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Why Gaming Phones Make No Sense!

Image result for Razer phone

As long as there have been computers there have been computer games, That trend still holds true today despite the drastic change in the way we compute. From Pinball and Minesweeper that came with the windows installations decades ago, to the handheld Gameboys that most of us spent entire evenings on computer games have always stuck around. Since the advent of the smartphone game developers have done the sensible thing and ported games over to the mobile operating systems, Namely Android and iOS(Sorry Windows). Of late we've seen a trend towards ultra powerful phones marketed as gaming phones and I fail to see how that makes sense!.
Image result for ROG phone

Lets Take A Trip Down Memory Lane

Historically gaming has occupied two main platform, The Gaming PC market and the Console Market. Each makes sense in their own individual market.
When looking at the PC market you have to look at what kind of PCs are on the market. You have underpowered minimal PCs with an i3 processor. Mid range PCs with i5 processors and the bare minimum of ram and you have your editing rig with an i7 and all the bells and whistles that that entitles you to. But the masses are probably stuck with a PC with an i3 or an i5 which can't run the latest games in dazzling 4K(Fortnite was barely playable on my MacBook) . So in the PC market a dedicated Gaming PC makes sense as your run of the mill PC can't handle any of the AAA tiles. Moreover there is a larger passionate gaming fanbase and existing games that can fully utilise a Gaming PC. So for a Gaming PC you have a Wide Market and you have Games that utilise the hardware. Makes financial sense.

Now lets compare that with the Smartphone world. Here are the best selling smartphones of November 2017. As you can see most of the best selling phones are phones that are relatively new and really powerful. Keep in mind that cheaper phones are getting more and more powerful. So its not a stretch to say that the average smartphone is more than capable of running any game you can throw at it, My almost 2 year old iPhone 7 can run Fortnite without a hitch. Moreover most mobile games are written so that they can run on a large number of devices with varying specs. I don't think there are any games on a mobile OS that only caters to flagship phones, falling back on my Fortnite example the game supports any iPhone as far back as the iPhone 6s. Makes sense as they want to maximise their install base.

So the two things that made Gaming PCs financially viable are absent on the smartphone landscape. Most people can already run any game they want just fine and there just aren't any games that can take advantage of an overclocked Snapdragon 845, and even if that game existed not many people would be able to install it. You see the vicious cycle?


PlayStations sell for an entirely different reason. They sell for their social aspect. Sure a PC might be more powerful and it might give you a better gaming experience but a PlayStation is simpler and it fits in your living room inconspicuously. Game consoles are more social. Whether if its a family gathering or just a friends birthday huddling around a PlayStation sounds fun and thats what sells PlayStations. Looking over to the fence to the smartphone side, That social interaction is gone.

Its The Games That Matter Not The Hardware
Okay I can see the fallacy of that heading but the software is way more important than the hardware. Great games can drive you towards a platform great hardware? Not as much.
Image result for nintendo switch
Just look at the Nintendo Switch, Specs wise most 2017 flagships blow it out of the water, but that hasn't stopped the Switch from becoming a runaway hit. Why you ask? Cause the switch has a great lineup of games that run well on the switch. I personally know people who bought the Switch just to play breath of the wild. 

 So looking back at Gaming Smartphones they're just phones that can play any game on the Play Store just as well as any other Flagship, without sacrificing its functionality as a phone. Yes Razer I'm looking at you. 

  
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