Commentary: App Game Potential

App games may play a huge role in the future of gaming. Whether or not this medium becomes a widely accepted art form may heavily depend on how app games develop.

In my previous post, I discussed how app games on a whole are not as immersive as games for consoles or computers. But what if app games changed? What could happen if an app game broke away from the norm and tapped in to the full power of this medium? Games might finally break through the judgment of the media and be accepted as a true art form.

The reason would be the accessibility. Right now, video games are expensive to play. You need a console or a powerful PC to play a lot of current games, and most classic games have become almost impossible to find, let alone play.

Source: http://gamingrockson.blogspot.com/2012/09/wii-u-games-priced-at-60.html
We all know that this hobby isn’t cheap. So unless things change in the mainstream game market, the cheapness of apps may be needed to allow this medium to grow.

I’ve talked to people who think games are a waste of time, that there is nothing they can do that a book or movie can’t, and I want so badly to sit them down to play Journey, Mass Effect 2, and The Walking Dead and say, “This is what our medium is capable of.” If only it were that simple. These people don’t have consoles or $1000 computers, and the price of the games themselves isn’t cheap.

But think about how many people have smart phones. If someone made an app game that had the power of those marvelous games, something that made you think differently, that made you live your actions and experience a story, then the accessibility of that game could very well turn all conceptions of games on their heads.

Source: http://guides.gamepressure.com/thewalkingdead/guide.asp?ID=16773
If an app game could make you think about the idea of mercy, what it means to be human, this medium would only benefit.

An easily-accessible game like that could reshape the entire world’s view on gaming.

Commentary: App Game Immersion

Can an app game immerse you?

When playing games, it’s not uncommon to experience a sort of Zen state, where you forget that you’re using a controller or a keyboard and mouse. You are the character. You are physically doing everything on screen. In games like Journey, you forget the world around you and just live the experience.

But can app games generate that same sensation?

App games keep growing in popularity. More and more people play them to kill time while waiting in line or riding the bus, but do these games offer the player any sort of immersion? Can they evoke emotion or spark critical thought?

Source: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/01/21/journey-once-more-into-the-desert/
Look at the games in the app store. Can any of them draw you in like a PC or console game? Can they make you cry? Can they change the way you think about the world?

At the moment, I say no, or at least I’d say that the majority of app games can’t do this. There might be a few rhythm games that achieve Zen, but the rest don’t offer much in the way of immersion, and there could be a few reasons for that.

Freemium games make their money through micro-transactions and ads. While playing, you’re either interrupted or distracted by an ad, or reminded that you can pay for special items and power-ups. Those distractions keep you rooted in reality, disconnected from the gaming experience.

Source: http://www.iosnoops.com/2011/03/17/angry-birds-hd-advertising-screw-up-why-ads-in-paid-apps-are-a-big-no-no/
I don’t know about you, but ads take me out of an experience. If freemium games ever wanted to be more than just a time killer, ads would have to go.

And the very platform itself does little to allow immersion. Smart phone games keep you very much aware of how you’re interacting with the world. Your fingers touch the screen to perform actions. It’s like watching a puppet show with the puppeteer’s hands in plain sight.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5971263/finger-tied-is-like-a-game-of-naked-twister-you-play-with-your-hands
Even with an iPad, your fingers interfere with the action, keeping you at a distance.

You can’t get lost in a world or a story this way. You can’t truly immerse yourself and experience the full power of this art form with the way app games are now.