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Consumer Spending On Mobile Games Beat Handheld Games In Q4

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Data from research firms IDC and App Annie show that consumers spent more money last quarter on mobile games, rather than dedicated handheld games on Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. Gaming app sales on Apple’s App Store and on Google Play apparently eclipsed those of dedicated handheld games. The dedicated portable gaming devices like the Nintendo 3DS sold a decent amount of software during the holiday season, but mobile games on tablets and smartphones sold better all year round. Interestingly, IDC and App Annie found that Nintendo and Apple were nearly equal in terms of consumer spending on games.

99 thoughts on “Consumer Spending On Mobile Games Beat Handheld Games In Q4”

    1. I agree. I don’t think i know anybody that actually “buys” games on their phones. Everyone seems to get them unlocked and just downloads the games that way.
      Plus the vast majority of games for those are quite terrible, shallow rip offs of games released on other hand held consoles. There are really only a hand full of decent games for those. Seems like a bit of a fad to me actually, plus on screen controls suck. I’ll admit i was caught up in the fad for a bit as well, but i have happily found my way back to my 3ds and realized, “what the hell was i thinking?” Spending a buck or two on a crap game will likely only play for 15 minutes then move on.
      Most of the best games on them get over shadowed by crap, and even when they don’t they are a better experience on the 3ds or vita because of actual physical controls, ie gunman clive.

    1. Agreed, I mean seriously its sort of obvious which sells more games.
      lets see….
      5 1$ games vs A 39$ game
      Think people…
      think

    1. Nintendo fags r 30 yr old fags mad at cod player who r future grow up nostalgia retards 8bit 2d r for old has been loser

      Yep same reason shitendo wins by reducing price when losing like cowards and releasing established overmilked garbage

      1. ya realize it’s the same deal for the psp and vita as well eh. Plus the vast majority of those 1 dollar games that most people steal are actually crap anyway. There is a reason that angry birds and plants vs zombies are still so popular even though they are rather old. It is because most stuff released on phones is garbage. Even the bigger games like the nfs games for smartphones or dead space are just shells of their dedicated console brethren. Great for killing two minutes but nothing more then that. The hidden gems seem to be over looked and under sold anyway.

    1. YOU HAVE NO IDEAR WAT UR TALKIN ABOUT YOU GAYSTAION GAY-SIXTY FAN! NINTENDO HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE BEST, AND I FEEL COMPELLED TO LET UKNOW

      (also sarcastic)

  1. Off topic

    I just downloaded the monster hunter demo for wii u. The game is awesome but as this is my first monster hunter game, I am not good at the game! I can’t even do the easy mode! :( I don’t know what monster i had to get, and i don’t even know the controls! The left analog is for moving, and right analog is for camera, but what are the A,B,X,Y buttons used for? And the touchscreen looks like it has controls like kick, but i don’t know when to use each button. Help?! I guess its really hard to play as its the first monster hunter game i played. :(

    1. Have no fear, a nerd is here. The face buttons are for actions like using items, attacking and evading. The monster you need to hunt is the biggest that appear on map and once you find him his pic icon can be selected to target him.

    2. Y is for potions and putting your weapon away. X is for equiping your weapon , A is for attacking (some weapons X is an attack once equipped also) , B is for rolling and dodging.
      R is for sprinting and running , L is for centering the camera .

      Weapons that fire like a gun are aimed by tapping/holding either L or R can’t remember of the top of my head. All your potions and stuff are managed on the touch screen.

      It’s quite confusing , it took me a while to adjust also :S . But don’t worry it’s the sort of game that requires a good 5-10 hours investment before you REALLY know what you’re doing , sorta like Xenoblade.

      This is not a good demo in the sense that it just throws you into the thick of it and doesn’t explain really anything apart from a button configuration display before it loads.

      The demo is awesome though and the game looks SUPRISINGLY good in native 1080p!

        1. lol :) . Don’t worry bro , it take some time to get used to. It’s the sort of game where you can spend hundreds of hours playing online (eventually). You will like it , It’s hardcore and the bosses are frustratingly hard , and require a lot of dodging and quick thinking. But the more weapons and armours you find the better you get.

          It’s awesome. It looks great on Wiiu too , dont you think ? Considering it’s basically a 1080p Wii game…

          1. The game is amazing, its a little confusing, but it does look cool. I think i will play online most of the time so i can get help because i so new to this type of game. :)

            1. Yeah , it’s WAY better online , it’s meant to be played online. It gets kinda boring playing it on your own…

              When I had moster hunter tri for wii ,the online pla was just much more exciting than single player….

