All the way back in 2007, Apple’s introduction of the iPhone seemed like it would revolutionize mobile gaming. Though Nokia had tried a hybrid phone/portable game console all the way back in 2003—the questionably-designed and forgettable N-Gage—there was a lot of promise for smaller game developers in a phone that happened to be smart enough to play video games, even if it wasn’t designed specifically for it. Prior to the modern smartphone, gaming away from a TV set meant buying a dedicated device for it, a market dominated by Nintendo. And while Nintendo did a lot of great things with portable gaming, it wasn’t an environment with much room for indie designers. The iPhone and subsequent Android smartphones let game designers sell their games to people who might not be “gamer” enough to own a Game Boy.
And then, like so many other things, greed and market stupidity broke it.
On the dedicated gaming side of things, a new game for the Nintendo 3DS costs $35-40. That’s fine if you’re the sort of person who would drop $200 for a dedicated portable game console in the first place—and cheap compared to the $60 price tag for new home console games.