The Evolution of Mobile Gaming

Today, about 60% of all gamers do it on their mobile devices. Mobile devices offer convenience, the ability to play games on the go and a personalised gaming experience. However, it was not that way in the past. Games were made with the desktop in mind, which meant that one had to be in front of a workstation to enjoy a game.

A lot has changed from when mobile devices were first introduced to the market. Now you can play 3D games, casino games, video games, collaborate with other players online or try a skill. Mobile casinos also accept payments in fiat and cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, USDT and Litecoin are some of the common e-currencies on mobile gaming platforms. USDT on Casino.Guide provides you with the key details of the coin for gambling.

Let’s look at the evolution of mobile gaming technology.

Formative Years

The first mobile phone game was released in 1996. It was called Tetris and it was to be played on the Hagenuk MT-2000. However, it did not generate any excitement. The real excitement came when Nokia released its Snake game in 1996 and started by installing it on the Nokia 6610. The love for this game remains even today.

At the time, mobile devices were monochrome feature phones with limited capability. Years later, technology evolved with the introduction of multicolour devices. It was at the same time that the Wireless Application Protocol was developed, which allowed devices to be connected to the internet. The ability to access the internet revolutionised gaming by a significant margin.

Now, players could access games online with a few clicks. However, due to the limitations of mobile devices, they could only play simple board games such as Connect 4. This brought excitement across the board, with online gaming catching up with mobile device owners.

Further Improvement in Gaming

In the early 2000s, it became possible for players to collaborate online. They could sell icons and characters and sometimes compete. One of the earliest games in the period was the Alien Fish Exchange. This game allowed players to breed an alien fish and sell it to friends or virtual restaurants.

By 2001, there were arcade-like games available on mobile devices. One of the most popular was Space Invaders. The game was in monochrome, but generated lots of interest among mobile device users. The game later became multicoloured when newer devices came into the market.

The Arrival of Racing Games

Around 2003, colour phones with larger memory began to appear on the market. Soon, they became the most popular devices on the market. The change from monochrome devices led to big-time game publishers such as EA to release games on mobile devices. One of the most popular racing games was Asphalt GT, which was released by Gameloft in 2004. For the next two years, racing was the main genre on mobile devices.

The Entry of Touchscreen Devices

The next frontier in mobile gaming came about in 2007 when Apple released its first touchscreen device. The device had better graphics, more storage capacity and greater computing power. In 2008, Apple launched the Appstore where game developers could sell games to its customers without the publisher and telecommunication companies getting a cut.

This marked the start of the true growth in mobile gaming. Any developer out there could come up with a game idea, execute it and sell their game straight from the Appstore. The iPhone became the dominant mobile platform for gamers.

Other leading mobile platforms followed suit, with Android (Java-based) and Windows launching their own mobile app stores. Soon, Microsoft exited the stage, leaving Android and iOS to dominate the app store market and mobile systems. From then on, games either appeared on Android or iOS platforms. Most developers were keen to have games for both platforms.

Adding More Fun to Games

Mobile devices continued to evolve with better graphics and computing power. From 2009, developers also started creating complex games. Many of the games combined some skill with luck and were a lot of fun. One of the most memorable games to be released to the market was Angry Birds. This was a physics-based game where the player launched cartoonish-looking birds to crash into animals that store their eggs.

At the same time, games were overflowing into app stores. Players now had a choice of luck, basic, mind and education-based games. This has continued even today.

The Entry of Social Gaming

Social gaming involves playing freemium games on social media platforms. These games were generally free, with the option to purchase additional features such as more lives, more firepower, or access to premium scenes. Some of the notable social gaming companies were King, which released Candy Crush Saga in 2012 and Farmville. These games had a combined player base of over 150 million by 2012 In the next two years, the games saw over 400 million players, with their revenues skyrocketing.

The Newest Technology in Mobile Gaming

Mobile gaming is still evolving. Smartphones are now sleeker and smarter, allowing millions to play their favourite games on the go. Some of the futuristic technologies that have joined the gaming market include cloud gaming, AI-powered games, virtual reality and augmented reality.

Cloud gaming involves consuming gaming as a service by connecting to games hosted in the cloud. It enables any device to access high-quality games without having the required computing power. On the other hand, AI-powered games utilise the power of machine learning to modify games according to the user’s response. This enables games to keep changing, which is quite fun.

Virtual reality uses a superimposed 3D environment and gear to enable the user to interact with the virtual elements as if they were inside that world. On the other hand, augmented reality combines the virtual world with the natural one, enabling players to interact with characters as if they were real. Both technologies now enable an immersive gaming experience for mobile players.