By Akriti Rana and Nimsh Dubey
Many phone brands these days are dipping their toes in the gaming pool, making smartphones that they claim are built and designed specifically for gaming. But even with all the bells and whistles, these so-called gaming phones are failing to make a significant mark on the gaming scene.
The problem is that no matter how much brands push gaming, it only remains ‘a’ thing smartphones can do. They exist beyond gaming, the reason why they come with features and specs that take the focus away from gaming — much like the high school kid who wants to take part in every extra-curricular activity, get good grades and be popular but ends up failing at everything.
But there is always that one kid in school that picks one area, focuses on it and lets that one area bring them all the fame and glory. A bit like the Nintendo Switch.
While gaming may seem like an impossible equation for gaming smartphones, the Nintendo Switch seems to have solved it pretty effortlessly. The portable gaming console just simply works, and has been selling like hot cakes since 2017. Its very existence proves that there is a huge market for people who want a handheld gaming experience — the Switch has sold more than 100 million units thus far.
Which is why we think gaming phones could do with taking a page or two from the Nintendo Switch book. Here are six things gaming phones can learn from the Nintendo Switch:
1. Keep Gaming Front And Centre, Loud And Proud
It is nice to be able to do everything well but if you claim to be a gaming phone, you have to bring gaming to the forefront and all else can simply follow. It really is great to have high resolution displays, the most powerful processor money can buy, the loudest speakers, brilliant cameras and all that goes into making a great gaming phone.
But the problem is that these are generally exactly what go into making every Android flagship phone. The only thing that often marks a gaming phone as a device targeted at gaming is often just a slightly larger size, and heftier specs with perhaps a few logos and lights. In all other respects, a gaming phone is pretty much a phone.
Now, consider the Nintendo Switch. You cannot mistake it for anything other than a gaming device. It is a classic portable gaming console with controls on both sides of a touchscreen, and cannot be mistaken for anything else. It does not come with a Quad HD+ display with 500 Hz refresh rate, nor does it bring supersonic speed, or immersive sound experience. It just focuses on delivering a great gaming experience minus all the frills. The Switch can play music and films as well but it is built for gaming and that is what it keeps first.
2. Stick To One Core Variant, Don't Keep Releasing New Versions
The smartphone space is ever changing and ever developing which means features and specs become obsolete and dated months, and sometimes even weeks, after they get launched in the market. To keep up with this rat race, gaming phones get updated year after year. This may seem like THE thing any great gamer would want: to upgrade their gaming unit every time a new, improved version comes along. But it is actually quite the contrary. It takes time to get the hang of a new device when you move to it. And for a hardcore gamer, this can be a painstaking process, involving getting settings just right, mapping buttons and triggers and a whole lot besides.
What's more, gaming devices and hardware are very expensive and investing in them year after year can be quite injurious to bank balances as well.
Nintedo, meanwhile, has not really changed too much about the Switch since its launch in 2017. It has been five years, a period in which most gaming phones would have undergone at least four to five significant hardware changes. The brand has made minor changes, like adding an AMOLED display, bringing a Lite version and improving battery life, but the core Switch experience has not been altered one bit. A new Nintendo Switch will not be faster than an older one. This does not mean one should not make any changes. Changes are good, but if you bring something new every other day, it just will not be feasible for people to keep up. Game phone manufacturers really need to settle down with their devices.
3. Expand Accessory Horizons
Having a hero core unit is great but this does not mean gaming phone makers have to put a full stop to hardware creativity. They could simply shift focus. The Nintendo Switch comes with so many different attachments and accessories that actually add a tonne of value to the gaming experience. Controllers, sticks, steering wheels, special cameras — the gaming world is your oyster if you look at Nintendo's moves in the Switch accessory market. Gaming phones simply need to expand their accessory horizon, and move beyond button controllers and cooling units. And keep them affordable too — something like a Razer Kishi which is priced at almost Rs 10,000 is not really what we are talking of.
4. Get Gaming Developers On Your Side
One major difference between gaming phones and the Nintendo Switch is the extensive and exclusive game portfolio. Almost all games that users can play on a gaming phone can be played on other, "non-gaming" phones as well. A gaming phone may be able to deliver a better experience but at the end of the day, you can get and play most of these games on a mid-segment phone as well. That is not the case with the Nintendo Switch, which has a very exclusive gaming library of its own with memorable titles like Super Mario Odyssey and Animal Crossings: New Horizons. There's no way to play those titles except on a Switch.
Which is why we think that when brands make a gaming phone they should also try to rope in game developers to come out with, if not exclusive titles, then at least special, enhanced versions of existing titles for their devices. Games that work best with their phones and not just any phone with similar hardware. There has to be a point of exclusivity to them to help them stand out from the usual flagship crowd. Specs can be copied, game libraries are far more difficult — just ask Sony and Microsoft.
5. Try A Different OS Or App Store
It may sound extremely radical but we swear it's not. Ninentedo has a platform of its own for the Switch and has an online store as well, complete with games and apps designed to work on the console. In short, a world of its own where it is in control, and which you have to pay to be a part of.
While brands like Amazon have worked on their own version of Android and app stores, gaming phone manufacturers have by and large stuck to the standard Android platform. This basically means that beneath all those different skins and special features, lies the same basic Android OS, with generally the same app support.
Having an OS of their own would allow gaming phone manufacturers to offer a more creative as well as exclusive gaming platform, with maybe special titles and apps. A gaming phone with its own OS and games optimised for it sounds much better than a phone which does everything slightly better and has more shimmering lights than another Android flagship.
6. Focus On The Solo Journey
It may sound philosophical but is not as profound. It's actually pretty simple — just keep the crowd out. We get that there is a buzz when it comes to multiplayer games today. Every game these days comes with battle arenas and has tournaments and team players but learn it from Nintendo: single player games are not dead.
Forget about being dead — they sell in millions. Just ask all those 27 million folks who shelled out money (and Switch games are not cheap) to get a copy of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Speedy Wi-Fi and super quick network support might be all very fine for multiplayer area warriors, but there are players who value and cherish single player games. Millions of them, if the Switch is any indication.
Brands with gaming phones might shell out millions to sponsor PUBG and Call of Duty tournaments, but they also need to remember that all gaming phones need not be optimised just for multiplayer battles. You do not need a crowd to have gaming fun. Just. Keep. It. Simple. And cherish the individual player too.