Ngmoco's Cousins: Tablets more like consoles than smartphones

Author: by Staff

As part of a new Gamasutra feature on whether tablets will leapfrog consoles in game graphics, quality and appeal, the outspoken head of Ngmoco's new Stockholm, Sweden-based studio, Ben Cousins, offers his take on what will be crucial in creating a tablet game. "Tablet games need to be more involving, like console games... they need to serve customers who are using the device for longer periods of time than smartphones... they need to be adapted to their bigger screens, like console games... and they need to be more entertaining for longer, evening play periods, like console games," says Cousins (pictured with his team in a photo taken late last year). He and his team are working on an unannounced title for Ngmoco, a publisher of mobile games. "Unlike with a smartphone, based on the usage patterns we've seen from consumers, it's completely conceivable to have a fully immersive experience on a tablet akin to an Uncharted or a Skyrim," Cousins says. It would be a mistake, however, to completely copy console games onto tablets, he warns. Developers need to take advantage of tablets' continuous connectivity, their unique touchscreen-based control systems, their integrated features like push notifications, the freemium business model, and the "ultra-convenience" of being able to get software at the app stores. He doesn't see any of the current game consoles competing with the app stores in terms of their wide variety of freemium content and their ease of use of downloading and installing games. The full feature, which contains more thoughts from Cousins as well as quotes from Nvidia on its upcoming technology and Unity on its game engine, is live now on Gamasutra.