Ngmoco looks to blend core appeal with mobile usage patterns

Author: by Staff

Ngmoco general manager Ben Cousins has big plans for the mobile company's Swedish branch. As the mobile market continues to evolve, he and his team hope to find new ways to blend elements of high-end console gaming with the more casual usage patterns of the platform. According to Cousins, while some developers have already tried to capture console-like experiences on mobile, they've overlooked the reasons why users play mobile games in the first place. "People are [making these games] already, and it doesn't get you to the top of the charts. Like Modern Combat 3 from Gameloft is a 10-hour, Call of Duty-style single player game with a persistent multiplayer component, and that's not the answer," he explained in a recent interview with Gamasutra. Cousins thinks that if developers pay attention to how and why users are playing today's top games, they can learn a thing or two about making more "core" oriented titles going forward. "That's the fascinating opportunity for me -- is like, in five years' time, what sort of games will 'core' gamers be playing on mobile? I don't think they'll be playing Fruit Ninja. I think that there will be something with a Fruit Ninja style usage pattern, and the price point, but with a very different tone and feel and level of gameplay." To help find that different tone and feel, Cousins is looking toward popular console franchises like BioWare's Mass Effect, hoping to identify the base appeal of these games, and streamline those concepts to take advantage of how players use their mobile devices. "I think we can find something which feels like Mass Effect -- feels as high-end, and as dramatic, and as cinematic, with the production values of that sort of game, but that doesn't require you to boot up a console, go through a long cutscene, walk to where the action happens, play the action, and then hit a save point. [That's] great for getting value out of a PC or console usage pattern, but not great for mobile," he said. For more, look out for Monday's full interview with Cousins, which will further cover his thoughts on mobile development, his greater plans for Ngmoco Sweden, and much more.