Olivia Munn (Formerly of G4 and now on The Daily Show) took the stage – turns out, nobody gave a shit.

More Like "Olivia Done"

Then we debated what the big BioWare reveal was going to be – Mass Effect 3 didn’t come as a surprise.

They Weren't Fooling Anyone

I was really pulling for Bass Effect myself.

Then, Bethesda’s Todd Howard revealed The Elder Scrolls V – Skyrim. Most people were ecstatic. Others could care less.

OMFG - I'm Excited

Next up was a gameplay trailer for Thor: God of Thunder – nobody cared.

Thor Is Not Pleased With These Results

When Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood took home best action/adventure game – it looked as if our readers weren’t all thrilled about it.

Marston > Ezio

Then Denise Richards took the stage – is she still hot, or not? Survey says – Eh.

I Suppose Eh Is Better Than "I Threw Up In My Mouth"

Mass Effect 2 was up for GOTY – and it looks as if our readers wanted it to win. They also agree that RipTen’s Steph Gutowski is hot, but we already knew that :-)

Mass Effect 2 is Hawt - So is Steph

CodBlOps Won best First Person Shooter – the RipTen faithful were not pleased!!

No Love For Medal of Honor?

Then Olivia Munn came back out to do some horrible schtick with NPH – this poll popped up almost immediately.

wtf gusy!?

Then came the world premiere Resistance 3 trailer – the reaction was “Amazingly Meh”

Amazingly Meh Indeed

Was John Marston from RDR the best character of the year? FUCK MAYBE!!

Fuck.

Then came the big BioWare reveal which was Mass Effect 3 – The trailer provoked some excitement :-)

Poll Obviously Created By Steph Gutowski

Comedian Nick Swardson was at the event – turns out people don’t know who he is and don’t think he’s funny.

Ouch

I ran into Nick a few times last night and not only is he funny but he’s one cool dude as well – fuck all y’all!!

Up next was the God of War III GOTY trailer – our readers seemed torn on whether or not it should win.

Kratos Disapproves of Your Indecision

Sgt. Woods from CodBlOps was up for best voice acting in a game -but it turns out nobody liked any of the voice acting in Black Ops …

No Love For Ice Cube!?

Then, after much speculation – Prototype 2 was finally confirmed with a full trailer. Looks like once again, nobody really cared.

I Like Violence Too . . .

Mobile gaming keeps getting bigger – now even Epic has stepped into the arena with Infinity Blade – looks like RipTen readers are all about consoles however . . .

Angry Birds!!!!

Director Guillermo Del Toro showed a world premiere teaser trailer for his upcoming game – Insane. We weren’t scared.

Silent Hill For The Win

Then they announced the winner of Indie game of the year – Limbo. Super Meat Boy was robbed.

The People Who Voted Don't Care Have Clearly NOT Played SMB

Halo Reach was also up for Game of the Year – but it seems as if our readers were not in favor of Noble Team claiming victory.

Xbros Go Home!!

Nathan Fillion was at the show – we think he’s an underrated hero.

Nathan > Marky Mark

Finally, the Uncharted 3 trailer was unveiled in all it’s glory. It was the best looking thing that anyone had ever seen, in the history of forever – seriously.

Kayne West Agrees, Greatest of all Time!!

Well, that was all she wrote for the 2010 VGAs. We had a blast live blogging with our readers and hanging out drinking in the press room with B list celebs. Could we have taken more polls? Sure, but we were clearly too busy fapping to Mass Effect and Uncharted 3 while hating on Thor and Olivia Munn.

See you next year!!

Gears of War iPhone Edition? Epic Games VP Talks Future Mobile Gaming Dominance

Dylan Duarte — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:27:44 +0000

As part of a recent panel on paid versus free games, Epic’s Mar Rein discussed micro-transactions, budget titles, and developing for mobile platforms.

“I’d rather sell 10 million games at $25 and have a chance to sell DLC than 5 million at $50 on a disc that gets traded around. I think it’ll change, and it’ll change for the benefit of the customers. We’re definitely going to experiment with micro-transcations and lower-price games.”

Rein then elaborated, saying that he didn’t believe that downloadable games should necessarily be free.

“I’m a big proponent of AAA games. Triple-A isn’t going away, it’s going everywhere. As the quality of the games go up, the cost of the games go up, you’re going to have to monetise them better.”

I love the above statement because I love AAA titles. I also love budget titles. I don’t know which I prefer, I just know that I like both and I want them both to exist, so I’m glad to see Rein so devoted to continue producing AAA games, just as there are developers passionate about producing cheaper titles.

