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Mobile game sales have 'flatlined' photo

Aw. Every time I visit Japan, it refuels my hope that the U.S. will someday have a mobile games market that supports the release of the solid, quality titles that Japan sees. It finally seems like we're getting devices with enough power to run these Japanese-quality mobile titles, but sales aren't reflecting that.

Juniper research says that mobile game sales have "flatlined across North America and Western Europe". 

GamesIndustry.biz says that the market is expected to rise from $5.4 billion to $10 billion by 2013, but limited on-portal revenue share for publishers and poor game marketing is screwing things up.

"The revenue share offered by Apple to games publishers is incredibly attractive," said the author of the report. "The danger is that if operators do not respond with a similar business model, publishers faced with low margins may simply exit Java completely, thereby reducing consumer choice in the longer term."

I don't know if it's really the sales model that needs changing, though. It would help, but I think the quality of games is the problem here. 


Continue: More Sales Records stories





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12 comments | showing # 1 to 12

DinnertimeNinja's Avatar
DinnertimeNinja at 11/18/2008 10:52
Gee, I wonder if it's because 99% of all mobile games are worse than crap smeared on a 1.5 inch screen...
pendelton21's Avatar
pendelton21 at 11/18/2008 10:58
When a game system has a playable version of Flavor of Love, you know the system has died.
ShadeWithin's Avatar
ShadeWithin at 11/18/2008 11:06
sorry Dale, but I can never agree about the need for a mobile games market... if the quality titles they put on DS and PSP were on their respective next gen consoles, I think everyone would be better off (including Nintendo and Sony)... and cell phone games... ugh...
elsteveo's Avatar
elsteveo at 11/18/2008 11:15
Cause almost all cell phone games suck!
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 11/18/2008 11:17
I honestly could give a shit about mobile games. Even when they put a lot of work into them, they still can't match even handheld games. Besides, Japan's mobile games evolved out of a uniquely-Japanese standard of travel, where large portions of the population use public transportation and mobile phone networks were developed over the internet; I can't see such a market ever arising in America.
Tubatic's Avatar
Tubatic at 11/18/2008 11:19
It can be a quality market, but for as much revenue that is being brought in, I dont' think development, or at least the innovative mindshare, is getting a significant piece of that action. If you can get our visionary designers onto the platform, I think good things could happen, with significant "I Care" from both the gamer and casual market.

The problem, as I see it, really is the aggregation and coverage of the available technology. Mobile is really putting a mean value app on as many similar spec phones as possible. Once you get all those covered, you're figuring out what you can and can't get certified, and then, you can't really advertise meaningfully, compared to the investment.

And that's where Apple wins by their same playbook. They're designing the hardware, the firmware, and the app store. When all those parties are on the same page and running toward the same goal (or if nothing else, the same pocket), then you're free to advertise cheap applications on million dollar advertisements.

If the mobile game biz is ever going to touch the level of end user influence that Apple has, its got to start streamlining the process. Android and N-Gage are steps in the right direction. But its then a matter of scope. Until every phone comes with a truly standardized feature set, and every carrier deck cleans up its deck practices, people will continue to have no idea what to think of the mobile games sector, let alone realize that there are good things happening there.

But you know, when you're making $5.4 billion on selling games by name recognition and a 2 sentence blurb, who needs to try hard?
CelicaCrazed's Avatar
CelicaCrazed at 11/18/2008 11:44
I have played some pretty good mobile games (just about anything from Gameloft is worth it) but none of them were actually downloaded legally :S. I would if I actually knew how to get them off my provider but it's too much of a hassle to figure out myself.
Stella Wong's Avatar
Stella Wong at 11/18/2008 12:05
I wouldn't mind mobile games if they actually worked on my phone that can't even run them too well :/
Ronsauce's Avatar
Ronsauce at 11/18/2008 14:04
Yeah, I'm going to have to echo some of the other posters with a "mobile games suck" statement. Playing games on a phone just isn't fun.
Capn Birdseye's Avatar
Capn Birdseye at 11/18/2008 14:26
Quality has nothing to do with it.

People will buy any old shit if its marketed properly or they think it's cool. Look at all the retro games on XBLA
DemonEyes23's Avatar
DemonEyes23 at 11/18/2008 18:54
I've never onced wish for a "quality" cell phone game. Theres a reason that DS's and PSP's exist cellphones need to stick to what they do best which is making calls
ajaxender's Avatar
ajaxender at 11/19/2008 04:14
I agree here with DemonEyes23. Sometimes i want a decent game on my cellphone (which is a piece of shit, a decent game would probably be limited to a tetris clone) but then i realise i generally have my psp with me if i could be bored, so theres no point.
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