Gaming Gets Smarter

The Nintendo 3DS, at its inception, was often viewed as the future of portable gaming. But it will not come to be.

Even though 3D has been touted as “The Next Big Thing” by many annals of the entertainment and technology industries, the results of the venture have been mixed. Especially with Nintendo.

The Nintendo 3DS sales have struggled in most regions despite a strong showing in Japan. Critics blame the small software library, price of the device, and poor battery life for the relatively sluggish sales.

What seems to be the main factor to me is the rise of mobile gaming, which is benefiting from the rise of dual, and, in 2012, quad core processors that can power more sophisticated and enjoyable games in smartphones.

Indeed, The Washington Post commented that Nintendo struggled to move games and consoles in the first half of this year, and I think it’s safe to say that the mobile and video gaming industries will be at loggerheads for years to come.

The Apple App Store, which is the only online source for games on the iPhone, made one point seven billion dollars in revenue during 2010 according to Apple Insider. This doesn’t even include the free application downloads as well as the money spent on the Android Market and Blackberry App World. Total, the smartphone application is a staggering two point one billion dollar industry.

As smartphones gain in complexity and popularity, we will be carrying fewer and fewer devices in our pockets next year and beyond. Our gaming console, music player, GPS, credit card information, house keys, and even our driver’s license will be packed all into the same device.

What I speak of is the NFC, or Near Field Communication chip that is slowly but surely popping up in more smartphones in the United States. The Galaxy Nexus by smartphone giant Samsung, which is due to arrive on Verizon’s network in the coming weeks, includes the chip as a much celebrated feature.

So it’s the simple matter of convenience that will decide the future of portable gaming. I predict the slow but steady decline of the portable console gaming industry as the smartphone becomes the sole overlord of our pockets and only touchstone for our fingers.

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