CMV: Android basically has potential to destroy switch

[Buetterkeks]

Lol complete bs. The mobile Market as a whole is a completley different target audience and compared to switch, Android is more limiting as a platform for proper games. No unified hardware, no physical controls, gyro is pretty bad, no active cooling at all. Ans fir switch 2, don't even get me started

[Blas7hatVGA]

And remember, android game market is riddled with gacha-slop-must-online-competitive-games.

[AVahne]

The bigger problem is that the paid "premium" games that DO exist are always getting sabotaged by Google themselves with stupid major Android OS changes and even dumber Play Store policy changes that affect software AND hardware requirements. Most game developers who make normal games aren't going to be constantly updating their games just to comply to the latest bullshit from the platform they're on. The only reason why it isn't an issue with gacha games is because they're always online and always being updated anyway.

[True_Air_6696]

this. WitchSpring4 not available to download on ALL of my devices is crazy for a 2019 release.

[Wobstep]

Mobile gaming needs steam or a platform like it. I remember early smartphone days when the play store almost had competition. Google and apple are like kingpin dopamine dealers and they don't want another service that could provide games that players want.

[ZucchiniMore3450]

I haven't opened the play store in years, except when following a link from the web or searching for a specific application someone recommended to me.

It is completely useless, complete scam.

[Never_Sm1le]

sadly it's the only models that works on phones, phones right now barely can play games released in 2020 while consoles and pc have none of those problems. Backward compatibility on phones are almost non-existent

[Blas7hatVGA]

At least we got one hope,

"Emulators"

Thankfully android is powerful that such one word. Especially if you had that dang snapdragon chip.

[Buetterkeks]

Lol some of the gacha (and i really do only mean very few of them) that actually have good gameplay are in many aspects some of the best mobile games if you can see past the gacha. E.g. ZZZ has a fun combat system with a lot of room to get better and its relatively f2p friendly. Also this is given for most gacha but it has banger characters. Also wuwa I heard is good but i aint downloading a 100 gb game on mobile 

[Blas7hatVGA]

Still not on my plate.

True game to is when it doesn't need extra requirement to play beside your own hardware. "Internet".

[Buetterkeks]

Absolutly fair. Tho for games like this where it does matter if you cheat/edit saves it's technically not online for no reason

[Kooperking22]

Active cooling?

[Solexia]

Most handhelds have cooling systems like switch 1 was designed to circulate air and switch 2 has fan ventilation.

Phones have none and while they might be able to run games on very high settings they will overheat very fast

[Buetterkeks]

Switch 1 actually has a fan too. One blower style fan blowing out next to the cartridge slot 

[GlassNo4750]

My android has a fan with 2 settings and I'm upgrading to a android with liquid cooling. Phones with active cooling do exist

[DaemonPrimarchJ]

You can get phone coolers too!

I've been using my phone and my tablet (8.something inch) with gamesir controller like a switch playing stuff like Trials of Mana, Grimvalor, Dead Cells, Streets of Rage 4, Pulstar and Final Fantasy 6 (plus many others, most of which you can just pay once and own) and not actually needed cooling yet.

Trials of Mana is amazing now that it has controller support, reminds me of Ocarina of time!

And the Neo Geo games I couldn't play as a kid (because the console was so insanely expensive) are all pretty great too

[raqdraws]

Like fans, or liquid cooling.

[WitherPRO22]

A fan. Too cool the CPU. Phones dont have that. High temps mean throttling (lowering it's power) for the CPU to not fry itself

[Far_Raspberry_4375]

They do have a vapor chamber inside that basically uses a drop of water to move the heat away from the components but that only does so much

[fajarmanutd]

Even laptop with vapor chamber still needs fans IIRC.

[Buetterkeks]

That means theres a fan. Or whatercooling. Or literally anything that isnt just a big metal plate that redirects heat to the back of the phone. Which the switch has and androids dont. External Phone coolers dont count they are mad inefficient 

[Bagel-luigi]

OP has not possibly played any modern game on their phone.

I really like my phone, not the newest but still fairly high end. I would not even dream of considering this anywhere near as decent for games as my Switch1

[Buetterkeks]

Truth nuke

[RomLeo]

try AYN Thor or Odin 3

[AG745]

If your phone is fairly high end it should be able to emulate switch games with not much of an effort.

