Hey guys! If you did not know - Aktrez, Raychul and I are out at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week! It promises to be tons of fun as well as a great opportunity to get the word out about GEN!

The first two days at GDC primarily focus on mobile gaming of the cell phone persuasion. While many hardcore gamers and developers alike do not yet see cell phones as a viable gaming platform, it does not seem to hinder the discussion on how to create new and innovative games specificaly for the small screen. Today I sat in on a few lectures about the future of the mobile gaming industry and the challenges that it faces as it enters its adolescent years. One particularly interesting seminar came from Stuart Dredge, a U.K freelance journalist who specializes in reviewing mobile games for Pocket Gamer.

In his lecture –10 Things Journalists Love AND Hate About Your Games – Stuart walked through the results of a study that listed the common praises and gripes mobile gaming journalists have about titles they review. He balanced the love and the hate by alternating between the pros and cons, in an attempt to avoid a mutiny from the developer filled audience. He also included a quote or two from reviews that helped to illustrate his point. While some of the results seem obvious, others were less expected and could prove to be valuable feedback for mobile game developers. Continue on to find out the 10 things that these journalists love and hate about cell phone games – and see how they compare to what you look for in a mobile product! As a quick side note - the speaker took the liberty to make up several words in his presentation…that is his doing, not mine!

Love: The Little Details. “The look of sheer terror as a critter is propelled into the drooling jaws of a larger predator is particularly priceless.”

Hate: Same Old, Same Old: “Sometimes you can’t help but feel that the puzzle genre has almost been exhausted on the mobile phone.”

Ever feel like all mobile games start to look the same?

Love: Variations.” The changeable weather and wind conditions ensure that you never feel as though you’re playing the same level over and over…” and “The two different difficulty levels really do offer genuinely different styles of play…”

Hate: Dodgy Instructions. “The instructions are poorly translated and while it may be pedantic to chastise the developer for leaving out comas, apostrophes and capital letters…”

Love: No Instructions. “It’s all so intuitive that you can easily pick the basics up as you play…” and “The first ten levels gently ease you into proceedings, slowly but surely drip-feeding special items and tactics via helpful pre-stage tutorials…”

Hate: Unfair AI. “The enemy cars are more aggressive than a horny walrus after 500 cans of Stella…” and “The only direction you can look and fire is forward. The enemy ships can fire torpedoes in any direction they like.”

Love: Free Roaming. “Only in the time trials and races do you need to remain in close proximity to the track…Otherwise the route you take is up to you…”

Hate: Too-Short Games. “The first time we played, we completed it in 19 minutes and 20 seconds, and that includes a bit of aimless running around as well as dying twice.” and “The game is too short. We blasted through it in a couple of hours.”

Love: Easyness. “Completing missions unlocks new locations, but this doesn’t mean you have to complete all missions on a location to open the next one.”

Hate: Fiddly Controls. “The game is infuriatingly clunky to control, with a fractional but noticeable delay in response to key presses…”

Love: Simple Controls: “As complex a task as air traffic controlling undoubtedly is, the is a one-thumb game…”

Hate: Disappointing Brands. “We were hoping this game would be great, but having played it, we’re simply gutted…” and “The license offers endless possibilities and brilliant characters…but have any of them been used for the game? No, they haven’t…”

Love: Frequent Rewards. “Rewards are frequent, while the experience of sliding Chuzzles back and for is pretty Zen in itself…” and “You never feel as though you’re not in with a chance of winning…”

Hate: Stupid AI. “You have to put down a line of candy for E.T. to follow through a maze. But there don’t seem to be enough sweets and E.T. keeps stopping and saying he can’t see the next bit of candy even when it is right in front of his face.”

Love:Replayability. “Although the campaign is completable within three or four hours of concerted play, the opportunity to improve on your statistics and secure more of the 30 collectible medals makes replaying Naval Battle a credible option…”

Hate: Bad Sound. “The same annoying song, which sounds like the sort of instrumental effort you got preloaded with your Casio keyboard when you were six.”

Love: Revelation. “The subtle pace at which the game is revealed in all of its depth sets it apart as a title of unique caliber that could only have been forged by a mast puzzle craftsman…”

Hate: Lack of Variation. “The selection of play options may seem diverse, but it’s an expectation that soon shattered when you realize three of them are essentially the same rhythm based button pushing affair…”

Love: Side-Depth. “The real meat of the game comes in the build city mode, which adds in elements of the famous town planning game Sim City.”

Hate: Casual Misogyny.“Soak babes then snap their photo…” and “Throw heavy objects at babes then invite them over…” or “Pillow fight babes…”

I fail to see the problem with a game with both “Sexy” and “Pillow-fight” in the title…

So how did this list stack up? Is poor sound quality one of your common gripes? Do you love little details that many developers overlook in your tiles? Feel free to share!

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