The Growing Debate: Console or Mobile Gaming

It doesn’t quite have the vitriol and entrenchment of the Leave vs Remain argument, or necessarily the high drama or, the wide ranging theological and sociological impacts of the Valladolid Debate, but it’s still one worth discussing; what is better, console gaming or mobile gaming?

Ten years ago the answer would have been simple but in the years that have since passed, mobile gaming has become much more sophisticated. It has also become an awful lot more popular with the people from all walks of life enjoying it.

How though, do we conclusively say whether mobile is better than console or vice versa? Well the only way to do that is to compare their attributes and grade them, which is exactly what we’ve done below. Read on to find out the results…

Accessibility

We are living through the Digital Revolution and in a period of time where we can access more information and content than ever before. Amidst this backdrop it’s no wonder then that modern gamers prize accessibility over almost everything else; the more barriers there are to playing a game, the less likely people are to play it.

In this regard there’s one clear winner. If you want to play free Vegas slot games right now you could be doing so in less than a minute through your phone. Whereas when it comes to console gaming, you not only have to own a console and the game, but the right console for the game you want to play.

Accessibility Grades

Console: 5/10

Mobile: 10/10

Immersion

Why do we play games? Or read? Or watch TV for that matter? It’s to escape the drudgery of our day to day lives and totally immerse ourselves in another world. When it comes down to it, books are perhaps the best vehicle to do this, but which of the two types of gaming is the most immersive?

There can be only one winner…

Immersion Grades

Console: 9/10

Mobile: 2/10

(Console games are the Kings when it comes to immersion.)

Price

There is a cost of living crisis. The price of not just food, but everything is going through the roof and a console game that once would have cost £40 can now go for as much as £100. Whereas mobile gaming is quite often free, although there can be hidden costs associated with mobile gaming.

All in all though, there’s only one way that we can really grade this.

Price Grades

Console: 3/10

Mobile: 7/10

Quality

One thing that is often overlooked in this debate is the quality of games that people are playing. Ultimately we want the highest quality of games to play and whilst mobile gaming has unquestionably improved in this regard recently, it still some way off the quality of console.

Quality Grades

Console: 10/10

Mobile: 5/10

Variety

They say it’s the spice of life but regardless of that we know that variety of selection is incredibly important to gamers. Some like to stick to the same old games year on year out, but the vast majority like to try out different titles and genres.

Part of the reason that gaming has exploded in popularity in recent decades is the widening range of games available to play. Whereas once gaming titles used to cater exclusively to boys and young men, modern games cater to almost every demographic imaginable.

Unfortunately, there’s only one type of gaming responsible for that and it isn’t console gaming…

Variety Grades

Console: 3/10

Mobile: 10/10

(Mobile games appeal to way wider demographics than console games.)

The Results

Console: 30/50

Mobile: 34/50

In truth we suspected this might be the case so as a result were a little bit harsher on mobile gaming than we perhaps should have been. Still though it came out on top, excelling in almost every area barring quality and immersion.

Whilst traditional console players might totally disagree with our ratings, ultimately theirs aren’t the opinions that matter (we consider ourselves in that bracket as well by the way) as they are in the minority when it comes to global gaming.

That’s because, of the 2.69 billion gamers around the world, 79% of them choose to play on their phones rather than console. So whilst you might disagree with our findings, you certainly can’t disagree with the thoughts of 2.13 billion people.