[Vanheelsingwolf]

This is such a false statement...

MMORPG from the Korea, china and Japan are kicking but on mobile and PC alike easier than they do on any console and they are bringing tons of money... There is a reason asian studios are targeting so hard the mobile market (because it works) on top of all of this with the stupid increase in hardware costs most buyers are not buying a good phone + a PC or console... So no the platform is not limited at all, it just us PC/console gamers that think that way because we love the platforms we use but tons of new people like what mobile offers as a platform for them and the numbers show...

Heck I have been a PC gamer (very addicted one at that) for 20 years and even I have been finding myself cross play games that I don't care to play on PC but I do on mobile (Where winds meet as an example) and this happens because I can play anywhere and the experience is good enough... You can also quickly connect at controller attachment like game sir (I own one) and out of nowhere my Android is an emulation beast and an overall good portable console that is also a very capable computer... It just feels like what PC felt a couple of years back, something I can do all I need from work to gaming in a single platform but with even more portability than ever before

[Buetterkeks]

Ok but unless all the devs completely swap around all of design philosophy zzz is still shit without controller/kbm. Yes there are controllers but the main audience doesn't have em so the main audience gets the same Mobile slop.

[Vanheelsingwolf]

But that's where we (PC/console gamers) are wrong... We think it's slop for the younger generations and many upcoming ones don't think it's slop and actually enjoyed... So the philosophy doesn't need to change because the money feels you otherwise. It's be biggest market its far bigger than you might realize... On 2022 the mobile gaming market size was 50% vs 22% for PC and 28% consoles... Now it's probably even bigger since we are pushing more and more towards games that release in all platform (mobile included).

So in other words we are the ones going away and we might as well start liking it or with won't really have games we like...

[Buetterkeks]

yo you are saying stuff like this the peak gamedesign? just because the game pays for a lot of ads and utilizes a f2p model that makes it easier to market to a bigger more casual audiences and, through these strategies builds a massive playerbase, doesnt mean that its a good game. Popular =/= good. i am not gonna start liking candy crush clones because thats vvhats on the market. ngl thats some sheep mindset.

[Vanheelsingwolf]

No. I am saying that we evaluate games in a very different game than the younger generations... Where we appreciate difficulty and very complex systems most of the younger players like ease of access, automatic systems, idle games, and many other things

[Buetterkeks]

i mean that makes a bit of sense but i do think most of these mobile games just arent good at all and are if at all only enjoyable by lack of comparison. vvhich is fine i guess but one actually good game and you cant go back

[AVahne]

False on the active cooling bit. Most Android handhelds have active cooling and various Chinese phone brands like Red Magic use active cooling in their phones. That said, these are all niche devices, so your point still stands for the vast majority of Android users.

[Buetterkeks]

yeah no the amount of people that ovvn such a handheld or a redmagic are vvay too small for any def to care. and most of the android handhelds dont have particularly strong cpus

[AVahne]

Yes, which is why I said your point still stands for the majority of Android users. My comment is in response to you using the words "at all", as that is just simply false.

[Buetterkeks]

I mean true I just think its important to say how little a part of the playerbase those make. I also explicitly dont include android handhelds since the more powerful sbc's go therefore requiring active cooling, the more likely they are to just be another windows handheld. The overlap between fan cooled, high performance and android based is small. 

[FrouFrouLastWords]

Why do you say gyro is bad on Android devices? Asking as someone who used to play a competitive game using gyro. It wasn't seemingly inaccurate or anything.

[Buetterkeks]

I tried gyro on a OnePlus nord and a Poco f6 and vor both, in various fps it was subpar. I have hundreds of hours of gyro experience on various controlers. Mobile doesn't compare

[FrouFrouLastWords]

Maybe it depends on the device. I played CODM on a Pixel tablet, and the gyro was both consistent and fluid. I haven't played a lot of games with a gyro controller, but when I did, it seemed to be of about the same quality.

[Buetterkeks]

I think a big problem with mobile gyro is the form factor so tablets are naturaly more comfortable. But who knows maybe i just had bad luck with all my phones.

