29 June, 2014
From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.
More and more people around the world are using wireless or mobile devices. In some countries, smartphones and other mobile devices serve as replacements for the traditional desktop computer. This increase in mobile device usage has also led to the growth of the mobile gaming industry. Experts say the industry will be worth more than $11 billion this year.
Early computers were too slow to process the amount of data needed for realistic pictures, sound and special effects. But processor soon became faster and less costly. Manufacturers saw there was money to be made, so they developed machines designed only for games. Now, smartphones and other mobile devices have created new ways to play games.
Large companies compete in an expanding gaming market. Gamers and game developers recently showed and tested their products at the Electronic Entertainment Exhibition in Logs Angeles, California. The event is called E3 for short. Gaming industry leaders like Xbox and PlayStation demonstrated new products at E3. Famous Americans like comedian Conan O'Brien attended the event.
App Annie based in San Francisco, California is a mobile gaming market research company. App Annie's Marcos Sanchez says companies that develop games for mobile devices are making huge profits.
"In fact, one company alone in some of top ten, games are actually pulling in over a billion in revenues. So gaming, from the mobile-app perspective, is a pretty serious thing and there's some pretty serious revenues associated with it," said Sanchez.
Yoshio Osaki is the top vice president of the International Development Group. The official says new companies are doing very well with all the different ways to provide people with games.
"The video games are not just about the console anymore. And you see a lot of cross-pollination and hybridization across Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA, and Activation etc. But you also now have Wargaming and Riot Games 'League of Legends' or mobile company like King with 'Candy Crush' or Kabam or Supercell with 'Clash of Clans'," said Osaki.
Many of the gaming companies depend on loyal gamers for fresh ideas. And age is unimportant to some companies. Michael Sayman is a 17-year-old Facebook employee. He spoke recently with Voice of America's Spanish service about some of his Facebook responsibilities.
"I will be working on a system called Parse, which is part of Facebook and works with many applications, and they all connect together through what Facebook does and what the company within Facebook. Parse also does," Sayman said.
Parse software is designed to help others develop even more applications for mobile devices.
And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report. For more technology stories, go to our website testbig.com. I'm Jonathan Evans.