Mobile Games And How They Influence Young People

Mobile Games
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Mobile Games and How They Impact Young People
Introduction
Nokia’s iconic snake game in 1998 introduced the world to the concept of single device mobile gaming. The majority of the target audience of mobile games innovators were young people. As a result, young people engage in mobile gaming for a significant part of their leisure time. Nevertheless, the impact of mobile gaming on young people has not been deeply researched yet. However, mobile gaming is culture-specific, which implies that the concept of “mobile gaming” is interpreted differently. Therefore, countries such as China and the United States have their specific understanding of mobile gaming. However, because this concept is still new, I intend to examine it from a general point of view before analyzing its impact on young people. As a result, the differences in the popularity of mobile gaming in China and the United States will be examined.
The United States and China account for half of the mobile gaming market in the World. Therefore, although the two countries lead in this field, there is a huge difference in their understating and perception of such games. As a result, defining what exactly “mobile games” is must incorporate the cultural aspect of the peoples of China or the United States. For instance, the Chinese definition of mobile gaming incorporates huge aspects of games that are mainly found on PC and Consoles, i.e. Honor of Kings and Fantasy Westward Journey. On the other hand, the Americans do not regard mobile games as “real” games since they are not made merely to kill time. However, Candy Crush and Draw Something are among the most common mobile games in America. Hence, most pieces of research of “mobile gaming” are entirely culture-specific.
The popularity of Mobile gaming in China
China has the largest mobile gaming market in the world, resulting in a booming business. One of the key reasons for this fact can be traced to the fact that China is a mobile-first country. Consequently, the prices of mobile phones in China are much lower than the average price in the United States. As a result, China’s average mobile users own relatively cheap but high-performance mobile phones that enable them to play mobile games (Koetse, 2016). Furthermore, mobile games do not even require using a computer mouse nor do they require vast knowledge. As a result, Chinese users find them enormously satisfying.
Moreover, most mobile phones in China have systems that enable people to communicate with their friends while playing games. Consequently, friends can use these systems to recommend new games to their friends. The Adoption of Mobile Games in China article indicates that “Users of mobile games draw their attention to mobile games when their friends or classmates recommend them” As a result, “Chinese people easily find popular and new games through their mobile systems” (Gao et al. 2014, p. 375). Therefore, as the quality of mobile systems in China keep on improving, so are the developments and possibilities within China’s mobile gaming industry.
Furthermore, the mobile gaming popularity in Ch...