Gaming: More Than a One-Platform Pony

The gaming industry is one of the most competitive with the developers always trying to produce the “game of the year” and drag their consumers away from the versions created by their rivals. You only have to look at some of the fiercest gaming rivalries of all time – FIFA vs. Pro Evo to give just one example – and the consumers are certainly piling the pressure on…

As technologies develop and more and more concepts are unveiled at conventions and press announcements, the consumers decide that they want to see all of these latest innovations incorporated into the next version of their favourite game and the developers subsequently have to find a way to satisfy this demand.

To help achieve this, the developers have had to find a new way of reaching out to the audience. They can no longer just incorporate the latest graphic updates or making a “special edition” of the game, because they’re all at it. They need to get back to finding that USP that attracted them to their games in the first place. So what have they done?

In truth, they’ve not really done a great deal in terms of developing the games themselves, but they’ve reached out to a wider audience of gamer. In recent years, people have been able to play more and more games online – and there are huge numbers of types of online sites you can play at that are free or require some form of payment – and the developers have taken these concepts mobile.

The development of the smartphone and tablet have opened more doors to the games developers, allowing them to sell even more copies of their games to people who might not have purchased them on the original platform. Multi-platform gaming is now one of the most popular forms, allowing gamers to play at home, on the move and whenever they want to. No longer is it essential for them to sit down in front of the bedroom or living room television to play on the console to the annoyance of their housemates or family, they can play any time they like.

This is by no means just a new way for the developers to make some easy money by selling alternative versions of the same game, however. Many skeptics have commented on the likes of the FIFA game being released as an “app” rather than sticking solely to the PlayStation or Xbox, but the fact is that they’ve been a success! They’ve sold by the thousand and have allowed people to play on their iPods, tablets and smartphones and they’ve had similar reviews to those played on the consoles.

Online gaming has played a huge part in the development of multi-platform gaming, showing that computer games don’t have to be played on a console to be groundbreaking and globally popular. From simple games played with the click of a mouse or tap of a left or right key on the keyboard, to more complex versions that require interaction with other gamers and you can play with dozens of people at any one time. As more and more games utilize what the Internet has to offer, the better they are going to get and this can only be a good thing for the world of gaming – both on a single and multi-platform level.

This article was written by UK- based technology and gaming enthusiast Matt Rawlings. As a smartphone, tablet and console owner, Matt values the high quality of games hitting the market in 2013.