By When the first Gameboy hit shelves back in 1989, few could have imagined how handheld gaming would transform over the next two decades. Even fewer could have imagined that one day we would have devices that merged both a portable telephone and portable gaming device in a package far smaller than that first effort from Nintendo. Since those early days, other companies such as Sony have jumped into the market, and in of 2009 the two gaming giants held a 81 percent share of handheld revenue. Android and iOS shared the rest at 19 percent. This was when smartphone gaming was still young and industry experts first began wondering if the emerging technology would emerge as a top platform for game distribution.
Sine 2009 Android and iOS have begun to take a larger hold of the handheld gaming space. Angry Birds has emerged as a cultural icon and near-console quality titles have appeared in the wake of dual-core processors and advanced screen technology becoming standard. And for the first time ever Android and iOS gaming has overtaken traditional handheld gaming with a 58 percent revenue share, according to Flurry Analytics.
Nintendo has taken the stand that they won’t soon enter into smartphone gaming. Sony has taken a different approach with the release of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and the Playstation Suite. Given the latest figures, perhaps it is time for Nintendo to reconsider their position.
[via Android and Me]
The DS & the PSP vs every mobile device on the market? Yeah, not that surprising. Now if this was about the Playstation 3 & the Xbox 360 vs the mobile market; now THAT would be surprising.
mobile gaming beat handheld game console right now, new technology of smartphone is more interesting than handheld gaming http://allinonegadget.blogspot.com/
…..interesting. The casual market has taken over.
Another reason for all this could also be that most people have the phone anyway, so getting games for it isn’t a big deal, but buying a portable console is a separate purchase. Its also easier to get away with gaming on a phone at work, because its also a phone and not just a gaming device.
Number 1 reason = affordable
Like i said the tranformer prime already is more powerful than the psvita comming out 3 months later in februaury ( for a life span for 5 years?) Console life, while android gets more powerful by the quarter! Even faster than the pc.
Android went from single core to a quad core within one year!
You have to realize when looking at this that Nintendo has had a series of banner years. They’re still doing great. Phones as of yet haven’t really started eating into their market. Mobile gaming has created an entirely new market which has roped in the consumer masses who’ve never considered themselves gamers.
Now would be the right time for the Sega Genesis phone.
I don’t care about mobile or console games. I’m going to play ArmA2 on my PC with all these mods and custom keybindings on my sidewinder keyboard.
I think there are 2 issues….. One is that more and more people already have a smartphone and so there is no extra cost to buying a handheld console. The phones are getting more and more powerful and so the need for the additional hardware becomes less and less. The other reason is cost. Buying games for the handheld consoles are expensive relative to the inexpensive games in the market. Maybe it is time for Nintendo to pair up with sharp or some other company and make the DS Phone?
I’m 100 percent a sony fanboy. I have the psp phone and the psp go. In all honesty I like my phone more than my other two plays. It has a better screen and is sexier to look at, also is hells more affordable to keep up on games.