Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Odds and ends, Apple, iPod touch
Apple poised to become a mobile gaming force
Welcome to last year, Business Week. Their writer Arik Hesseldahl has a story up about how Apple seems poised to take over the mobile gaming world this holiday. He's been playing with an iPod touch and the games available on the App Store, and he's ready to drink the Kool-aid: what Apple's assembled on their mobile devices rivals some of the experiences on the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP.Not really news to us here at TUAW, of course, but he's right about one thing: this holiday is all-important for Apple in finding a foothold with the iPod touch. Halloween's over, gift shopping is only a few weeks away, and Apple needs to prove why people interested in handheld gaming should pick up a touch before the DSi (and its App Store-style online store) or a new Sony device make their way to our shores.
The good news for Apple is that the games are getting better, and that the touch brings a lot more functionality to the mix (iPod, utility apps) than a dedicated gaming device would. But then again, Nintendo and Sony are established brands for gamers, and even kids looking for a game machine from Santa probably won't have an iPod touch first on their list. We'll have to see how it all plays out.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
J.Y. said 8:26AM on 11-06-2008
Dang! I'm looking forward to a good skateboarding game(s)
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Cameron said 9:13AM on 11-06-2008
How many times are they going to trudge out this story? Sorry, but it will take Apple years and years to even come close to Nintendo's firm grasp on the handheld gaming market. I love both companies, but Apple isn't going to threaten Nintendo anytime soon.
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VAStateOfMind said 9:20AM on 11-06-2008
In October, I sold my 3-year old Nintendo DS-Lite and my 1-year old iPod nano (3rdGen) on eBay to "trade up" to the 2ndGen 8GB iPod touch. My rationale was not so much for convergence -- reducing the amount of gadgets that I used for my music, gaming, etc. -- but that I had turned into more of a "casual gamer," and didn't have the time (nor increasingly, the money) to invest in the best DS games out there (Phantom Hourglass, The World Ends With You, Metroid Prime Hunters, etc.). I cannot tell you how much I've enjoyed my new iPod touch -- it is by far the best and most functional iPod I've ever owned. Surprisingly, I use it LEAST for music, though it serves me well and holds up perfectly in the gym during my daily workout. I use it most for the casual gaming in the evenings, and for web surfing and email in bed, right before going to sleep. Some of the games for the iPod touch and iPhone, both free and paid, are astounding in terms of graphics, playability and engagement and I can only imagine they will get better with time. My only VERY minor gripes is that I wish Apple could cram some more battery power into the iPod touch (doing all of the above, pretty heavily, I need to recharge about every 1.5 days) and I'm looking for more WiFi multiplayer games. Aside from those nits, I can't recommend the 2ndGen iPod touch enough -- I've enjoyed it WAY more than I ever did my Nintendo DS Lite!
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Brian said 10:01AM on 11-06-2008
the ipod touch is not a gaming device. It doesn't have good enough graphics and usability, the controls are usually pretty awkward if it doesn't use the accelerometer and those are usually just crappy racing games. Sony has a full online play network. until the ipod gets an exterior keyboard of some sort, gaming on the ipod is going to be something you do when you're at work or school.
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Tony said 1:54AM on 11-07-2008
"until the ipod gets an exterior keyboard of some sort, gaming on the ipod is going to be something you do when you're at work or school."
Yeah, and the Nintendo DS will never take off because it doesn't have a keyboard. Oh, wait...nevermind.
alvareo said 11:06PM on 11-06-2008
It doesn't have good enough graphics? Ha! Have you seen Super Monkey Ball, Asphalt4: Elite Racing and Nanosaur 2: Hatchling?? Those graphics are even BETTER than DS'.
Eric said 10:18AM on 11-06-2008
Cute talking bits, but it's just not true at this point. The iPod Touch is pretty good at doing music/photos/videos, and the web/apps (when they aren't crashing), but taking over from Nintendo, and to a much lesser extent Sony, in the mobile gaming market, I doubt it.
I have a PSP, and it was easy to mod, and add various emulators and hacks. The NES/SNES/Genesis emus run great, and the PSP games are quite feature-rich and expansive. When I jailbreaked my Touch, I added the NES/Genesis emus, but the controls are just too awkward and uncomfortable. Some of the other app store games I've tried are very simplistic, don't utilize multi-touch, or are primarily racing games. Games like racing and sports have been done to death on the PSP.
Plus Sony and Nintendo have established franchises, which is what usually gets people to buy into a particular console in the first place. Paying $10 for Pac-Man isn't going to cut it.