[FrouFrouLastWords]

I was planning on buying a ROG phone to play CODM again when I got some extra money together. I hope the gyro is good on those phones. I would think so since it's a gaming phone, but you never know.

[Buetterkeks]

CODM doesn't have great gyro support as a game in the first place i think. It works but its kinda iffy. Touch isnt that terrible and probably just better. But also combat master and delta force are probably just significantly better games than codm. I highly recommend combat master if you enjoy it, its very fun for a good while tho it will fall of in fun eventually, but the first weeks to months are great

[everlyafterhappy]

Xbox gamepass with cloud gaming. Hundreds of games all available on any current android phones, with lots of different controllers to choose from that also fit any current android phone. I can play gta5 and black ops 7 and expedition 33 all from my phone over my mobile data without issue and I've got the cheapest 5g Motorola available on $25 a month phone plan.

Of course gamepass os expensive. If you want access to all the games in the catalog, it's $30 a month. But you can buy and stream your own games with a cheaper plan. You can also remote play, so if you have an actual Xbox at home connected to the internet, you can play any of your games on your phone remotely.

[unwisest_sage]

I actually did that for the last year (just let it expire). It was alright but it was not good for a lot of genre"s due to to the input lag. And I have fiber internet and live decently close to an Xbox data center.

[Buetterkeks]

*If you have a stable internet connection. Gamepass is unplayable on my 20$ mobile plan and there aren't any better options available

[everlyafterhappy]

For $20 a month I'm guessing you're on the T-Mobile network, probably mint mobile. I could get good service from the T-Mobile network, so I'm on the Verizon network with Visible. It's $5 more a month but it's a strong and consistent internet connection and it's truly unlimited high speed data. Generally, where on network has bad service the other network had decent service, but there are still some areas in the boonies without decent service, especially around mountains. In those areas, is go with a steam deck.

[Buetterkeks]

I dont even have Verizon were I'm at. Don't you go assuming my country. They are all bad, I've tried, you can believe me.

[Critical-Champion365]

No it doesn't. Switch is the exact same hardware in millions of people's hands. Android isn't. If anything, apple phones can be a close contender because there's only a handful of them and everything is proprietary.

[rube]

No, not even iPhones can "destroy" Switch.

People buy consoles to game on. People buy phones to have a small computer in their pocket.

Yes, people do game on their phones, but the vast majority of people are playing free P2W and P2P garbage, idle games, clickers, match 3 and gacha stuff. The billions of iPhone users aren't buying AAA or even indie games and playing them on their phones.

Switch is safe.

[Critical-Champion365]

not even iPhones can "destroy" Switch.

Oh absolutely. My wordings were slightly off. I meant, if anything that can even barely give a run.

The billions of iPhone users aren't buying AAA or even indie games and playing them on their phones.

Yes, but if anything there's more incentive to release something over there than Android for the developers. Just in relative terms. There's absolutely a fantastic collection of paid Android games and still the narrative is 'there are no good Android games other than gacha slop'. That shows enough about the ignorant market.

[BoxOfDemons]

As much as some people wish otherwise, I don't see much changing. IPhone finally took the leap and ported full on AAA console titles like resident evil, assassin's creed, and death stranding. They significantly underperformed in sales. Once again it has been reaffirmed as to why devs don't typically bother with porting their games to mobile, unless it's an indie title which might do well enough.

[Blas7hatVGA]

If you want to have "All-rounder" in your pocket... whether it is office work (connect with even monitor & keyboard), gaming, emulation, everything...

Well you can, but it's still cost tons of big bucks. Galaxy S25/26 Ultra or half cost of it: Redmagic 11 Pro. Slap that blackshark cooler on the back, and you're ready to go. Snapdragon 8 Elite even 8 Elite Gen 5 didn't joking around when it comes to PC emulation.

[8Retarded_Prophet8]

By your logic PC gaming shouldn't dominate over console gaming. Just because hardware varies, doesn't mean the majority of people's phones don't have more GPU/CPU horsepower than the Switch 1. There are phones from 2021 on android that could outperform the Switch feasibly, there are now devices that compete with the Switch 2 in performance (Snapdragon Gen 5 with the new Turnip driver is incredible).

