In my formative days at Pocket Gamer, I got used to living by an unspoken rule: there's the gaming press, and then there's the mobile gaming press.

The launch of the App Store in 2008 may have led to an explosion in consumer interest, but for many doing the job I do, the admission that you worked for a mobile gaming site was akin to telling your friends that you're a world famous racing driver, before inviting them down to see you take on a load of pre-teens at your local go kart circuit.

From the outside looking in, I think that's the experience many mobile devs also had until recently.

Those previously tied to console or PC development are now moving on smartphones en masse, but for a significant time, the mobile scene was an almost cosy affair, where small budgets could still deliver big hits, and every game idea didn't revolve around space marines and massive guns.

If they haven't already, those days are coming to an end. Not only are the world's biggest publishers now wholly invested in mobile, but it appears the console platforms that previously dominated their attention are too.

No small measure

I have little doubt that talk of an Xbox Surface tablet – most recently ramped up by The Verge – has a sound basis in the truth.

Not only is the 7-inch form factor pitched now seemingly the size of choice for manufacturers – Apple's iPad mini effectively acting as a seal of approval for 'tiny' tablets from the Cupertino giant – but wrapping up the Xbox brand in a device primarily aimed at gamers would seem to be a logical one.

As many commentators have pointed out in recent years, Xbox is no longer a console, but rather a service that Microsoft plans to string out across both smartphones and slates: Xbox Surface, if released, would cement that vision.

But, don't get sidetracked by the idea that this is some fantastical aspiration only held by those working within Microsoft.

Almost all of the major players in the mobile scene are taking steps towards a future where services are more important than hardware – where the machine that sits in our living room and the one packed away in our pockets is essentially the same thing: a window into their entertainment platforms, identical across every device.

The side effect of this, of course, is that the world we currently live in where mobile developers (to a certain extent) are shielded from the full force of the console gaming scene is on its way out.

In a few years time, consumers won't think of games as being either 'mobile' or 'console'. The only question will be whether they're available on the service they're invested in: whether Microsoft's Xbox-Windows venture, Sony's PlayStation-Android jaunt, or Apple's soon-to-be-on-your-TV iOS.

Future fumble

What this means for developers, however, is the big question.

The consumer part of my brain welcomes the unification of the market. I love the idea of being able to pick up play in the same games across multiple forms of hardware: it's an aim the likes of Apple have talked up at presentations for a couple of years now, but still seems some way off being a reality.

But if hardware is no longer a limiting factor – if game streaming services, or more and more powerful smartphone chips mean our mobiles are treated to the full fat versions of huge IP like Grand Theft Auto, Halo or Call of Duty at the same time as consoles – then what happens to the indie?

Having been drawn to smartphones like a magnet from 2008 onwards, it now seems an industry wide revolution is set to break down the walls around the mobile scene to allow the big boys to come and play.

No doubt, there will be avenues set aside exclusively for smaller studios, but the relative failures of Microsoft's Xbox Live Indie Arcade and Sony's PlayStation Mobile suggest catering for indies may not be a priority for those with the keys to the kingdoms.

The cycle continues

In essence, the likely launch of Xbox Surface in 2013 symbolises the overwhelming success the mobile gaming industry has fashioned for itself in the last few years.

It could also, however, mark the end of a chapter where it played host to some of the most innovative and imaginative games ever seen.

In the end, while truly connected gaming platforms are an inevitability, the survival of what we currently define as the 'mobile game' in the face of such opposition may rely on one, widely held theory being proven true: that players don't want to take on huge titles, even if only in passing, while waiting for the bus or sitting on the loo.

Tighter games with smaller budgets and tiny dev teams may once again have to prove their worth against the Goliaths of the industry. But, you know what they say: the more things change, the more they stay the same, right?