Mobile gaming, apart from simple casual games, still holds a niche existence here. For many gamers, playing on a touchscreen is too fiddly. Our author Jürgen thinks this could soon change thanks to new foldable smartphones.
What is the problem with mobile gaming? Mobile gaming still struggles here. A quick round of casual games like Candy Crush and Clash of Clans as well as card games like Hearthstone are okay, but a large part of the target audience of gamers still can’t get excited about serious gaming. The reasons are manifold, but often you hear the following arguments:
- “The controls are a complete mess on the touchpad; I can’t see anything because my fingers are in the way!”
- “The screens are too small; you can’t see anything!”
- “You can’t get a real gaming feeling on a mobile device!”
Unlike in Asia, where the mobile networks are better and gamers seem to be less bothered by the technical limitations of mobile devices, mobile gaming has found little joy among “real” gamers here for the aforementioned reasons. They still prefer to game on consoles or PCs.
Or on specialized gaming handhelds, like the Nintendo Switch. After all, it has a larger display and controllers that are outside the screen.
However, a new technical innovation could soon change that.
Foldable Phones are the Future
This is how I wish for mobile gaming: I, Jürgen, love mobile gaming. I dream of a day when I can play every game irrespective of the platform, both at home on the PC and on the mobile device. Fortnite does this well, but how great would it be if that could happen for all games someday?
But I am hindered by the same limitations I mentioned above, which make mobile gaming unpopular here in the West among the target audience.
That’s why I find foldable phones amazing: I became all the more interested when I heard about the first smartphones with foldable displays. “If this works, it could be really cool for mobile games!” were my immediate thoughts. Because the new displays can seemingly unfold without negative effects, effectively doubling the display size or even making it larger.
With this, one would have the portability of a phone and the display size of a tablet in one.
However, gamers who want to play more than simple clicker games and card games are likely to get their money’s worth with foldable phones. In a video by tech expert Dave Lee on YouTube, a foldable phone of the brand Huawei Mate X is shown. The user plays a kind of MOBA game, which requires a lot of action and interaction. Looks like Arena of Valor.
The game looks like a typical mobile game on the folded phone. Nice, but far too unwieldy due to the relatively small display and fingers in the way.
However, when the device is unfolded to a proud 8 inches (the size of an iPad Mini 4), you can finally see properly what’s actually happening. The touchscreen controls are further down on the screen and can be operated without losing sight of the game.
Thus, Dave Lee’s conclusion also sees foldable phones as well-suited for mobile gaming of high-quality titles. Check out the video starting at 0:50 to get an impression of what it might look like.
I see it the same way. With a high-quality device and a large foldable display, I could – assuming good mobile connectivity – also game high-quality shooters, MMORPGs, and MOBAs on the go, eliminating many of the disadvantages of mobile gaming.
That’s why it will take a while until mobile gaming takes off here: Unfortunately, the new foldable phones, like the mentioned Huawei Mate X or the brand new Samsung Galaxy Fold, are currently only attractive for early adopters with deep pockets. The devices cost around 2,000 euros and up and are likely to still have some teething problems in the first generation.
But if foldable devices establish themselves fundamentally – and everything is currently pointing in that direction – then in a maximum of 2 years, once the third or even fourth generation of foldables hits the market, they should also become affordable for regular users.
And then effective mobile gaming of high-quality titles could finally establish itself here in the West and perhaps make my dream of limitless gaming come true.
But that’s my opinion. What do you think about foldable phones? Will they be the new standard and especially in gaming set new trends? Or do you not think much of such gimmicks and even less of mobile gaming?
