GDC 07: Trip Hawkins on Mobile Gaming's "Inferiority Complex"
by Bonnie Ruberg 
{ Mar 5th 2007 at 6:55PM }
EA founder, Digital Chocolate CEO, and self-proclaimed "slut for new media" Trip Hawkins opened up the Mobile Gaming track this morning with a talk about the potential of, well, mobile gaming. Hawkins is sick and tired of mobile gaming being a wasteland of second-hand properties, high royalty fees, and retro titles -- games that are downloaded by a tiny portion of cell phone users (5%), and even then only to "waste time.""What we need to do," he says, "is find out how to make mobile a first-rate platform," something people want to pick up to play. If we do, he claims, there are potential billions out there for mobile sales. Hawkins compares the future shift to the success of the Nintendo DS. If Nintendo handled the DS like most developers handle mobile games, he says, we'd have ended up with watered-down ports of Mario games. Instead, DS gameplay have been created with the system's features in mind, and that makes it good. Improvement like that might even clear up what Hawkins calls mobile gaming's major "inferiority complex." Does mobile gaming look fat in that dress? Yes, it does.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Goober @ Mar 5th 2007 7:04PM
I'm been a big time gamer since I purchased my first Atari 2600 and I have absolutely no interest in playing games on my cell phone. The last thing that I want is a large clumsy cell phone which would almost be required in order for it to be a competent game player. If I want to play a game on a bus I already have my Gameboy and DS for that. I have a cell phone to make phone calls.
Mr Khan @ Mar 5th 2007 7:07PM
N-Gage to the rescue!
lol
hvnlysoldr @ Mar 5th 2007 7:07PM
For the most part I agree with what he's saying. For Mobile games to compete they need to be good and they need to be so unique that only a cell phone could play them. Otherwise it'll stay in its inferior state. It could also be that people using cell phones use them for communication and not gaming.
steve17 @ Mar 5th 2007 7:08PM
wow. he basically summed up exactly how i feel about mobile gaming. i dont want old as dirt titles from yesterdecade. i dont want rpgs modelled after the original pokemon for game boy color. and i dont want nothing but half ass ports from every other system on the planet.
when they create ORIGINAL games. with AT LEAST PS2 GRAPHICS and include a SECOND THUMB-KNOB
sony, im looking at you to deliver. psp2 anyone?
make a list.
1)ORIGINAL GAMES
2)DECENT GRAPHICS (lets catch up in thsi area people, i mean seriously. its a joke)
3) 2 THUMB STICKS (give it equal capabilities to a console as far as controls go. we arnt playing N64)
do those 3 and u will have me and many other gamers very happy. i personally hate both handhelds right now. FIX IT
Rubang B @ Mar 5th 2007 7:19PM
What?! A Bonnie Ruberg post that's not about sex and games? ::head spins::
And he's right, mobile games are less than fun. I tried to play my phone's free demo of Bejeweled once while I was taking a crap. I've never crapped faster.
Psaakyrn @ Mar 5th 2007 7:24PM
to #4 steve17
Thumbsticks aren't necessary. Again, you're falling back to the inferiority complex: The average mobile has enough buttons and input measures.
Controls: 9 digit thumbpad, digital thumbstick, 2 additional buttons (only 2 feasable), camera.
Additional hardware: Network connectivity.
Here's an example of a game that cannot be done on any other platform (unless you count the PC/laptop): http://www.eyezmaze.com/tontie/v1/index.html
And it's probably achievable on the older hardware phones. With the newer hardware, more games can be created..
NintendoFanbot @ Mar 5th 2007 7:26PM
The 'cell-phone platform' (if it even exists) is garbage. There are too many differences in all the phones to agree on a 'control scheme' that would work on most phones rather than just some models.
N-Gage doesn't qualify. It is engineered as a portable gaming device that also functions as a phone, rather than a phone engineered to play games.
There are ways to make controls easier on cell-phones, but even then you couldn't get it to enough people to consider it a viable platform.
Pac-Man and Tetris are probably the best examples of games that work on cellphones. But to consider it a more serious platform isn't worth it.
Maybe Nintendo (who's patented a gaming cellphone) will prove me wrong. But more than that I hope such a Nintendo device never comes to exist. It's a step in the WAAAAAY wrong direction.
Rubang B @ Mar 5th 2007 7:30PM
Nintendo could make the next DS into a phone. No new buttons either. Just put the numpad on the touchscreen so you can dial with the stylus. Once it's a phone you'd never need Wi-fi hot spots again. Throw in some multitouch and you're done. I only want 5% of the profit.
Riff1 @ Mar 5th 2007 7:55PM
A CELL PHONE IS NOT A GAME CONSOLE. Its a cell phone.
That's reality. Get over it.
Jackson Pritt @ Mar 5th 2007 7:59PM
Goober is 100% correct.
There's already a mobile gaming market - the DS, GBA, and PSP.
