I’m more than a casual gamer but not quite a hardcore-stay up all night playing World of Warcraft-kind of gamer. I know what I like and right now I’m loving iPhone gaming.
I mooched around my local GAME (UK video game store) the other day, looking for a classic gaming experience on the XBOX 360. Besides the usual line up of violent games based on the premise that killing lots of things is exciting, there was nothing. Yes, I realise that I really should have bought Street Fighter IV, but just as I was making my way to the counter I realised that I could purchase at least fifteen decent iPhone games for the £34.99 asking price. It was at this point that it struck me. The iPhone is now my primary gaming machine. To be honest, I’m still reeling from this revelation. As someone who is a self-professed polygon junkie, you’d think that the iPhone wouldn’t even come close to satisfying my gaming needs. But it has, here’s why…
1. Developer tools and ease of distribution
The Sony PSP should have been the most popular gaming device on the planet. In terms of hardware what Sony achieved with the first PSP was nothing short of stunning. I can still remember reading the rumours of Sony’s first handheld device and thinking to myself how ridiculous is was to even entertain the idea that Sony could put so much power is such a small device… and yet they did.
The PSP is by no means a failure, but Sony simply can’t compete with the massive momentum infused into the iPhone gaming scene at present. I cannot think of *any* gaming platform that has been blessed with so many quality titles within such a short space of time. This rapid development and distribution of games has led to a broad range of gaming experiences that has already cemented the iPhone as the number one gaming platform for new developers. Even if all iPhone gaming development came to a standstill this evening, there would still be enough quality games available to keep most users happy for another two years or more. History will show that the iPhone killed the PSP (and perhaps even the PS3, but that’s another story for another day), of that I’m certain.
2. Price
The App Store has changed the structure software pricing forever. When a decent gaming experience can be had for just 59p, clearly paying £40 a mediocre home gaming experience is just nuts! In short, current home console games have to provide over twenty times the value of a decent iPhone game in order to be worth the price. This just isn’t the case for 90% of console games.
3. Free updates
Some iPhone games have gone from being nice tech demos to near perfect games in the space of just a couple of months. Just two or three meaningful free updates can propel an iPhone game into a whole different orbit. Fastlane Street Racing is an excellent example. When I reviewed it last year FSR was not much more than an amazing tech demo. But those who purchased it at the time will now find that it is also an accomplished racing experience.
Apple’s stunningly simple update facility enables you to take a chance on some games in way that has not been possible until now.
What are the wider implications for the industry if Apple grace the next iPhone hardware with double the polygon performance and a fully featured TV out option? That’s what I’ll be asking in my next article.
I’d love to hear of your personal iPhone (or iPod Touch) gaming experiences. Have you found more and more of your gaming time taken up by Apple’s legendary pocket computer?
As with everything else Apple does, one cannot get a sense of iPhone gaming until one has had sufficient time to experience the whole process. Looking for a game, paying, installing, playing, updates and so on.
As James has observed, the iPhone does not produce the highest polygon count but boy does it not excel in all other categories.
What some people have not noticed is how Apple has almost doubled the iPhone presence in the market under the radar. Everybody talks about the iPhone, but half of the iPhone OS platform is actually the iPod Touch. One might argues that the current model is the better of the two when it comes to gaming. How many personal media players in the class of the iPod Touch with a full Platform OS are there? None to my knowledge.
Recent statistics on the mobile usage indicates that the iPod Touch has much higher growth rate than the iPhone. It may eventually outsell it (at least the current model). This is one reason Apple execs talked about 30 million iPhone OS devices. The iPod Touch has found a market just as relevant as the iPhone. Much of that market was not stolen from the smart-phones but rather from other mobile gaming platforms like the PSP and DSi.
The iPod Touch just shows what is the minimum hardware that you need for a super successful platform. It’s not querty keyboard or D-Pad, it’s not a HD screen, its not a 8 Megapixel camera or even SD card slot. It’s not even the subsidized price or the huge storage capacity I can fit all my apps on my iPhone even if I had the 4GB model. I think, Apple will release something this summer that will reflect these realities.
On the Topic…. 2 of my 7 iPhone pages are just games. I have only one game on the PC and that is Starcraft.
One things about iPhone gaming is that it better fits the more accepted level of involvement by the vast majority of the people. You have some spare time and you want to kill it by getting into a quick game without speeding hours like a hard core gamer. Who has time for that.
I’m undecided about the iPod Touch. I’m sure I would find it frustrating. Having said that, for many people it’s probably a perfect solution.
Some really excellent points made in your comments Nikolay.
To be honest, the best thing about my iPhone for me is flat-rate, always-on data. And I’d lose that with a Touch, just my two pennies
I wonder how long it will be until the iPod Touch gets a SIM slot?
I connect my Touch with my WIFI Nokia Phone via a free software Joiku (no connection from my side to the software producer!). So the Touch uses the 3 G of the phone very nicely, and only when I want to. So battery drainage is not a real problem!
I have a great idea for NOKIA.
Make a phone addon to the iPod Touch in the manner of the incase Power Slider iPhone case. It should feature
- 3G chip and antena
- GPS
- 2x Simcard slots
- 3.2MP camera + xenon flash
- extra battery
- App store Phone App
- dock integration
- Push notification for calls
As this iPod Touch is so slim, those extra components will not make it too thick.
I think this package will make Steve very happy man.
That might work. Though I figure that Apple would have something to say about this device!
Gotta love the effort you put into this blog
We try!