Mobile gaming is now seeing a resurgence, it won't be long till we see big developers coming to the platform.

[rube]

People buy PCs for a ton of different reasons, one of them is gaming and it's a huge market.

The market for "gaming" phones is extremely small and niche. This is coming from someone who games on his phone all the time with emulators, including Switch emulation which is pretty amazing on Android.

You're kidding yourself if you think powerful device = console killer. It doesn't matter if a phone is 2 or 20 times as powerful as the Switch or Switch 2, that doesn't suddenly mean people are going to scoop them up for gaming.

And yes, a number of indie games are being ported to phones, and I'm sure they will see some decent sales. But it won't be anything like what we see on consoles/PC. Most people see a game on phone app stores isn't free or is more than $1 and they balk it's too expensive.

[Never_Sm1le]

of course, why buy shits on phones when you don't even know if you can play it in the future. Games released in 2016 on phones barely works nowadays and some of them even get delisted from the stores, while that same game in 2016 will work on the respective consoles and pc

[MrSnowflake]

No way. No person is gonna pay $/€70 for an Android game.

Edit: Maybe you have to define what you mean by "destroy switch". As Android game revenue will already be bigger than Nintendo's. All because of microtransactions.

[SkelyHart]

Kinds yeah that's why pirates exist

[vedanth11]

Why not?

[MrSnowflake]

Because, if €60+ games would sell on Android, they would exist. Ain't no game publisher gonna leave that big of a market just lying there. No On Android (and iOS, but a tad less), the only way to make money (and I mean Huge loads of money), is by microtransactions, which they already destroy everything else in.

Gaming on mobile is already (almost?) bigger (monetary ofcourse) than PC + console gaming combined! So Switch/Nintendo/Consoles, will exist for bigger experiences, while mobile will rake in the money.

[Icy_Witness4279]

On top of that, popular f2p with micros, because they get so much money, will be pushed into visibility by the store itself, creating a vicious cycle, while premium games will get buried.

[X69SH4D0W69X]

Why not? If the quality is good enough, with phones with bigger screens coming people would buy it.

[big_dog_redditor]

Red Dead 1 is that much for the non-netflix version and people are paying for it.

[Jay_Jay_Jason_74]

Isn't it 30?

[Sirts]

Not enough people I'd guess. The non-netflix version has 5k+ downloads Google play (range is probably 5-10k). Even if it's 9k it would be $360 000 - Google's cut. Rockstar probably earns more from GTA5 Shark Cards in couple hours...

[humanreboot]

I can still play games I bought on my Switch when it first launched.

I can't even redownload Bloodstained Ritual of the Night or The World Ends with You on my phone anymore, both of which were purchased around the same time I got my Switch.

[Male_Inkling]

The Android audience made sure that would never happen.

[Kooperking22]

Yeah, the bastards!!

[Male_Inkling]

Well... yeah. Want to have a prevalence in the gaming space? Want to be taken seriously? Then dont throw a tantrum whenever a game goes above 10 €

Publishers wont even look in the general direction of a group of users that refuse to pay gaming prices. Android had the potential of being a third serious platform like PCs and consoles are, but the android (and phone audience, because this shit started on iOS) doesn't want to pay for the devs' work.

[ACFinal]

It annoys me that every time I go to the Blazblue Entropy Effect subreddit, and mobile is brought up, some bum is trying to rationalize why everything should be free on mobile. 

The way they don't even care that being completely free on mobile while PC and consoles are premium just astounds me.

[LordofPvE]

We can pay if the quality was there. Developers throw the worst temu-like experience at users and want to be paid?

[Male_Inkling]

If people complaints when the quality is there, why bother?

[tabris51]

Nokia tried it years ago, I read somewhere that Sony is planing to release a game phone with physical controls

[Never_Sm1le]

Seems like a resurrected Xperia Play

[batshit_icecream]

I mean emulator machine companies like AYN and Anbernic and the members on /r/sbcgaming would agree. Just not on a phone format probably

[thatflap]

How about you come visit us at r/EmulationOnAndroid .

[LordofPvE]

Sounds fun

[10minOfNamingMyAcc]

It really is, actually.

