Game developers on iPhone outnumber DS and PSP two-to-one

apps =/= games. apples and oranges. gamers and gaming devs will obviously go and stick to the devices made solely for gaming.

that being said, the iphone platform isn't at all bad - it's another outlet for creative devs to produce innovative works. devs already well-known for their console works have dabbled in the iphone platform.
it doesn't surprise me that game developers on iphone outnumber handheld consoles, but then again anyone with a few bucks and an internet connection can become a "game developer" for the iphone. what the iphone has going for it however, is not the games but the apps (ie. useful stuff).

I too would suggest the writers of TUAW to cool their jets on this one. The games that I have chosen to keep on my iPod Touch are amusing, but nowhere as engrossing as some of the Nintendo DS(i) titles. ie. I am not going to sit at my Touch and play until the batteries run dry. I have been known to play hours with some of the Nintendo DS titles though.

I am more interested in some of the other apps (utilities, social networking, music, news readers, GPS mapping stuff and photo apps, for example). I find myself spending AS MUCH time playing around with these as any of the gaming apps...

Talk about comparing apples with oranges.

I hate to break it to you guys, but the iPhone/iPod is not a serious gaming device nor will it ever be. It is great for playing some quick game while on the bus or on the china (lets face it, that is where most the action is going on). It is called casual gaming. The games available in the app store are mostly crap and even those from big names like EA and such are not comparable to their PSP counterparts.

People already mentioned the higher costs to start developing for the PSP/DS and that is a good thing. Unlike the app store you have some sort of quality control implicitly in place.
If you buy a PSP/DS game for 20-60$ you have expectation how long "game time" you receive for your dollar. And those number are very different for the iPod.

And lastly the hardware. The touchscreen alone is useless for many games which need precise timing and accurate detection. There is nothing worse than loosing a game because the stupid thing didn't recognize your input. On top of that the battery life of the iPhone is ridiculous compared to the PSP/DS .. you better bring a juice pack if you plan on playing during a transatlantic flight.

/rant

sorry about that, but I really think it is silly that people/fanboys keep pointing to the higher number of apps/developers/updates/whatever the appstore has over other place. It is such a useless comparison.

T.

PS: I love my iPhone for gaming, but would really like to see some premium content come the plattform. The only game worth a ton of time I bought was Madden10, which you can basically for ever. Besides that, few games had more than an hour game time and none more than two hours. When you compare .. there really is no comparison.

The definition of quality over quantity.

Psp and ds games are selling for 30$-40$ whereas iphone games for >10$. i.e why iphone is lacking AAA games

More developers means more games, not better games. The high startup cost for getting an official PSP or DS devkit provides a level of quality control (though Imagine: Rock Starz still managed to get on the DS). The fact that anyone can make an iPhone game is both a blessing and a curse - the App Store will help some dude who's really talented make it big, but you'll also have 100 different versions of Breakout.

I would totally make software for the Nintendo DS or PSP if they had the kind of developer program Apple has.

This is not very surpising. This article is comparing 2 closed development programs with Apple's open development program, and it is little surprise that the iPhone has more game developers.

The only REAL explanation for this is that Apple has essentially allowed homebrew programs and games to be legitimately installed on the iPhone. Back when I had my PSP (purchased about 2 weeks after it's release), I remember doing the hack on it to allow homebrew to be installed. The problem is that homebrew content was all spread out, I was always afraid that the programs I downloaded would brick it, and the programs were either sub-par or sucky ports (like DOOM or Pac-Man).

By putting the App Store in place when they saw the hacking community get ahold of the iPhone, Apple succeeded in doing what Sony could not: Monetizing the HUGE hacker database that is out there. Look how many apps are out there that started out as Jailbreak only (Qik, video recording apps, games, etc).