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> if all you care about is the bottom line then sure I guess the casino is the way to go, but lets not pretend there's capital-A Art in those games the way there is on consoles or PCs.

This is why the games I play on my iPhone and iPad come exclusively from Apple Arcade. There really is some great art there: Don't Starve, Stitch, Cozy Grove, Alto's Odyssey, Oregon Trail, and more.

The difference is Apple Arcade absolutely forbids the in-game microtransaction mess. You can see where it's been removed in games like Star Trek: Legends or Jetpack Joyride. What's really interesting is these are really good games in their own right once you get to play the game to earn the rewards and progress. The only thing standing in their way is the microtransaction crap, which is sad.

I played a lot of Mario Run at the beginning but ultimately stopped because it was absolutely infuriating that it required a network connection. This requirement made the game completely useless as a way to spend time on a subway or airplane trip.

As far as I could tell the only features that needed the network connection were high-score comparisons and infrequent content updates. So what's the big deal if I don't have a live connection? Just let me play without the high score or the latest content!

> The mobile gaming landscape is not a place for quality

I’d rephrase that as the mobile gaming landscape is not a place for traditional monetization models. Genshin Impact is primarily a mobile game and although the anime aesthetic may not be for everyone it is easily a AAA quality open world game that has been a resounding financial success, making over $3.6B in just two years. However, it uses the gacha monetization model to fund its live service development instead of the traditional “buy the main game once and then pay for any expansions you want” model.

> You hear a lot about "gatekeeping" and "elitism" whenever mobile gaming and traditional gaming are discussed

What? Whoever is discussing that is still living in ~2010.

I think itch.io is the anti-elitist platform these days... its certainly not Google Play/App Store.

> What? Whoever is discussing that is still living in ~2010.

No, they're just living in the west.

It doesn't matter if mobile is the biggest segment in the industry of videogames, plenty people regard it as an inferior product. Even some parties treat the Steam Deck as inferior because it can't attain the same power as pc/ps5/xbox

Eh I misunderstood, my point is neither AAAs nor mobile gaming have any right to make morality accusations.

I think the elitism question is related to mobile gaming being considered casual while there's a gender disparity. So if you say mobile gaming is bad, which it is, you're insulting female gamers. (From the perspective of certain bloggers)

I... have never thought of it that way. In fact I am kinda skeptical of the idea that most mobile gamers are female.

There are stereotypically "female" PC and console games too, like The Sims, Disney Dreamlight Valley, popular Wii games and such.