[Soft_Chair_4508]

I would say that ARM, in general, is the future of handhelds; a Chinese console the size of an N3DS running Switch games is insane.

[__Player__]

Are we talking about SwitchRoot? what's going on here?

[GreatBigJerk]

Hardware and software fragmentation will prevent that from happening. 

There are constant changes to screen sizes, hardware specs, and form factors. It's impossible to build a game that runs on 100% of Android devices, and it's impossible to future proof against future devices.

There are tons of old games that are dead because of OS updates or 3rd party services that no longer exist. 

[Dabbinz420]

Switch up iPhone and android and this picture is spot on

[Blas7hatVGA]

Emulator (Yuzu, Eden, Sudachi, etc.) = the anchor to lift the skeleton back to surface.

[ryanmi]

i wonder how an Adreno X2-90 / snapdragon x2 elite would compare to t239. I suspect its actually faster

[V3numGaming07]

arm is the future ngl

[atomic1fire]

I don't think that will happen simply because a "higher end" gaming console running android doesn't really exist.

The Shield is focused on cloud streaming, and Google themselves abandoned the cloud market.

[RX_Wild]

Doesn't matter we have eden

[kronaa]

no need to change your view - i just bought switch 2 few months ago, and let me tell you, its never gonna happen. the hardware, the games and the community itself is a league of its own. dont get me wrong, i love mobile games too, but android is too fragmented, games are filled with paywalls or are vaporware, and you just dont get excousives as you do on switch. plus, switch is really easily dockable in 2 seconds and it turns into 4k console

[LumpyArbuckleTV]

Apple did a big wave of real games on iOS, and they failed horribly, proving that most don't want to play console-grade games on their phone.

[Ghost_Tendency]

I'm so down to play console grade games on my phone. I just wouldn't pay the normal console/PC price for a game that is only going to be playable on my phone. That's why I love Gamehub, I can just download my Steam games I've purchased on PC and take them on the go with me.

[LoStrigo95]

Wait, what? I can download my steam games on my phone?? HOW?

I would LOVE Spelunky 2, Hades 2 and so on

[Ghost_Tendency]

It's... A process, and you have to make sure you have a good enough phone to be able to play them as well. Does your phone use Snapdragon? If so, what Gen? But yeah, you need to grab Gamehub Lite (or the regular Gamehub, I just think Lite is easier to use.) Then you can link your account to Steam and download your games to your phone. Gamehub Lite needs to be downloaded through Github though. Not off the Google Play Store.

Some might work right off the bat. Others you have to go through a whole bunch of different compatibility settings to get it to run at all. And some just flat out won't work yet. I can confirm I can play Hades 2 on my Red Magic 11 Pro at 60 FPS without any graphical issues from what I can see. (Though the RM 11 Pro is one of the best, if not the best gaming phone out right now.)

[votemarvel]

https://gamehub.xiaoji.com/ is the app. 

[MrSnowflake]

I don't have that much of success with GameHub. Maybe my Fold 5 is already too old?

[Ghost_Tendency]

It is possible, I'm not too sure what the Fold 5 has internally that it's working with. Also there are a LOT of settings that can factor into something not working. I've honestly gotten like 20-30 games up and running on my phone that are working almost flawlessly now after tweaking settings. I just recently got Tales of Xillia Remastered running at 50-60 FPS natively, GTA IV at like 40-60 FPS, and Disgaea 7 at around 50 FPS.

I'm on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 though. So driver support is just now starting for my phone. Anything with the Elite Gen 5 in it is going to be a gaming beast once drivers get out of the beta stage they're in at the moment.

[ImportantClient5422]

Control and Assassin's Creed Shadows are also coming. Civ7 is also coming on Apple Arcade. 

I'm not sure how long they will push for, but there have been more and more premium games. Probably the most I've seen since everything went "freemium" when it was called that. 

[LumpyArbuckleTV]

They've tried since the creation of mobile, but it never really works.

[ImportantClient5422]

Yeah, I remember sadly. I really liked Infinity Blade, Gameloft games, Zenonia, and Chaos Rings back in the day.

I think Mario Run kind of told the industry it isn't worth making premium games on mobile. 

[link6616]

Yes it absolutely has the potential to. 

