Growth of Mobile Casinos in South Africa

Say the term “mobile casino” out loud and you’re sure to conjure up at least 20 different images in people’s heads. From astounding apps that buzz and whirr to incredible games you can take on the go, everyone has at least one idea, and certainly more than one opinion, about what constitutes a mobile casino. It hasn’t been that long since these smart and handy little pocket-sized entertainment hubs have been around, but in that decade or so, the mobile casino games space has changed drastically, not just because mobile technology has changed so much, but also because the developers of those games and those casinos now understand how important the user experience is

We all remember the joys of playing ‘Snake’ on our large Nokia 3310s and though the game itself is now a little outdated, the principle behind taking entertainment where you want to go is a pretty solid one. When mobile phones were invented about 30 years ago, those who studied the ways in which people behaved noticed that there was a rising need to ‘fill the gap’, that is, stay entertained in boring situations. Standing in line at the bank, waiting in a doctor’s office for an appointment or sitting in a car waiting to pick up the kids from school were all ideal ‘fill the gap’ situations.

As online casinos began to pick up speed and become popular, developers started to understand that online casinos could ‘fill the gap’ and as more and more people began to buy smartphones, catering to this need became even more important. Developers of online casinos for mobile had to rise to meet the challenge of how to stay relevant to this market, a market with a decent amount of cash and a strong need to be entertained.

If you have followed the changes in online and mobile design over the last few years, you’ll know how important UX (user experience) is. This is a term that describes how people experience websites and mobile sites, and is one of the major reasons developers use tools like parallax scrolling and floating menus. Without delving too deep into how these men and women do their jobs, suffice it to say that they understand that people want more than a site that looks pretty. They want a site that is easy to use, that is intuitive (which means they can use it without loads of instructions) and that hands them the information they want easily.

It is this exactly that has seen developers change from Flash to HTML5 in the last year or two. The former was one of the foremost tools for developing games and allowed those who wanted to play online casino games for mobile to do so with minimal effort. However, now that smartphones and tablets have changed, coding has had to change too and many developers are starting to create their games using HTML5. For us laypeople who wouldn’t know the different, suffice it to say that HTML5 has fewer limitations than Flash, allows for games to be created that are more stable (and who doesn’t hate it when a website crashes right?) and in the future, will have more features than Flash.

If the battle to be fought is between apps and mobi sites, there really is no clear winner. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Apps tend to be expensive to develop, they require plentiful storage space on your device and they require constant updates. However, they are also quick and convenient to access, requiring a simple selection on your smartphone or tablet, rather than the need to open a browser and look for a web address. In terms of user experience, they also tend to be very intuitive, which is helpful if you’re accessing a new casino.

Mobi sites are user-friendly too and they take up less space on mobile devices, but they’re not perfect either. As these sites are hosted on behalf of online casinos, they can sometimes be slow, may crash if there is too much traffic and due to space restrictions cannot offer the same wealth of games that a downloadable casino on desktop would be able to offer.

What is important to remember is that the world of mobile is changing at a rapid rate and though there is currently no clear winner in this neck-and-neck battle, a year from now that may change

So is there a future for the world of mobile casino games? Yup, there sure is, which is why developers are releasing more and more games for mobile and desktop, rather than just for desktop. You may have noticed that a lot of games have been released lately that are mobile friendly and in the future, you should keep your eyes open for many more. Mobile is the way of the futur