              And with voice chat and keyboard , it will be a blast with people who you know!

                1. I know , it gets confusing on multiplayer too because you both have different ideas of how to work out each puzzle , I reccomend you use voice chat next time , it’s much easy when you say ”wait , you stand there and I will push this” for example ….

                    1. What have I told you bill ? Your mothers cunt isn’t like the sleeve of a wizard for no reason son , I’ve been to your house!

    3. I know exactly how you feel. The X & A buttons are for attacking. The B button is for dodging. The Y button is to use your inventory. Don’t worry about the touch screen much, except when you find the monster, You will be able to track it on the bottom right by touching it. It took me a while to defeat it. I suggest you use the Swich axe person (that’s how I beat the snow monster). I also suggest that when you play the demo, you don’t focus on the monster; instead you take a look at your surroundings, get used to the controls, and try to attack some nearby monsters for some practice, and their resources. When you think your ready, restart your quest because there’s a time 20 min time limit & the monster takes about 8-15 mins ( depending your skill level) to kill. It will probably take a couple tries so be patient. Good Luck :)

    4. the controls are the same as they were on Wii, the X button is attack and arm yourself, Y is to use an item or put away your weapon, A for some weapons is an alternate attack, I can’t remember what B was offhand I think it was rolling, L is to circle through your items, R is to activate something on your weapon or another attack (ie: with lance it puts your shield up). Hope that helps

    5. x is straight upper slash, a is area in front and to the sides slash. y is sheath your weapon and use item selected. b is dodge. the touch screen has emotes like kick and signal to others (will be online) as well as quick access to items and special attacks.
      it isn’t an easy game to just pick up and play. There should have been a tutorial in the demo.
      Oh, and your map will show a grey circle on it as to where the large monster is that you are hunting. The game is really well done though.

      1. Exactly , And I don’t think Nintendo gives a shit how much mobile games sell as long as they can maintain what they’re doing also. As long as they can sell a similar amount of 3DS’ as they did GBA’s and DS’s they will be happy. Why wouldn’t they?

        1. My fear is, that handheld games become that big, they cancel out the handheld market. I mean don’t get me wrong I love the games on my phone/tablet, I just don’t want my 3DS or Vita to go anywhere ;~;

          1. Don’t worry about it. They may make it go smaller , but there is still tons of people who want handhelds. Handhelds can potentialy become cooler as it will be seen as a luxury compared to crappy phone games.

            3DS is THE fastest selling gaming system ever right now. And I can almost guarantee this – The succesorr to 3DS will have phone capabilities and android. Maybe Nintendo will set up their own phone network or something like that , who knows , or use someone else.

    1. It’ll be interesting to see what Nintendo and Sony do with their next handhelds. They can’t just say “oh its the 4DS!” Or whatever.

      My guess is not necessarily abandoning the handheld devision, but combining it with the console, so you can basically take the handheld out with you, and it’ll stream from your console, tech for next gen would be able to do that, the PS4 can do alot of things while being turned off, and streaming a game wouldnt surprise me, it all depends on how internet has come in the next 5 years, in terms of speed and bandwidth ect.

      As for the games, they could basically make smaller eShop titles, that you’d normally expect for a dedicated handheld, so we’d have 2D Metroid ad Zelda on the eShop, as sort of cheaper games to fill up the dead retail zones between big console releases.

    1. Well, not exactly, I do have that fear yes, but more so the fact they would drive handheld gaming out of business in general. I don’t want that to happen. I’m sure Nintendo & Sony though are busily thinking up strategies to compete with it though! :)

      1. guaranteed. plus they have started incorporating the smaller mobile games into their respective app/game markets as well.

  2. “It’s worth noting that App Anne’s data on the iTunes Store and Google Play isn’t straight from the companies — they apply a statistical scaling model to several sources that chart app store rankings and sales figures. So this info shouldn’t be taken as gospel,”

    This was a quote from the article, so the take away is the statistic aren’t very accurate at all.

    But …games selling on the eShop is something that is actually happening. For example Gunman Clive: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/02/3ds_eshop_version_of_gunman_clive_outsells_android_edition

    And Renagade Kid (which talks way too much) saying “Jools: The sales of Mutant Mudds on the 3DS eShop is king compared to the PC and iOS versions.”

    http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/02/developer_interview_renegade_kid_and_a_history_of_nintendo_development

  3. Nintendo and Apple doing Well in sales together. I am calling it now. Apple, IBM and AMD shall provide the NINTENDO game system with the CPU/ GPGPU/ Chipset in 2017. Pokemon will be on iPhone 6 – 7 and IPad. Watch this space.

