Do you know what I fucking hate? Mobile
phone games! Games... on mobile phones! They're inconvenient,
generic, power hungry bastards. If this is casual gaming then there's
no wonder why I'm only having a casual relationship with my phone...
yeah I got the innuendo too, yuck. My point is that, for someone who
doesn't have a car and doesn't want a car, or just like to sit about
the house, mobile gaming could be so useful as to be compulsive, yet
it infuriates me how little there is for someone like me. I'm fed up
of flinging birds, chopping fruit and pressing... fucking... JEWELS!
I'm fed up of games that have 1 dimensional game-play mechanics, no
storyline and no attempt to recreate the experience of home gaming,
be it casual or hardcore.
It's the whole idea that this is what
casual gaming is all about that really gets to me. Do you know which
games I'd consider my favourite casual games? Pokemon Red/Blue, and
The Legends of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages... and a Link to the
Past once it was ported to the GBA. Why? Because you could dip in and
out of the game as you pleased, and play for as little or as long as
you wanted too, and you could hop out of the game at any time. It
didn't matter if you were half way through a puzzle, because you'd be
right back where you left off when you resumed the game. There was no
waiting for a game over screen, and it didn't feel like the levels
were deliberate bite-sized chunks, they felt very organic. On top of
that, the stories were immersive and deep, they felt like what we've
come to expect from a big name title, because that's what they were!
And yet I could still just grab a quick 5 minutes in the back of my
parents car on the way to some ill fated swimming lessons.