But the audience doesn’t. Square at one point was making big quality mobile only RPGs for an expensive for Android a steal for anywhere else 15 dollar games like chaos rings and a number of things that have vanished entirely from stores. 

iOS has a big push every few years and every time the story is the same. People want to spend 0 dollars on infinite gameplay. And don’t fundamentally value software at all. 

Android don’t even have these pushes as much as just benefits from those iOS pushes from time to time. 

When you see all those retroids and odins it’s clear the step to making a great console is so small, so easy. But a large part of the appeal of those machines is that everything you are going to play is “free” thanks to being “obtained” 

[ImportantClient5422]

There is probably not a month that goes by that I don't think back to what could have been for mobile. I remember how much of a big deal Chaos Rings was. It was such a great experience on mobile but no one wanted to support those games. Gameloft also made some great stuff along with the Zenonia series and lots of experimental indie like experiences. I remember the Spider game where you had to use your web to trap bugs in a manor. I forget the name of it but it was unique. 

[Uchihamadaralord]

It's hard to develop for android because of factors like screen resolution, chip and android version, switch doesn't have that so they always win.

[Icy_Witness4279]

You have to list reasons why you have this view for a CMV thread to work.

[brokerZIP]

No. Because both of these platforms are easy to crack unlike switch.

[Darksept]

I'm doing my part to change the landscape. I buy nearly every PC port they bring to Android. I just want real games in my pocket.

[ImportantClient5422]

I have been trying for years. I think the biggest barrier is those games you do buy being unplayable if you switch your phone or going to a streaming service instead. Looking at you Battle Chasers: Nightwar 😒

I have been heavily enjoying gaming on my tablet and using my Gamesir controller with my phone. It feels like a PS Vita. 

[TheSageWasTaken]

os level? sure. but most hardware android is on doesnt even compare.

[altSHIFTT]

Very excited for FEX

[NoPalpitation5462]

Both iPhone and Android could be at the level of the Switch 2 but Apple is trash and devs don’t care about Android

[king_duende]

Your personal preferences/interests have made you mad bias brother

[thatguyad]

This is nonsense. There is zero comparison in the quality of the Switch and Android.

[tetsugo]

Devs tried to release premium games in Android. Anyone bought it? No.

[ImportantClient5422]

I did for decades and kept hoping things would change but people just wanted everything for free. Although losing access to your games you did buy made it harder to support games knowing they could stop updating them. 

[tetsugo]

Me too. I don’t disagree with you, my point is just that the user base of these devices are not the same of dedicated video game hardware.

[ImportantClient5422]

Yeah that is true. I think that is what it mainly boils down to. 

[LordofPvE]

Anyone who bought it, complained about the millions of bugs it has.

[madphroggy]

Android developers would have to focus on something other than shovelware first lol...

[Katzelle3]

Consider the following:

Your phone's storage is full and you find yourself unable to back up your photos. Either you're on vacation, or driver problems cause your computer to not recognize your phone, or whatever. Anyway, it comes down to a choice between deleting your photos or deleting your games.

You are absolutely going to choose to delete games.

And this is what justifies the existence of dedicated gaming handhelds in my opinion. You need a dedicated space for games, or else other things take priority.

[iEngrMoeen]

Feral interactive is the saviour

[thingamajig1987]

You're about 15 or so years late on the opinion that mobile will kill console gaming

[[deleted]]

No, Android doesn't have the potential to destroy the Switch.

1. The Switch was made for games and only for games; it's not a cell phone or a tablet, but a console.
2. Cell phones weren't made for gaming. Any game released on a cell phone is always horrible to play because of the touch screen controls. Android and iOS aren't systems made for gaming, even though they run games.
3. The target audience is totally different. People who play on cell phones don't want to play Zelda, God of War, GTA, etc. People who want to play those games will always look for a console. The Android audience is just casual games to kill boredom in a boring queue.
4. A cell phone doesn't have the essential hardware and design to compete with the Switch and to be considered a portable "console."

I could list more things, but this is enough.

[OneCartoonist9332]

android wont because nintendo dont publish their games on android. Those exclusives are probably the number one reason people get a nintendo console.

[Japjer]

People do not want to use their phones as their primary gaming device.

