Remember back before the PS4 and Xbox One launched? When Console gaming was absolutely dead, and Angry Birds had changed everything forever and we’d all be playing our games via Android or iOS?

Scary times.

Since then the PlayStation 4 has absolutely trounced everyone’s expectation, the Xbox One sold well despite losing a long-fought battle for the console market, and the Nintendo Switch...well hot damn. The Nintendo Switch sold more in a year than its predecessor, the Wii U, did in its entire lifecycle. Console gaming isn’t just alive and well, its thriving. We could be heading into an even bigger and more exciting era at the turn of the decade with the Switch hitting its midlife strut, and Sony pulling the sheet back on its next big machine. The Xbox One X has sold well but I have a sneaking suspicion that this year is going to be a BIG one for Xbox gamers.

I honestly don’t have enough time to spend with these machines. Not the way I’d like to.

Having said that.

• Animal Crossing Pocket Camp
• Mario Run
• Framed 1 & 2
• Monument Valley 1 & 2
• Her Story
• Florence
• Hearthstone
• Part Time UFO
• Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition
• Football Manager
• The Sims Mobile

I play these games a lot. Like a lot. They sit in my mind as some of my favourite games in recent memory (and yes, I know they’re not all at their ‘Best’ when played on Mobile). Final Fantasy XV is a micro chibi fun time version of itself on mobile, Her Story is obviously best played on a desktop, and The Sims Mobile is riddled with micro transaction madness. But...it’s my phone. It’s not a ‘Gaming’ machine. There’s more excitement to be had in terms of releases on my IPhone than there ever has been on my PS Vita (Istandbythevitaandloveitimsorryimadethisstatement).

Then there’s the big dogs that have gotten involved.

No not you Roman, go home.

Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds took the world by storm and its almost perverse success has seen it stood up to by Fortnite, and Fortnite alone. Keeping in mind Fortnite is in effect, a failing product that only caught a spark when it adopted the PUBG playbook and it becomes obvious that the words BATTLE ROYALE have taken a hold of gaming by storm (I know about the back and forth with Bluehole and Epic as well so don’t @ me ;) )

As I write this both these games are available on iOS. There are more iPhones out there than Sony could ever hope to see PS4's out in the wild. The Nintendo Switch has seen a boom not just for it’s great games but for its innovative, home console/portable design. While it still lacks a tad on the 3rd party side of the map I’m sure that will change but with two of the biggest games in the world now on Mobile it feels like something else might be stirring. Imagine selling a nice controller with every Apple TV, Google Chromecast or amazon Fire Stick. Imagine chucking that controller in your bag and popping up to play a bit of Console ready FIFA, or a few rounds of Call of Duty in a coffee shop. Imagine challenging a friend to Tekken and being able to end the discussion there and then, in the pub, on your phone. The Switch is a step in the right direction, but I think the biggest step is still going to come from the super computer in your pocket. It’s a machine that has all the power in the world at this point, and while battery power is always going to be a problem, that’s something that will no doubt get better and better over time. Your ‘casual’ gamer is the real target for 3rd party publishers throughout the industry. We get a Battlefront II debacle once in a blue moon, but the hard truth is that Call of Duty sells very well, and those sales come from a mainstream audience not your ‘Hardcore’ player base. FIFA Ultimate Team makes millions if not billions, its hand over fist money that becomes all the easier to pocket when the ticket to entry, normally the big cost of a console, is replaced with a bi-annual upgrade from your mobile phone provider. 'You playing PES22. Yeah. Xbox or Playstation-' Oh Wait. It doesn't matter. Cross platform gaming is here. Right Now. We will find ourselves in situation, very soon, where it will be difficult for most parents to justify buying a Minecraft machine for £350 when little bobby can inherit Dads old phone instead.

I’m ranting. It’s what we do here. But after turning my nose up at Casual mobile gamers for a long time, the last year or so has seen me turn. I want to be playing games all the time. There are too many and time is too little. So if the only way I’m going to find time to play Final Fantasy 19 is via an anime mobile version on my phone, then maybe I’m just grateful there was an easy and fun way to play it at all. Or maybe I’m disappointed that I experienced a watered-down version, while you had it projected directly into your brain via whatever insane technology we have in the future.

I’m undecided as to how I feel about mobile gaming. But part of me might like it.

I have Mega Man on my phone.

I ain’t complaining.