Sound the Knell for Free Cell Phone Games

Ever since old school Nokia cell phones hit the scene, we’ve come to expect that our mobile phones come equipped with a couple of free games. On the Nokia phones, we’d find the puke green wonder known as Snake. Well, mobile gaming has come a long way since then, and it seems that cell phone manufacturers are slowly phasing out the concept of free cell phone games in favor of paid ones.

I’m sure you’ve experienced the proliferation of mobile content and so have all the companies involved. They see how lucrative it is to charge people for ringtones, wallpapers, and mobile games too. On many phones these days, you’re more likely to find demo versions of games rather than any full games whatsoever.

Slate is declaring that free mobile games are basically dead because “consumers aren’t going to buy the cow when they can play Virtual Milkmaid for free. It’s obvious where this line of reasoning leads: Goodbye Tetris, hello $7 Tetris.”