Interview

2013 In Review: PocketGamer.biz's Keith Andrew

The year of Ouya. Well, not quite

2013 In Review: PocketGamer.biz's Keith Andrew

As we come to the end of 2013, it's time to look back at the events that dominated the last 12 months in mobile gaming.

As such, we've asked the industry's great and good to give their take on the last year, as well as predicting the trends that will come to pass in 2014.

Keith Andrew is editor of this very site, and spends his days trawling through the thousands of words that pour into PocketGamer.biz every day. As a result, he has an expensive and now rather dangerous coffee addiction.

Pocket Gamer: What do you think was the most significant event for the mobile games industry in 2013?

Keith Andrew: It might sound odd because it's not strictly mobile, but I think the story of 2013 has been the rise and – not to be too dramatic – fall of the microconsole.

I can't think of another game, theme or product that has generated so many articles on this website but so palpably failed to deliver, really. And that's not meant to be a scathing criticism of Ouya, GameStick and co.

Rather, it sums up not just the last year in mobile games, but the last five or so years: big thing comes along, people get hyped, it hits, and it does something people aren't expecting.

Sitting here in December 2013, on both sides of the Atlantic PS4s and Xbox Ones are flying off the shelves. During the last few days, I've been testing PS4's remote play on PS Vita, and it's something to behold. Sony's PS Vita TV has launched in Japan and, dare I say it, console gaming looks in as rude a health as it has for some years.

Why? Because Sony and Microsoft saw what was coming, saw the way mobile was changing the game and adapted their machines. People may have their favourites, and the launch line-ups are far from stellar, but no-one can deny that both Sony and Microsoft have raised their game, and I think that's in part due to the likes of Ouya.

Anything seems possible in the world of mobile – even now – and that's a spirit that's starting to bleed across the industry.

What was the most significant event for Pocket Gamer?

It's been another year if gradual evolution on PocketGamer.biz – at looking at what we do, at listening to our readers, at trying to slowly change our approach so we fit the needs of you guys and girls a little better.

But as cheesy as this may sound, the most significant 'event' for me this year has been the weeks when I've been able to take a step back, look at the site and just gasp at some of the content we've got up.

None of it has been by me, I might add, but much of it from our range of especially talented freelancers and the pool of industry luminaries who take to our pages to tell us what's happening in mobile and why.

Things have really ramped up in 2013, and knowing what I know about our plans for 2014 – including our very first conference, Pocket Gamer Connects in London in January – next year could and should be even better.

What was your favorite mobile game of the year?

This may seem like an odd choice because it wasn't one of the year's big hitters, but Halfbrick's Fish Out of Water dominated a large chunk of my time in 2013.

It's what mobile does best – a simple idea, brilliantly delivered and short and sweet enough that it doesn't impact your life all too much when you become addicted to it. As I did.

Fish Out of Water is just the product of a studio that only ever puts out quality.

Halfbrick's Fish Out of Water

What do you predict will be the most important trends in 2014?

I think 2014 may be the year when mobile settles down a little.

Everything to this point has come in bursts and, though that's exciting, it's not healthy longterm for everyone to be chasing the latest trend – many of which simply don't pay off.

I think 2014 will be the year when developers – and gamers – will get to grips with free-to-play, but I think it'll also be the year when studios realise it isn't the be-all-and-end-all. I will wave the flag all day for F2P, but I think for most titles, a simple paid approach is the most sensible and creative option.

I think we'll also see more and more developers realise that Kickstarters – and crowdfunding in general – will only ever work for a minority of projects. Simply launching a game on Kickstarter doesn't make it newsworthy, nor does it set it out from the crowd.

In short, 2014 is the year when mobile matures. The year when we stop chasing every bright and shiny thing and instead focus on following the best approach for the game in question.

What's your New Year's resolution and what resolution would you enforce on the industry?

My resolution? To learn German. But I've been saying that for three years now. Don't expect it to happen.

For everyone else? I think – building on what I've just said – we should stop looking for a one-size-fits-all solution. It doesn't exist. The big boys? They don't really know why they've been so successful, so don't try and recapture their success. Just try and make a good game, and sell it in the way you think you should sell it.

Take advice, yes, but don't try to mirror what other people have done.

Thanks to Keith for his time.

Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.