      1. Hmmm. Pokemon is one franchise nintendo can market and sell on apple products. Not mainstream pokemon give them dungeons lol.

      2. I’m sorry to say but there has been a few Pokemon titles on other platforms though they weren’t anything big, just a Pokedex App for iOS and a Pokemon TV App for iOS and Android also.
        Plus there was a few Pokemon TCG games called Pokemon Play It for PC and some SEGA Pico games as well I think.

  4. “Interestingly, IDC and App Annie found that Nintendo and Apple were nearly equal in terms of consumer spending on games.”

    That up there tells you that these two companies know how to move product. Hate them all you want, apple is innovation in the west. Ask Bill gets were like Sony and Microsoft copy nintendo, his company copied the GUI ( graphical user interface from ).

    1. Apple isn’t innovative. They make good products (myself being an owner of one) But they are most certainly not innovative.

  5. With hundreds of milions of consumers devoted to their phones it doesn’t surprise me.
    However, who gains the larger profit? Some may find a larger profit on mobile (Rovio, Chillingo, Popcap etc) but other companies like Atlus, Capcom, and Wayforward will find not only more money, but more respect for putting multiple projects on the 3DS.
    Only few win on the mobile games market, and many win respect on dedicated consoles.

  6. gamers,brothers,trolls, lend me your ears! there be a foul beast in our midst and its name is app. the beast is cunning, taking form as actual gaming. we as a whole, true gamers, must ban together from the mighty islands of wii u and 3ds, to the great plains of xbox 360 and 720,to the mountains of pc,to the vast and powerful sea of ps4,vita,and ps3. alone we are weak.we stand no chance. But together we are strong, stronger than any app or any smartphone or tablet device thats stands in our way. as we lead the battle into the next generation. we must fight hard for what our fathers tried so hard to provide for us.we must fight for what we love. this is our house! our kingdom ! they are trying to take us down, but i say nay. this day we take the fight back!!! this battle may be one sided, we may be out numbered .but this war,this war is ours! they will rue the day they ever stepped foot in our land. we will not allow our beloved gaming to fall.they will bring this war to them and they will bow to the kings as we dethrown their merciless and cruel king.and they will remember the name Gamers for years to come. in the immortal words of one kevin butler All hail gaming, forever shall he reign!!! sorry had to do it lol

  7. Doesn’t mean that Nintendo did badly, because we know the 3DS is selling really well. Just means the handheld iOS’ did better. NBD Of course there are always those people who will use this against Nintendo and other companies. Which is a shame :(

  8. I’m kinda late to the “gaming wagon of tomorrow” (heheheh [don’t get mad]) but since when mobile games became so popular???

    1. Since nearly everyone has a phone and gets bored easily when they are on the move. These quick little fix games are perfect for those situations.

      1. Haha, yeah. I guess that’s true.

        I remember when I get bored easily as a kid, the only mobile game at the time I played on my Mum’s Nokia phone was the snake game and 1942. Gosh those were the days!x3

  9. Yep, there’s a lot of people these days who like GARBAGE instead of the REAL thing. Mobile gaming…..what a joke.

  10. Most apps/games -cheap as chips. Do they get deleted after maybe 1 shot/1 day? Yes. Does this constitute as gaming? No. This constitutes as too many stupid kids with mobile phones and a means to pay for shite that is aimed at them. Mobile handset gaming is NOT gaming anymore than a freaking sudoku puzzle.

      1. Big Brother and X Factor are the most watched TV shows in the last decade. Does that make them good TV? Or even worthy of our attention as intelligent human beings? Mobile gaming lies in this category.

  11. Those guys don’t know what is a truly elaborated game, 3DS and PSVita systems are real gaming handhelds, and smartphones are not the future of mobile gaming. Anyway, I’ll not going to waste my money in cheap boring Android games.

  12. Pingback: More Money Was Spent on Mobile Games than Handheld Games in Q4 2012 | GenGAME

  13. I tend not to leave many remarks, but i did some searching
    and wound up here Consumer Spending On Mobile Games Beat Handheld Games In Q4 | My
    Nintendo News. And I do have 2 questions for you if you don’t mind. Is it just me or does it seem like some of the responses look as if they are coming from brain dead individuals? :-P And, if you are writing at other sites, I would like to follow everything new you have to post. Would you make a list of every one of all your social sites like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?

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