Whereas some may be skeptical about Apple's impact on the gaming world, Apple is naturally confident that products like the iPod Touch are the future of this industry, even making a passive-aggressive swipe towards the DS and PSP by insinuating they are "the past."
"There are over 1,500 games and there's a great affinity between the iPod Touch customer and those games," explains Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod and iPhone Product Marketing. "And the gameplay I think has surprised a lot of people, because it's not just the casual games. There are real 3D games, and it's hard to imagine we're only a little over 100 days into it. There are already so many games and as we look at it, to us it really seems this is the future of gameplay. Whereas a lot of these devices are more in the past.
"And a big part of that is not just the device itself, which is easier to carry, and has the touch display and accelerometer which is great for gameplay, but it's the electronic distribution of the apps as well."
Joswiak also believes that software price is a deciding factor, with iPod Touch games shifting for £5 in comparison to the £30+ price point of DS and PSP titles. The Apple man states developers can charge far less for purely digital offerings since they "don't have to worry about licensing and manufacturing hardware, they don't have to worry about forecasting, returns, missing the forecast."
While I don't think Apple will be able to knock Nintendo from the portable pedastal any time soon, I think only a fool would discount Apple as a legitimate contender in the gaming scene. Games are a huge, huge market right now, and if Apple likes one thing, it's huge markets. Expect to the see the company become far more aggressive at winning over the games industry in the future.
Contest:
9:23 AM on 11.12.2008
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Also, it's worth mentioning that the number of "real" games on the system is still very small. The boast of over 1,500 games rings hollow to me... try a couple dozen (at most!) even worth the wait to download.
That and if they want to get serious, that controller add-on needs to come out and get supported.
Until you actually make a console, shut the fuck up.
Thanks
- TewDee
Although having a DSlite built into my iphone would make life easy... ::sigh::
After work I'm going to go out and spend $600 on three IPhones for my entire family, and will sign each of us up for the cheapest 30 or 40 dollar plans I can find.
Forty bucks per-month per-console seems expensive, but I'm not worried -- the two or three good games available make the IPhone pay for itself. Over a hundred bucks in fees every month is well worth it when you're holding the console of the future right in your hands.
There AREN'T any monthly iPhone plans for that cheap.
I believe the lowest is $60 which means after taxes and fees you're paying around $70 a month and that's the cheapest for the iPhone WITHOUT 3G.
And as far as I'm concerned, if you don't have buttons featuring tactile feedback (meaning you can't feel with your fingers if you're actually pressing a button) then the system is not ideal for games.
RPGs maybe, but not much else.
Thanks, bye.
However, I don't want something without real buttons. Touching the screen for games sucks. I seriously don't think an accelerometer is "wave of the future" for gaming. I don't like something I can't ABSOLUTELY control.
It worked for Sony, I guess.