Mobile games are challenging the console market, agree Japan game executives. Hiroko Tabuchi of NY Times interviewed executives at Tokyo Game Show to get their insight into the growth of mobile gaming. The growing trend, seen as led by Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, showed up at TGS this year when the number of cell phone games doubled to represent nearly a quarter of all games on exhibit.
Enterbrain’s Hirokazu Hanamura and Square Enix president Yoichi Wada pinpointed the effect as challenging game companies to turn their focus from competing through hardware to software. Others commented on the upside, a potentially huge market poised for agile development of cheap and quick to market products. Still, Namco Bandai chief executive Shin Unozawa’s sentiment could be the one ringing in the ears of most console makers and major publishers, that at $1-2 price points no one has the courage to dive into mobile completely.
Read more at NY Times.