Mobile phones are terrible for playing games because they're PHONES first and gaming platforms second. I'm a tech geek, but I hate, hate, HATE how cell phones are getting "upgraded" with features I don't need, that do a crap job of doing things that other items I have already do.
I want a mobile gaming platform that's made to play games. Period.
I want a cell phone that's made to make calls. Period.
Odds Bodkins @ Mar 5th 2007 9:48PM
Given how much money is being and can be eventually be made from Mobile Phone games, the platform is going nowhere.
The market is mostly causual and that's fine...there's plenty of money in that market. It's just not something the hardcore console types could understand all that much though.
Goldspire @ Mar 5th 2007 8:13PM
hmmmm, turn the next DS into a phone, hmmmmmm http://www.apple.com/iphone
OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ Mar 5th 2007 8:14PM
Jackson Pritt:
Seriously. It's getting to the point where *I'm* going to make a phone that just have the most robust phone interface possible a cell phone for people who need a cell phone.
No bright color display. No camera. In its folded state, it has a digital clock on the outside. Usable in all countries of the world. A good speaker, and a good mike. Durable as all get out.
I'd probably make a mint off of those.
steve17 @ Mar 5th 2007 8:22PM
sorry. my first post was about the DS and PSP. i dont care about phone gaming. if u can even call it gaming.
but my original post still applies to handhelds.
both the DS and PSP are substandard to anyone wanting to enjoy something that doesnt look like it came from the 64.
in my opinion neither are very good. but the reason the sell so well isnt because they rock your socks off. its cause, frankly, its the best he have. im just asking for someone to put the extra hour of work in and make handheld gaming worthwhile.
if someone could play a console or a handheld. most would choose a console. its just we cant lug TV with us everywhere.
PSP2!!! im waiting...........
NintendoFanbot @ Mar 5th 2007 8:24PM
@ steve17
But that would only justify a case for console development if all you want is more power, more 'console-like' controls.
That would be even further from game development for portables.
waruwaru @ Mar 6th 2007 1:50AM
The other problem with mobile platform is the providers wants their cut and don't want to open it up. Just take a look at how much money you need to invest before you can get something running on Brew/Verizon.
Rubang B @ Mar 5th 2007 9:50PM
But steve17, the reason that I bought 4 DS's is because they DO rock my socks off.
REUYL @ Mar 5th 2007 11:32PM
I don't want a DS, I don't want a PSP, and I sure don't want an N-Gage.
epobirs @ Mar 6th 2007 3:28AM
After close to 30 years of hearing Trip Hawkins pronouncements on various subjects, I've reached the conclusion that he has never been right about anything. His best moments were when he had good people advising him. He could be paired up with John Dvorak to form a critical mass of Wrongness to be used against an enemy we wish to subject to a fate far worse than death.
Cell phone games are downloaded as timewasters because that is their ideal application on that platform. They are a safeguard against unexpected periods of boredom when no preferable means of passing time is at hand, and as such must be a minimal commitment so that the game can be abandoned at short notice. This is a necessity because the qualities that define a good cell phone are contrary to those that define a good handheld game machine. By the same necessity a good portable gaming system would make a mediocre at best mobile phone but one that might serve in a pinch.
I'd far rather invest in separate devices that perform distinct tasks well and decide when it is worth carrying both rather than just one or the other. (The cell phone is going to win when it comes down to just one.) Frankly, I'd rather have a paperback novel as emergency reserve entertainment than a cell phone game. It does the job better and doesn't drain battery power that may be a critical need later in the day.
catfish @ Mar 6th 2007 4:36AM
Apple's Iphone has the potential to really shake things up for mobile games. It has a solid stream of distribution for developers through iTunes, and it's an all round convergence device for everyday us. The touch screen interface will allow developers to explore different ways of providing compelling game play to users, much like the Nintendo DS. The Apple Iphone has lots of things going for it, other than the price. It has a chance to make a dent in the mobile industry.
FrankTheCrank @ Mar 6th 2007 8:41AM
3DO.....LOL.
3DO.....LOL.
3DO...hahahahahaha...
Trip I still can't get over that mess called 3DO. How you ever sold Panasonic on that overpriced piece of junk is amazing.
Gamey McGee @ Mar 6th 2007 5:04PM
Is that an Amiga 1000 he's standing next to in the picture?
Amiga 4ever
James Robarts @ Mar 12th 2007 2:02PM
I agree w/Trip: phones games suck when they are essentially ports from other platforms. Compared directly to dedicated game boxes or PCs (stationary or mobile), they are grossly underpowered with poor user controls and ridiculously small displays. Considered this way, how could a phone game be considered anything except an emergency device for coping with a boredom crisis?
However, I assert that phones are a new kind of platform, one with unique capabilities that support novel and genuinly entertaining features.
My favorites rely on the increasingly ubiquitous GPS phone hardware which allows the superimposition of virtual worlds onto the physical -- no joystick needed when the game recognizes which way you're walking within a few steps of a turn.
This is not hypothetical: I've been designing, coding, and field-testing games like this since 2000. Check out www.glofun.com for examples.