For years the mobile gaming has been dominated by consoles. Games you can play on your smartphone and tablet have been casual, social, cute games of little interest to *serious* gamers. But a couple of exciting discoveries from the recent PAX East expo floor demonstrate a serious change in the wind as far as what is available and possible on tablet computers and smartphones.
The Moga Controller
I can’t imagine how many thousands of these Bluetooth controllers they handed out at PAX, but the fact that they were giving these out speaks volumes for the company’s confidence that the controller will help drive more gaming onto smartphones and tablets.
Specifically for Android, this controller which is about the size of a smartphone provides all the basics you expect from a standard console controller… two analog directional sticks, two front trigger-buttons and a quartet of action buttons. It comes with free downloads of Pac Man and Sonic, and a free app that helps you find more games compatible with the controller. The Moga website lists many recognizable titles like:
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- The Dark Knight Rises
- NFL Pro: 2013
- Drift Mania Championship
Breach and Clear
Kentucky-based Gun Media is building an amazing special-forces-based strategy game from the ground up for tablet computers. Partnered with Mighty Rabbit Studios this innovative and diligent group is dedicated to bringing a free-to-play tactical action game, optimized for your tablet computer to life. They’ve partnered with real special forces personnel to get the motion capture action just right, and have paid attention to every detail.
I was so blown away I wanted to buy it then and there, but the guys in the booth kindly reminded me that the game will be free, and available in a few months. I’ll be counting the days and hitting their website on a regular basis until then…
X-COM is Going Mobile
At the “Strategy Masterminds Mega Panel – Behind the Scenes” at Firaxis Games on Saturday afternoon, Lead Firaxis Designer for X-COM: Enemy Unknown Jake Solomon debuted this video of their in-progress playable prototype for Apple iPad. Though they wouldn’t say exactly when this concept would be available, it was clear that they were serious about bringing their world-class game to a new mobile platform. With big names like Firaxis getting into the mobile game, the rest of the pack can’t be far behind.