Rein went on to stress the important of the iPhone and iPad, calling them the “consoles of the future.” He then suggested that if mobile phone power doubled just two more times, you can play Gears of War on a mobile device.

When asked when Gears of War would become a download-only title, he said “eventually.”

[Games Industry]

Nokia Buy Symbian, Could The N-Gage Service Get a Boost?

John Kershaw — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:47:11 +0000

Mobile gaming to hold its own in the handheld market?

Nokia have announced that they will buy the mobile software firm Symbian for $410 million. They already own the largest percentage of the company, but will now buy the remaining shares from Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Panasonic, and Siemens. Could this be big news for mobile gaming? Read on for a brief discussion and mild speculation.

A Quick History Lesson
Symbian was formed in 1998 when Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Psion agreed to work together to help bridge the gap between mobile phones and PDAs. Over the coming 10 years companies were bought, sold, merged and dropped out, but Symbian remained as the partnership between several different companies.

One of the main goals of Symbian was, and still is to an extent, to provide a common operating system to span across many mobile devices, across several different manufacturers. Symbian OS was created and allowed for the first time advanced applications to be created and easily put on a large number of different mobile devices. Similar to Java applications, only running on the operating system as oppose to an emulator or virtual machine.

In 2003 Nokia finally launched the N-Gage, a gaming platform based on Nokia’s S60 platform, which uses Symbian OS at it’s core. The service was limited to a few specific N-Gage phones and never took off. The ambitious plan was to try to pull gamers away from the Game Boy Advance, but the clunky design and uninspiring game collection left the device falling far short.

The second attempt to launch the N-Gage began in 2005 when Nokia announced at E3 that they were planning on putting the N-Gage platform inside other, newer, smart phones.

Finally, after several delays, on February 4th 2008, the new N-Gage service was launched. The service now comes installed on a number of new Nokia hand sets and is also available for download to be used on other compatible phones.

Once you have the N-Gage platform, you can buy and download games for around the price of an Xbox Live game. In an interview with Pocket Gamer, Jaakko Kaidesoja, the head of New Experience at Nokia Play, said in reference to the number of games available on the platform that “[i]deally it would be 50 to 60 games released by the end of the year”.

What Does this Have to do With Nokia Buying Symbian?
As N-Gage is based on Symbian OS, the way the two interact is key to the power N-Gage based games have. Huge strides by Symbian recently have meant hardware acceleration on a mobile device is not only possible but now a practical to utilise.

With the hardware in mobile devices ever increasing in speed and efficiency, we could soon start to see games on mobile phones rivalling, at least in presentation, those found on the DS or possibly even the PSP.

Mobile games have long thought to be nothing more than passing, casual games, designed for those few minuets on the bus. Again, this could soon be changing in the mobile world. With games like BioShock getting put on mobile devices, it seems that ground typically ignored by the mobile gaming scene is, all be it slowly, being moved into.

Symbian also has the advantage of numbers. They recently celebrated the 100 millionth phone shipping with Symbian OS on it. To put that in context, the DS and PSP combined have sold just over 100 million units, with the vast majority being the DS.

Combine the rapid pace of mobile phone development with an in-house operating system and already huge install base world wide and we could, very soon, be seeing a 3rd contender in the mobile gaming race.

PS3 Phone Features Microsoft Operating System and Plays Nintendo Games

Josh Pankratz — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:29:14 +0000

That’s right folks, wrap your minds around this — a phone that features Playstation buttons, has a Microsoft Windows operating system, and plays Nintendo games. Confused yet? How about the fact that the phone was made in “Koera” — No, that’s not a typo, that’s what is printed on the phone. Sound to good to be true? That’s because it is. The Chinese made phone is very much illegal, and will probably never make it across the ocean. Even still, one can’t help but wonder what a phone with multiple emulators would be like. After doing a little research, I came up with an NES emulator for mobile phones called VNES, which claims to allow 8 bit Nintendo games to be playable on most newer series Nokia phones.

From a purely business standpoint, putting classic titles on cell phones seems like a no brainer. The arcady vibe of the late 80’s made for a pick up and play experience that lends itself well to a portable platform. Even still, it may be a while before we can legitimately get our 8 bit mobile gaming on.

With the re-releasing allot of it’s hits on Virtual Console, It’s doubtful Nintendo will part with its licensing rights for anything less than an exorbitant amount of money.

Via: mobilementalism.com