Smartphones Will Become the Only Device Hardcore Gamers Need - Polidicks

If I could have a smartphone that was powerful enough for modern games it could work. As long as you plug it into a dock station for a monitor with a keyboard + mouse or something similar. I wouldn't mind replacing big stationary computers with a tiny phone that you just plug in whenever you need it.

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;35847913]If I could have a smartphone that was powerful enough for modern games it could work. As long as you plug it into a dock station for a monitor with a keyboard + mouse or something similar. I wouldn't mind replacing big stationary computers with a tiny phone that you just plug in whenever you need it.[/QUOTE] yeah but a stationary computer would still be far more powerful [editline]6th May 2012[/editline] as nice as it'd be, doesn't really work that well.

[QUOTE=Murkat;35845981]Hardcore gamer and Angry Birds are two things that do not fit in the same article.[/QUOTE] Here's some perspective, games like Angry Birds and Tetris would have been called hardcore video games 30 years ago.

...While I will buy a pc contemporary with these phones that will be at least 10x more powerful It's pretty obvious that large hardware is always going to be more powerful than small hardware, hence why mobile gaming will never completely take over

The media has proven once again that they've got no clue about gaming. Everyone and his grandmother has one + You can play games on it =/= Hardcore Gaming Console.

[QUOTE=RobbL;35848026]...While I will buy a pc contemporary with these phones that will be at least 10x more powerful It's pretty obvious that large hardware is always going to be more powerful than small hardware, hence why mobile gaming will never completely take over[/QUOTE] How much more processing power do you need? To be considered a "gamer" (let alone hardcore) you need to have played classics like Ocarina of Time. You can play that on a handheld now. Heck, you can probably play it on a smartphone now. Say what you want about controls but remember the silliness that was the N64 controller. What are the requirements needed to be considered a hardcore gamer anyway?

[QUOTE=Jabberwocky;35848199]What are the requirements needed to be considered a hardcore gamer anyway?[/QUOTE]Someone who plays often and plays a lot of games that are a bit more complicated than angry birds.

I have a Motorola Droid2, I can play GTA3 and crap on it, and I still carry my Dingoo A320 with me everywhere I go. Title forgets that sometimes, we just want some fun. (Also, unless Android's Toolchain is improved upon, people ain't porting much shit to it.) [editline]6th May 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Jabberwocky;35847956]Here's some perspective, games like Angry Birds and Tetris would have been called hardcore video games 30 years ago.[/QUOTE] You can't have hardcore gaming when you still don't have the idea of Casual Gaming. That's like having the idea of beauty without having the ugly, you just can't.

[QUOTE=JohnnyOnFlame;35848434] You can't have hardcore gaming when you still don't have the idea of Casual Gaming. That's like having the idea of beauty without having the ugly, you just can't.[/QUOTE] But we have. Ideas and definitions change with time. Today casual games are the ones where you sit down, relax and play them a bit. Mostly timewasters. A game with no long term goal can be considered casual too.

I'll stick with mouse and keyboard, thanks.

[QUOTE=lapsus_;35848871]I'll stick with mouse and keyboard, thanks.[/QUOTE] You can't play games on that alone

I don't see smart phones taking over, I would honestly see PC's staying the always underrated gaming platform and portable taking over consoles

[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;35845806]The screens are tiny[/QUOTE] Phones (like my Galaxy Nexus) have HDMI-out over the MicroUSB. Meaning you can hook it up to a TV or computer monitor. [editline]6th May 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;35848322]Someone who plays often and plays a lot of games that are a bit more complicated than angry birds.[/QUOTE] You mean like OoT, which he mentioned? OoT will run on an Android phone with an N64 emulator.

[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;35849271] You mean like OoT, which he mentioned? OoT will run on an Android phone with an N64 emulator.[/QUOTE] Not entirely. Retro gamer =/= hardcore gamer

They can take my Keyboard when they pry it from my cold, dead, hands!

