(The latest craze in mobile games – the famed Angry Birds, now even comes in form of cakes. My son even got himself a stuff toy version of the Angry Birds last week. Image source: http://walyou.com)
Almost on daily basis, my wife had to charge her mobile phone battery despite hers is not a modern smartphone which uses a lot of battery power or she is not a heavy mobile phone user – she only uses to for calls and occasional SMSes.
The culprit, of course, is none other than our son who often gets too bored with his usual toys and had to content between him monopolizing the TV for his kiddies shows and we providing something new for his gaming needs.
Before I got my Nokia N8, the most “sophisticated” phone other than the CSL’s Blueberry was my wife’s 2730 Nokia which can take in some good Java games. I managed to stuff as many new games it was possible without overwhelming the storage and “released” on the right moments when my son has already got bored with the older games and he had already reached the highest level there is.
When my N8 arrived, it was just too tempting for my son to explore all the gaming options there is and soon, he has gotten to be more expert than me. And for a young boy who often gets bored fast, one game seems to be holding back his interest for some time now – Angry Birds and for Nokia platform, there have several releases todate – the basic Free version, Lite version, the Season version and the Rio version.
He has “done” it all – most several times over as he wanted to win in the best time and the most “stars”. And once he gets hold of my phone, he gets lost in a world of his own – he no longer needs his TV for his entertainment shots but at the same, he is unable to hear us calling out his name. One needs to physically hold the mobile phone to grab his attention.
Of course, we are very particular as to when he can play games on our mobile phones. His homework must be done first and done properly and without mistakes. And there are times when he needs to do revisions and at that times, TV, games and other “non-education” related items are strictly forbidden.
Only when he is free and we want him to sit at one place, in front of us and our mobile phone batteries fully charged, we will pass over phones (although getting them back from him can prove to be a challenge).
Frankly speaking, Angry Birds (and before that several other mobile games) is very, very addictive. It is very simple to play and you score more points if you read the structure dynamics well – you hit it at the right angle and you may get a domino effect. Whoever did this is simply brilliant.
You can lose several hours, just tucking yourself away in a corner and not knowing what is happening on the outside. It is also useful when one has nothing to do whilst waiting for others to come in before a meeting can be started. Just click the sound off, put the mobile phone below the conference table and you will no longer be feeling bored. Something to kill time before the actual meeting starts.
Of course, mobile games can’t come close to computer games or video game consoles which run on more powerful processors and with better hardware specs and memory power. One of my favourites, Company of Heroes (the first one is still the best – the subsequent ones simply sucked) is still one of the games that blew me away with its fine storytelling, graphics and a chance to be Germans, winning World War 2 battles.
Until we get the more fun, attention-grabbing mobile game, Angry Birds is here to stay, causing more strain on our batteries as we try to get better points from the last time.