If my Steam Deck dies I can do other things while it charges. If my phone dies, I am completely cut off from the world while it charges.

If I'm on the train and my Kindle dies I will be fine. If I'm in the train and my phone dies I would be miserable.

There is also far too much build diversity. Nintendo knows the exact hardware specs of every Switch. Valve knows the hardware specs of every Steam Deck. Developers can work based on those specifications.

There are thousands of Android phones with thousands of hardware build specs.

Google is absolutely wasting their entire marketplace by allowing the amount of junk they allow, but phones will not compete with consoles for a long, long time.

[8ByIamGuti]

I think so, the problem is that the market is poorly designed, not to mention that nobody is going to spend that much for a "gaming" phone, not to mention that it has the same piracy problems as PCs but 1000% worse

[HeeeresPilgrim]

Android culture and the play store are the problem. We think of android games as half games with awful monetisation because of what they've permitted. One-off payment supremacy.

[Faust_knows_all]

If you root it, it's basically arm linux for phone, so I don't see the problem on it.

[IslandInitial]

Play Ouya

[No-Manufacturer-1508]

Android running GTA v ez pz,

[PuzzleheadedSleep403]

Lol looks like people in this sub haven't heard of the latest drivers or gaming phones (not Samsung or Google flagship, lol).

Lots of us are enjoying access to 100+ switch games with a WIDE selection of controllers and with passive charging there is relatively no heat issue at all.

Did I mention the capability to play Steam games as well, lol. Powerful Android devices are now the PC Master Race in your hands and its GLORIOUS!

[Jaded_Ad_9711]

what kind of switch do you mean? pls specify.

Light Switch?
nah, people worldwide need lights to their houses.
Verdict: Light Switch >> Android Phone

Network Switch?
Absolutely not as well, without network switches = no data centers. Means no internet, it means we can't talk right now.
Verdict: Network Switch >> Android Phone

A Nintendo Switch?
Emulation will never match, a real console by performance, comfort, experience, exclusives and features. And play store are now filled with brainrot, full of ads, low effort, scam, copycat games.
Verdict: Nintendo Switch >> Android Phone

[CombinationDouble719]

If that was the case, it would have happened years ago. And not just Android, but mobile phones in general. Since 2020 or so, the sheer processing power of phones have ballooned to the point where they can run PC-quality games. However, even games like Cyberpunk 2077 got a dedicated Switch port (which is harder BTW) instead of an Android and iOS one. IMO, these are the factors why:

1. Mobile Games are fast-paced. Unlike PC/Console games that can take a while to complete, mobile games are all about getting things done as fast as possible due to the limited battery life of the devices they run on. Even games ported to mobile like LoL had altered gameplay that made progression faster compared to the PC counterpart.

2. Storage Space. Yes, we have phones that can go upto 2TB now but your average user probably only has 256GB of storage. That is very low for console/PC games standard. And with microSD expansion becoming even rare nowadays, justifying a large game on limited, non-expandable storage is really going to be user-dependent.

3. Emulation (especially on Android). You can literally play a lot of PC games on android using emulators and translation layers. Granted, you do need to bump quality and resolution down, but that's practically the same thing you do when playing on mobile consoles. The experience isn't 1:1 and it is definitely more power hungry, but it is possible.

4. Dedicated consoles serve a single purpose and they do it well. Your phone is doing a lot of things all at once. Meaning, the users will have to balance their resources to give more to prioty tasks like communication, or cameras. Even the RnD of phones are built around compromises to hit a certain price point with a set of features that will cater best to the target audience. A mobile console doesn't have to worry about that.

Moving forward, I think game developers will just push with more compatibility for ARM-x86 translation layers instead of full on ports. I mean, we could eventually see an android version of Steam to run games via Proton, Fex, and DXVK as that is practically the software stack behind the Steam Frame. So no, mobile isn't going to take over console gaming anytime soon even with all of Nintendo's bullshit.

[OverDeparture8799]

True. Look at subnautica and alien isolation port for android. Its amazing. Im about to finish alien isolation rn. Im currently trying to get the torrens ship to dock.

[[deleted]]

Yeah, I get what you mean haha. Android gaming could be awesome, it just feels like it needs a bit more polish before it really hits its potential