[QUOTE=CP-26;35849889]They can take my Keyboard when they pry it from my cold, dead, hands![/QUOTE] I like keyboards you better count to 3 because I'm about to pry that thing off of you and add to my collection! [QUOTE=Jabberwocky;35848199]How much more processing power do you need? To be considered a "gamer" (let alone hardcore) you need to have played classics like Ocarina of Time. You can play that on a handheld now. Heck, you can probably play it on a smartphone now. Say what you want about controls but remember the silliness that was the N64 controller. What are the requirements needed to be considered a hardcore gamer anyway?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=J!NX;35847265]"Hardcore gamers" are apparently extreme casuals/regulars. they don't get it do they? A hardcore gamer is going to be wanting the [I]very best[/I] system even possible (Compter for raw power, or console for mass popularity). They'd play at home with a big system, something actually power, and they'll play to win, and only to win, and at the highest difficulties because that's what they do. Not play something like Mario kart or angry birds, but something like TF2/Quake/StarCraft. even if that does get to play CSS or whatever it'll still be very behind, so I really don't see it replacing anything like the article tries to act like it might. It gives the vibe it is.[/QUOTE] Hardcore = someone that basically plays competitively / hard games. play purely to win and have a good challange.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;35848849]But we have. Ideas and definitions change with time. Today casual games are the ones where you sit down, relax and play them a bit. Mostly timewasters. A game with no long term goal can be considered casual too.[/QUOTE] Either bad reading, playing dumb or plain dumb. I've said that BACK IN THE DAY where such "games would be hardcore" they wouldn't be considered so because the idea of hardcore/casual gaming wasn't formed yet.

[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;35845806]The screens are tiny and desktops will always be more powerful for one simple reason: let's say that you have a phone. This phone is INSANELY powerful- They've somehow managed to get 1 tb of RAM into it, and they made a processor as powerful as ten current ones that's only the size of a sim card. Now, take all that technology, and imagine how much MORE of it you'd be able to fit into a fullsize computer..[/QUOTE] Yes, of course, but who gives a fuck? Do you absolutely need to play Crysis on your phone? Don't get confused, the smartphone will never equal a desktop in computing power, but eventually it will have the power to be a surrogate PC in a pinch. The Lapdock with a mouse attached could be a viable concept for how you could pull off some gaming, the Phonejoy is viable for when you want to play console games, and the Padfone is probably the best example of what could be done in terms of changing screen sizes.

Technology is certainly advancing rapidly enough for this to be a possibility. You laugh now, but we'll be able to hold computers more powerful than the monster gaming desktops we've got now in the palms of our hands in ten years (and that's a very conservative estimate; we'll likely have it in five). As always, it'll be supply and demand that dictates the path that our technology evolves on. If the people demand more powerful computers in smaller packages, that's what we'll get.

One thing these people seem to fail to understand is that gaming in your own home, on your PC is the right gaming atmosphere. Not only will a PC remain ever ahead of any other platform or handheld, it's the right setting to play games. When I played Metro 2033, I'm pretty sure playing it in near darkness in my room was a much better choice than, say, playing it for half an hour in a well-lit place while you wait for something, which is what handhelds and app games are meant for anyway...

[QUOTE=just-a-boy;35854027]One thing these people seem to fail to understand is that gaming in your own home, on your PC is the right gaming atmosphere. Not only will a PC remain ever ahead of any other platform or handheld, it's the right setting to play games. When I played Metro 2033, I'm pretty sure playing it in near darkness in my room was a much better choice than, say, playing it for half an hour in a well-lit place while you wait for something, which is what handhelds and app games are meant for anyway...[/QUOTE] That's true, but seeing as how "hardcore" gaming is basically CoD to most people, and how Quake 3 already is above 120 fps on modern phones, I don't think it's a big jump to say that we could have decent FPSes on smartphones. Just plug into a bigger screen/keyboard/mouse and you're set.

I saw a guy in my college turn around constantly in a very ridiculous manner with his smartphone in his hand. Turns out he was playing a first person shooter game, the only way to turn around in the game was by turning yourself around entirely. ~realism~

Well, what about cloud gaming? name a single reason developers wouldn't like it? Near perfect DRM, is one reason they would love it.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;35861145]Well, what about cloud gaming? name a single reason developers wouldn't like it? Near perfect DRM, is one reason they would love it.[/QUOTE]Everyone has shit internet. Plus it uses quite a bit of bandwidth. The picture also looks worse.

