Loose Threads: How can mobiles be better designed for playing games?

For as long as mobile gaming has been around there have been complaints about how they are controlled. Here at Pocket Gamer we love mobile games; we spend hours every week playing them and even we think that the interfaces handsets sport for mobile gaming have a long way to go.

Of course, developments are being made but so far there has been no one advancement that looks like it will be adopted as the standard. Last week we put the question to you and it seems that gamers as much as developers are still collectively undecided about what they want.

One of our forum's clearest voices, danskmacabre, got in on the discussion good and early:

"For me, I don't think it would be a great idea to have a serious mobile phone/gaming unit. First of all, I'd have to pretty much charge it up every day, which would be a pain, since It'd be sucking up power as a phone and for gaming. "It'd probably be bigger as well, which is also annoying, as I like my mobile nice and small to fit in my pocket easily. It'd need to be really rugged, as I treat my mobile pretty badly, as opposed to my DS, which has a screen protector and a bag I always put it in after I have finished with it. Plus I don't chuck it about like my phone, as I know it's more delicate."

It's true a gaming phone could solve many control issues though danskmacabre is right on the money with the possible pitfalls of such a device. Then there is the fact that a gaming-specific device would most likely be bought solely by more dedicated gamers, leaving the casual crowd high and dry. SetsFireToPoshHammer joined the discussion with an idea about a possibly more ubiquitous solution:

"To be honest I really think the touchscreen is the way forward. Shoehorning a D-pad and buttons set up onto a mobile just doesn't sit right with me. "It also makes sense from a content perspective. What the DS and mobiles have in common is casual gaming and the DS has proven that the touchscreen is a big draw in that area so surely it would be great for mobiles, too."

Current thinking suggests that whether it is a good idea for mobiles or not, touchscreens will play an increasing role in mobile gaming over the next couple of years, inviting all manner of extra headaches for developers already at a stretch for the handsets they can cater to. Sidestepping the argument, Mandark brought up a more recent innovation:

"Zeemote is a clever idea but I couldn't ever see it being mass market. Only hardcore gamers would buy an accessory to play games on their mobile, so it would have to be offered free to most people. Also it's so dinky, a lot of people would lose it. "I like the idea of motion sensing gaming but I've not seen how it works. I agree that touchscreen will be a useful addition for mobile gaming. I'd also like to see mini D-pads. They won't be great but they'll be better than the current soft key set-ups."

Relative newcomer Accelorata Jengold seemed to agree on the mini D-pad front, though as a conclusion to the discussion it only underlined how disparate people's opinions on this issue are:

"What about the N95/96? They both have some reasonably unobtrusive controls built into the design that are perfect for gaming without making the device seem to someone who is uninterested in mobile gaming (fools) that it is singularly designed for that purpose (like the maligned N-Gage pastie). "Having the option to turn a phone on its side with gaming controls either side of the screen is a silent innovation from Nokia that other manufacturers seem to have overlooked. It's always the simple things that work and I reckon Nokia might have nailed it. More handsets with that for me please."

Well, here's hoping the world's handset manufacturers aren't relying on our forum to light the way, as it seems mobile gamers are still undecided on where the industry should go from here. One thing is for sure, there is a desire for change and we're bound to see some ideas even more outlandish than the Zeemote or motion sensing mobile gaming before the industry settles on a solution.

And so on with next week's topic of discussion:

Does the PSP really need all those multimedia accessories?

Full details can be found over on our forum.

That's it for now, be sure to have a look at our Loose Threads archive to see if there are any topics you think could do with a second look. And click 'Track It!' to be sure to catch next week's edition, of course.