Trip Hawkins: Social gaming is the next step

Trip Hawkins, Digital Chocolate CEO and former founder of EA, says "social gaming" is the future of mobile gaming, not repurposed, licensed games [1] that look like knock-offs of the console version. "By the time those brands map over to a mobile phone, so much is lost in the translation," Hawkins said. "Do you think the gamer is going to continue to buy mobile games when all they get is second-rate versions of what the brands are supposed to be about?" Hawkins also argues for a simpler, more accessible mobile game: Only 5 percent of the 140 million Super Bowl viewers play "Madden" because the other 95 percent aren't interested--"it's too deep, too immersive, too demanding," Hawkins said. "It's like asking people to drive a stick-shift when they have an automatic."

For more on Hawkins' perspective on mobile games:
- read this interview [2] from Hollywood Reporter