Sony is finally entering the world of mobile gaming - and it's about time! Sony has now confirmed the formation of a new company called ForwardWorks, in Japan, which will have a big focus on mobile gaming titles.
Not much else is know about the new company, but a press release claims it will cater to "users with opportunity to casually enjoy full-fledged game titles in the new field of the smart device market".
What isn't clear is whether the company will have the license to use existing Sony Computer Entertainment published titles. If it does, that could mean Nathan Drake, Ratchet, Clank, Sackboy, Knack, even Spike from Ape Escape could all appear on your phone in the future.
But phones aren't as capable as your PlayStation 4, so how could franchises be re-imagined for your iOS or Android device? Here are a few of our own ideas.
Uncharted
Let's start with the obvious - the Uncharted series. Nathan Drake has been on three PlayStation 3 adventures as well as two on PlayStation Vita and a huge remastered collection for PlayStation 4, plus he's about to set out on one final journey in Uncharted 4.
Yet still, the character hasn't been featured on mobile. Imagine an endless runner with one of the Uncharted characters main characters in the hot seat.
Top-end phone graphics, temples collapsing around you, tension building as you have to speed up, a large variety of locations and that special Uncharted dialogue could combine to make the first truly good endless runner.
One of the best elements of Uncharted are the set pieces, so bringing those in could put other games like Temple Run to shame by embracing the simple mechanic and still having a true flavor of character. Throw in Sully and Elena as unlockable characters too.
Jak and Daxter
Mobile would give Naughty Dog another excuse for more Jak & Daxter games.
One of the strongest elements of the entire series was the puzzle solving, paired with the wittily written script. Creating a The Room-style puzzle adventure would work great with these characters popping up throughout.
Bring back these two iconic characters with newly written dialogue and a mass of new puzzles to get through. The harder the puzzles the better, plus this would be a great way of reintroducing the characters to gamers before the inevitable PlayStation 4 reboot.
Journey
Journey is one of the best gaming experiences we've ever gad, and the whole thing only takes around two hours to complete.
The game lets you connect up with a random player online and go on your adventure together, wandering through the beautiful landscapes, collecting items and working together to find your way.
If that's not something developer That Game Company wants to do, maybe we can get a brand new journey to go through. A second game could include a series of new areas to explore and put an even bigger focus on the multiplayer elements.
Phones are at the point where they can run this level of games - why would you want to play this on a console?
Crash Team Racing
Crash Bandicoot made one of the best racing spin off games either, so let's get that onto mobile.
With the success of mobile racing games such as Asphalt 8, it feels like a no-brainer for Sony to make a racing game you can play on your phone. Forget about the serious Gran Turismo franchise and all your "serious" racers, Crash Bandicoot is where it's at.
Nintendo might be moving into mobile, but we don't expect to see a Mario Kart game on our smartphones any time soon. Crash would be a nice substitute.
Buzz!
Remember Buzz! on the PlayStation 2? Despite its ridiculous main character and marketing material, it proved to be a fun party game that we can see translating well to the phone.
QuizUp is doing the quiz thing right now for mobile, but the option to play as a group of friends rather than just 1-on-1 would make Buzz! an easy success on the phone.
Just be sure to include a vast variety of topics and the ability to make your own customer quizzes, and we reckon we've got a winner.
Killzone
First-person shooters do not work on mobile due to touchscreens - so how do you bring a franchise like Killzone to your phone?
Real-time-strategy might be the way to go here. There aren't enough RTS games on mobile considering how well the touchscreen input works for it.
Playing the general in Killzone and commanding your troops to head out and battle the Helghast directly - deciding what soldiers to train, where to place them, and how to make your attack - could make for an interesting take on the series.