[QUOTE=Jabberwocky;35848199]How much more processing power do you need? To be considered a "gamer" (let alone hardcore) you need to have played classics like Ocarina of Time. You can play that on a handheld now. Heck, you can probably play it on a smartphone now. Say what you want about controls but remember the silliness that was the N64 controller. What are the requirements needed to be considered a hardcore gamer anyway?[/QUOTE] To be considered a hardcore gamer, you must play games at least to an extent competitively and games that require at least some modicum of finesse and skill. It doesn't matter what kind of games you've played in the past or didn't What matter is what you play and how you play it. For instance playing a game like mario kart, even with a competitive mindset won't make a hardcoregamer, because the competition there is staked up. In that regard very few handheld games, or even sp games can be considered hardcore. [QUOTE=thelurker1234;35861145]Well, what about cloud gaming? name a single reason developers wouldn't like it? Near perfect DRM, is one reason they would love it.[/QUOTE] Control latency. Devs might like (though it costs a bucketload to run the servers) but players will generally hate it because it adds additional latency to what they're trying to do. And the more competitive games, the bigger the issue latency is. [QUOTE=TehDoctorz;35840361]Did you guys read the damn article? It said the phone would act as the console, and the controllers and TV or monitor would be separate. It is completely plausible. I can envision phones becoming the one electronic device as center for everything. You guys are seriously basing future predictions, on current ideas and trends.[/QUOTE] We get the article. But the main problem still remains. While the phone might be strong enough to run a game it won't have a bundled control scheme. Essentially if you're dev, you'r going to primary target the control scheme, you know that everyone that has the platform will have. If you have a phone you don't have a guaranteed input method, because phones don't get bundled with a controller. While a device like that is nice for emulators (and it actually works fairly decent as that) it's not good developer security for main games. It's essentially the reason why two decadesago the primary controller on the pc was ajoystick while today it's a controller on consoles and the KB and mouse on the pc. It's because these control schemes are directly bundled with the system in question. A phone is too generic a device for that. Just like the pc is. But KB+mouse are useable as opposed to touch.

[QUOTE=wraithcat;35862227]Control latency. Devs might like (though it costs a bucketload to run the servers) but players will generally hate it because it adds additional latency to what they're trying to do. And the more competitive games, the bigger the issue latency is.[/QUOTE] Let's not forget video compression and artifacting. It looks pretty bad in comparison to the game running on your PC.

[QUOTE=wraithcat;35862227]To be considered a hardcore gamer, you must play games at least to an extent competitively and games that require at least some modicum of finesse and skill. It doesn't matter what kind of games you've played in the past or didn't What matter is what you play and how you play it. For instance playing a game like mario kart, even with a competitive mindset won't make a hardcoregamer, because the competition there is staked up. In that regard very few handheld games, or even sp games can be considered hardcore. Control latency. Devs might like (though it costs a bucketload to run the servers) but players will generally hate it because it adds additional latency to what they're trying to do. And the more competitive games, the bigger the issue latency is. We get the article. But the main problem still remains. While the phone might be strong enough to run a game it won't have a bundled control scheme. Essentially if you're dev, you'r going to primary target the control scheme, you know that everyone that has the platform will have. If you have a phone you don't have a guaranteed input method, because phones don't get bundled with a controller. While a device like that is nice for emulators (and it actually works fairly decent as that) it's not good developer security for main games. It's essentially the reason why two decadesago the primary controller on the pc was ajoystick while today it's a controller on consoles and the KB and mouse on the pc. It's because these control schemes are directly bundled with the system in question. A phone is too generic a device for that. Just like the pc is. But KB+mouse are useable as opposed to touch.[/QUOTE] Take a look at the Transformer Prime. I'd say that it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that it's a viable platform to target.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;35852873]Technology is certainly advancing rapidly enough for this to be a possibility. You laugh now, but we'll be able to hold computers more powerful than the monster gaming desktops we've got now in the palms of our hands in ten years (and that's a very conservative estimate; we'll likely have it in five). As always, it'll be supply and demand that dictates the path that our technology evolves on. If the people demand more powerful computers in smaller packages, that's what we'll get.[/QUOTE] yeah but, within ten years the computers of that time will be insanely powerful obviously though smart phones will get up to that, but it won't be close to what else would be available. and IMHO, a phone that good would be nice but, I don't think anyone will take me away from the joy of putting in new parts on a computer and getting a much more powerful killer.