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sdreamer said 11:16AM on 11-06-2008
The biggest problem with the iPod Touch as a gaming device is it's batter, and it isn't user accessible either. Comparing to other devices, at least their batteries are accessible. However, Apple certainly does have the support to compete. If they can either make it user accessible to the batter (like that'll happen), or increase the battery by like 3 fold, then it might work. But really, this is the best iPod there has been, it's my first, and that's the reason, it's the best one I've ever seen. Honestly the only let down is the battery life, and maybe the Windows support for syncing items like the calendar...
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Tommo81 said 11:33AM on 11-06-2008
The games just aren't there, and neither is the quality. I've yet to play an iPhone game which is any better than what other mobile platforms are offering (i.e. n-gage).
Graphics nowhere near live up to the hype generated around the launch of 2.0, Apple still have a loing way to go IMHO.
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BOK said 12:01PM on 11-06-2008
I would argue that Business Week is a couple years ahead of itself, not one year behind. I know some people think that if you say something enough times, it becomes true, but games on the iPhone/iPT are abysmal by comparison to what the DS and PSP offer. They don't move fluidly, they rarely look good, a touch screen is no substitute for tactile inputs, and there are only so many ways to have fun tilting the thing. Oh, and the App Store is a landfill of shoddy software that makes the shovelware on the DS look like AAA stuff by comparison.
Sorry, fanboys. I know you want to think the JesusPhone is on the same level as Nintendo and Sony, but it's nowhere near. Nowhere near.
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Adaqm said 12:08PM on 11-06-2008
Apple designs its products to be portable media views, not handheld gaming systems. Sure, they will continue to sell iTunes games, but Nintendo will always be better for people who seriously want to play video games, because Nintendo designs gaming systems. How clunky is it to press non-tactile buttons on the iPhone screen? Very. Until Apple figures out a way for these buttons to literally pop-up from the screen, the iPhone will always have a lesser experience than the Gameboy. For better or worse, the iPhone just takes gaming as an after thought.
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alansky said 12:54PM on 11-06-2008
People who slam the iPhone as a gaming device have no imagination. All they know how to do is compare something new to what they already have. If everyone thought like that, the whole world would still be riding around in bullock carts.
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BOK said 3:06PM on 11-06-2008
Thanks alansky, for summing me up so beautifully. But there's a reason some conventions work better than others. The fact that my car doesn't have triangles for wheels or that I don't brush my teeth with sandpaper doesn't mean I lack imagination. It means there are better, well-tested methods that have yet to be usurped.
But by all means, enjoy your groundbreaking cro-mag rally while I slum it with NinjaTown, Patapon and Order of Ecclesia.
VAStateOfMind said 4:53PM on 11-06-2008
BOK, your points are well taken, and if you own a DS or PSP, you certainly don't lack imagination nor a GREAT choice of games -- the best games I've ever played, hands-down, have been on the Nintendo DS platform over the past several years. I owned the phat DS from the day of its intro and traded up to the DS Lite about 1.5 years after that. I'll miss the DS platform (I'm sure I'll get another some day), but simply couldn't afford to keep that AND get an iPod touch right now. My comments above concerning the iPod touch as a gaming platform above come from surprise more than conviction. I know there won't be anything like Castlevania on iPhone, or if there is, it likely won't have the fun factor and reliable control scheme of the DS. However, as I mentioned earlier, iTouch/iPhone is a suprisingly good CASUAL gaming system and fits my gaming needs much better right now...
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BOK said 5:36PM on 11-06-2008
Not with that, I can agree. The potential for casual puzzle games and certain other genres point/click adventure, obviously is there. And for those purposes, it's a great bonus on top of all the other things the device does. I simply take issue with those telling me to throw out my DS and PSP and jump on the bandwagon. It smacks of writers not really thinking about what they're writing, and it's an issue of principle more than anything.
I have no qualms about the device becoming a gaming powerhouse, but I think we're at least one hardware revision away from that realistically happening.
BOK said 5:36PM on 11-06-2008
Now* with that, I mean. D'oheth.
rich said 4:55PM on 11-06-2008
Sorry, but no gamer is gonna trade in his or her DS/PSP to game on an iPod or iPhone. Apple is far from poised to take over the portable gaming market. The app store games can't compete with Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Metroid, Mario Kart (no... the "kart" racing games for iPhone/Touch don't hold a candle), etc...
This guy doesn't know gaming. Period.
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VAStateOfMind said 5:08PM on 11-06-2008
Agreed, rich - the BW author is pretty much assuming that Apple will take over gaming like it did the online music biz, but with several well-established, proven and excellent platforms already in place, that's an uphill assumption. I'm sure I'm part of an extremely small minority who cashed in another game machine to get an iPod touch....
arnold said 10:16AM on 11-11-2008
tank
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