Remember when we used to call them "handheld games"? But when mobile phones start having games, we called them "mobile" games from day 1. Why the distinction? It's like we knew how these games are not the same as the other ones. There was something that differentiates them. Some will say it's because the device is called a "mobile" phone, i think it's because the quality of the games was at a different rank, that of shit.
I believe the quality problem started by the fact that phones are not designed for gaming. They are not good for that, they never were. They are just devices everyone and their mother carry so that's the only reason they are used. That's why mobile games where simple, casual and more about time killing than having actual fun.
I always thought gaming is not about "killing time" though. It's always about having fun for me. You can have other things to do and still pick gaming because it's more fun that some other activity. But all games on phone i ever played felt like time killers, not fun games. Like, you don't have anything else to do waiting for the bus so that's a better option i guess? I would never choose to play them if i have more choices. Even on the bus i prefer listening to music or idling browse the internet than playing those "games".
Of course now, they are more than just time killers. Now they exploit people's gambling addictions or the small dopamine surges of earning something shiny that glows. There's no "gameplay" or "game design". There's no difficulty balance. The "game" is either impossible/takes forever to progress, or it's too easy and trivial if you pay for abilities, "boosters", etc. There's no skill or strategic thinking involved. There is no satisfaction of overcoming a challenge, there's only the satisfaction of a shiny, glowing thing you added in your collection of shiny things that glow.
I just tried Mario Kart Tour. I thought, hey, it's been a while since i tried a mobile game. And this is Mario Kart, by Nintendo. I love Mario Kart, i have all the games, this is the only one i never tried. So i did. And what the hell was that shit? This is not Mario Kart. It's some kind of collectathon where you spend more time in menus and opening "presents" and things you earn left and right and less time racing. They even made it so every race ends at two rounds. And the gameplay during those rounds? The controls are so awful, the game almost plays by itself. There is no way to get out of the road for instance, the game automatically pushes you back on track. I mean, it's touch controls. The worst controls ever created, even worse than randomly waggling the Wiimote. At least for the majority of genres. It's great for turn based strategy games where you pick things but for racing? Or most other things? Not so much.
Now it's the time where someone will interrupt by saying "not all mobile games are like that" and "you should play this game and that game". Eh, no. I used to try almost every game everyone ever suggested to me in the past. I think the only game i ever enjoyed was a Game Dev simulation, i don't remember the exact title. And that got boring after the first time you became a successful, big dev, which didn't really require too much thinking or strategy tbh. That's it. And eve if there's one masterpiece or two, having one every 100 shitty apps is not good enough for a "not all games are bad" argument. And that's not a hyperbole, i truly believe if there's one good game, there should be at least 100 crapy ones to compensate.
So it's bad but is it damaging? Does it poison the actual gaming in consoles and PCs? I think it does. There is no handheld gaming anymore, for instance. Even Nintendo doesn't have a handheld device anymore, they have a "hybrid". Because now handheld gaming is permanently associated with "killing time" not fun. That and gambling/shitty/casual apps. There's also the case of game IPs getting murdered after going mobile. Dungeon Keeper being the one that hurt most for me. Mobile gaming is also so successful (because of the way it exploits people with very easy to make and cheap apps) that it's seen as easy money for devs and studios. So the mobile space is stealing devs and studios from gaming and rarely the other way around. So many studios, devs, recourses, time, wasted for making useless mobile apps. And if that's not enough, a lot of devs who refuse to go mobile still use mobile app practices in their console/PC games. All this gambling loot boxes, shiny item collecting and monetization is poisoning the console/PC space for a while now.
I remember some forum discussions many years ago, where this case was argued. There was a lot of debate. Is there such a debate anymore? Just making sure.
