What's the Future of iPhone and iPad Games?

Below is my Quora answer to, What’s the Future of iPhone and iPad Games?

——

I agree with the previous answers given. Mobile gaming will be significantly different than traditional gaming largely because of these three unique characteristics:

1. Location-aware and portable
2. 24/7 access (we don’t take a sh*t without bringing our phones with us)
3. Touch screen and photo capabilities

It’s still very early and as Daniel Campos pointed out, many game creators are still trying to shove traditional, crappy controls into this new interface. We’ve already seen entirely new gaming genres not possible on PC’s or consoles - and we’re just getting started. Here are a few examples:

• Grey Area’s Shadow Cities blends cyberspace with meatspace in an augmented reality, location-based game.
• Crowdmob’s Mob Empire and Booyah’s MyTown layers a Foursquare-like check-in mechanic around an actual game.
• Rexbox’s Epic Win productivity app makes menial tasks and chores into a game.

Mobile gaming (and usage in general) will continue to boom both…

• Horizontally - More people will upgrade to smartphones as prices decrease and late adopters warm up. Dumb phones will become “applified” to support apps and games (see Blaast).
• Vertically - Unlike computers and TV, there’s a limitation on how many hours one can interact with that medium each day. Mobile, on the other hand, is always accessible.

We’re still in the very early days of mobile gaming. The current environment reminds me a lot of the web in the mid-90’s and Facebook in 2007. It will be exciting to see how it evolves and the innovations that are introduced.

——

Disclosure: I’m a Product Manager at mobile game marketing platform, PlayHaven. Feel free to contact me at ryan [at] playhaven.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback.