Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Multimedia, Apple, iPhone
iPhone has the potential to take over handheld gaming
Roughly Drafted has a nice, long analysis of the iPhone as a gaming device, and they hit on a lot of great reasons why the iPhone seems destined to be a great gaming platform. Not only will it have the hardware chops to play games (including a few input devices that no other handheld gaming consoles have ever had), but Apple's SDK implementation, when it finally gets off the ground in June anyway, seems poised to let almost anyone develop any game ideas they have for the device. Throw in a great distribution platform and a relative lack of competition on the handheld platform (Nintendo is undoubtedly working on a successor to the DS, but other than that, there are no real next-generation contenders so far), and Apple apparently has the potential to do very well in the gaming market.
In fact, the only problem that Apple might bump up against in building up in the iPhone as a gaming device is the cost -- at $400, it'll be the most expensive gaming handheld out there. But given that it's actually a smartphone, and thus actually benefits from an already installed user base (people who have the iPhone may very well be people who will have never purchased or used a handheld gaming platform before), the price may not be that big an obstacle to ownership.
And if they can build up a respectable library of game titles, they could even brand an iPod touch/phoneless iPhone as a gaming unit, and sell that at a price that would compete with Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS. Apple has never historically pushed for the forefont of anything in gaming, but if their showing at the SDK event is any indication, they may be lining up to make the iPhone the place to play handheld videogames in the future.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Bob said 11:23AM on 3-22-2008
games. just another thing to drain my battery other than movies.
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MajorMauser said 11:30AM on 3-22-2008
Unique touched based games will be what does it for iPhone. But How bout playing a game like God of War it will be impossible without real controls
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amiga_tone said 6:06PM on 3-22-2008
If unique touch based games were revolutionary I think the Nintendo DS would have realised that at conception.
Touch gaming has been captured by the DS to the capacity at which it works not where it is frustrating - can you imagine not having any kind of tactile feedback from a game device? Not having that feedback from the iPod Touch even Sony Ericssons new k850i is really annoying.
If Apple can compete with the 1000+ title library of the DS (and we;re including all those Gameboy Advance titles that also work with the DS) then they sure as hell have the right resources.
Nintendo have th right idea - their generations concept. They make for everyone, not everyone can buy or own an iPhone/iPod Touch.
Charles said 8:25PM on 3-23-2008
What about a slim controller add on that the iphone cradles into?
Something like the Messenger kit add on for the XBOX 360 controller would rock - give it a D-pad, some buttons or even a qwerty keyboard for texting, maybe even an additional battery so it doesn't drain the iPhone battery while playing games?
http://www.xbox.com:80/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360messengerkit/
Unregistered said 11:37AM on 3-22-2008
Touch Fighter and Spore!
Not so keen on Super Monkey Ball though.
Wonder if we can play D&D by shaking the iPhone to roll dice.
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Neil said 11:46AM on 3-22-2008
This is the biggest pile of nonsense I have ever read. iPhone is £269 + £35 per month minmum. iPod touch is £199 minimum.
Nintendo DS is £99 and you can buy games on cartridges which are durable - a great thing for kids. Nintendo DS has tangible buttons which are a GREAT thing on a games console. iPhone has none of these things - you have to connect it to a computer to play games, which is far too complex for many parents who buy the systems for kids.
Serious gamers won't be attracted to this either. Some iPhones have only 4GB storage and once you put a few songs and videos on it, there's not much room for anything else, let alone a 3D game which can take up hundreds of megabytes of space.
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Kizorblade said 12:13PM on 3-22-2008
The 4GB was discontinued.
And I hardly see how the lack of cartridges is a bad thing. If anything it's better, less things to carry.
You also don't have to connect it to a computer - What made you think that?
And we have no idea on how big the games will be so it's best to reserve judgment on that.
The iPhone/iPod touch isn't just a gaming device, but can do other things, so it has that advantage over the other devices. Plus, that's one less thing to carry around in your pocket.
Neil said 12:19PM on 3-22-2008
PSP wins over iPhone for me for video playback. The screen is bigger and is actually 16:9, meaning that my content plays at the full size without cropping.
iPhone is a stupid aspect ratio.
Kizorblade said 12:24PM on 3-22-2008
Indeed. I wonder what led them to choose that aspect ratio
Macskeeball said 4:24PM on 3-22-2008
No, you won't need to connect iPhones or iPod touches to the computer to put games on them. The App Store is on the home screen of the devices themselves, in addition to being accessible on the iTunes Store.
I do agree that the cost would be a HUGE barrier. I don't imagine many parents will be able to justify buying an iPhone for their kids as a gaming device. Some may go with the iPod touch, though.
Singulariter said 4:57PM on 3-22-2008
RTFA:
"they could even brand an iPod touch/phoneless iPhone as a gaming unit, and sell that at a price that would compete with Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS"
quandmeme said 2:05AM on 3-23-2008
Baah, I wish. for all the reasons stated it will be revolutionary and the industry will SHIFT. Never TAKEN OVER for all the reasons copiously listed. Price and ability to say: here try this game, pop it out and hand it to a school mate.
Mark 2000 said 11:53AM on 3-22-2008
It'll drain the battery so fast you won't have time to finish a level.
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oshawapilot said 11:57AM on 3-22-2008
Sorry, but unless the games come out with some sort of very intuitive touch based interface I can't see the iPhone ever becoming a serious gaming device.
I love my iPhone, but unless there's an add on device that adds the requisite number of tactile buttons that most games require, it's going to be either frustrating (or near impossible) to play some games using a touch based button interface.
Having tried the NES emulator on my iPhone I can say that it was not a stellar experience - when your fingers unknowingly slide away from a button (which you can't tell due to the lack of tactile feel) and then you need to push said button at a critical moment, only to miss it completely, it simply makes things frustrating.
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starkruzr said 11:30PM on 3-22-2008
Yes, and no hardware add-ons mean you can't have a controller either.
It will not "take over" handheld gaming. Certainly some innovative games will be written for it, but the DS stands to reign supreme for a long, long time.
Blaktornado said 12:04PM on 3-22-2008
Well, since the iPod is the most popular PMP on the market, and Apple will inevitably move all it's iPods over to Touch eventually, this is very likely.
I'm sure they'll get a reasonably significant level of share in the Handheld gaming industry, but Nintendo will always hold the lead, and the next DS will probably thrash the iPhone somehow anyway as the features are so similar. A natural next step for them will be multi-touch. All they need is orientation and that's pretty much the uniqueness of iPhone games gone. However, we'll see how things go.
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Macskeeball said 4:31PM on 3-22-2008
Why would Apple move all of its iPods over to the iPod touch? The product simply doesn't make sense for every situation.
It lacks tactile controls, so you can't control it as an iPod without taking it out and looking at it. This makes it not work so well for workouts, for safety (it makes you pull out your expensive gadget for all to see), or just plain convenience. Also, it can never be as wearable as an iPod shuffle.
Fraser JK said 12:07PM on 3-22-2008
Just to let you know... I found that out AGES ago:
http://thefjk.blogspot.com/2008/03/apple-made-console-ages-ago.html
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Mike Schramm said 2:28PM on 3-22-2008
Oh yeah well I said it before that! :)
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/19/videogames-and-the-iphone-sdk/
ryanm said 3:58PM on 3-22-2008
PWNED