Can You Play Video Games On Mobile Phones?
Over the last decade, smartphone devices have become an everyday part of life, allowing you to contact friends and family and handle various aspects of your day-to-day life. They also keep you entertained by allowing you to play various games, including modern-day video games.
A Look Back At Mobile Games
When smartphones first launched back in the early to mid-2000s, they were rather rudimentary. After a few years, however, games like Angry Birds, Plants Vs Zombies, and other mobile games were released, revolutionising the mobile gaming industry. Since then, thousands of mobile games have been released for smartphone devices, casino games have become compatible with mobile devices, and video games can be played on these devices too, but how?
How To Play Modern Day Video Games On Smartphones
Surprisingly, it’s now possible to play modern-day video games on smartphone devices, including all-new game releases. Although you can’t physically insert discs into your smartphone device or directly download video games to your device (usually because modern-day games are so big in size), you can play video games on your phone by streaming them online.
PlayStation Games
Sony PlayStation released its Remote Play app for iPhone and Android smartphones, allowing users to stream their games and play them directly on their phones. The caveat, however, is that users will need to own a PS4 or PS5 console and be close to the console in order to be able to play their games remotely. This is a great way of playing if someone is using the television screen or if you simply want to play elsewhere.
What’s unique about PlayStation’s Remote Play app is that if you’re playing on a smartphone, the app will feature touch-screen buttons representing those found on a DualShock or DualSense PlayStation controller, meaning you won’t have to connect a controller to play. Since the buttons take up most of the device’s screen, however, we believe it’s just easier to play with a controller.
Alongside the above, PlayStation also runs its PlayStation Now streaming service through which you can stream PS2, PS3 and PS4 games. Unfortunately, the service is only currently compatible with PS4 consoles (From PS5s) and PC; there is no mobile compatibility.
Xbox Games
Microsoft, meanwhile, has released its Xbox Cloud Gaming service, which is available as part of the Ultimate tier of Xbox Game Pass. Unlike Sony PlayStation’s Remote Play app, the Xbox Cloud Gaming service works a little more like video streaming services like Netflix, allowing you to play over 150 games at any time and anywhere, provided you have internet access, of course.
The games streamed via the service don’t run on your device but on a server somewhere else in the world. Unfortunately, a very strong internet connection is required to play, and the service can be subject to input lag when playing, which can quickly become frustrating. It’s also worth pointing out that you will need an Xbox controller and will need to connect it to your smartphone in order to play.
Are These Services Worth It?
Although there are some kinks to work out, both of the services we mentioned above are great ways of playing modern-day video games on your smartphone device. There are pros and cons to using either service, and gaming streaming services are still relatively new, so we can expect a lot of this to improve and get better. In the meantime, why not try them out to enjoy your games wherever you want.
