Etch A Sketch: The iPhone's killer new app

When bold analysts dared to suggest that the Apple iPhone could topple the Nintendo DS and claim its position as the #1 portable gaming platform, we laughed at them. Not just a dismissive chuckle, OH NO, that wouldn’t be nearly good enough to express the dumbfoundedness we felt over such a dumb statement that only dumb people could have dumbly concocted in their dumb little heads. Therefore we opened our mouths wide, sending our mad cackles reverberating across the wide series of tubes that is the Internet to let them know just how mad their wild predictions were.

But then, maybe we were the mad ones. That’s right, maybe the iPhone can beat out the DS, but, if such a thing were to happen, it would take one hell of a game to do it. Ladies and gentlemen, I think such a game may have just been released: Etch A Sketch. That’s right, Etch A Sketch. The incredibly popular turn-the-knobs-to-draw-horribly-inaccurate-pictures-device now has now seen its first digital release.

Seeing as how 150 million Etch A Sketches have been sold worldwide -- a number that is slightly higher than the DS’ 144.49 million units sold -- it is totally clear to me that once all these people catch wind of this nostalgic whirlwind’s release, and buy iPhones simply to play this game, that there will be more iPhones sold than DSes. Logic! And not only will it contain the enthralling etching and sketching that has kept children captivated since 1960, but now it’s in color. My mind is officially blown.

“Etch A Sketch on iPhone is a doodler’s dream,” said Craig Holland, CEO of Etch A Sketch developer Freeze Tag, “With the innovative Multi-Touch user interface you can actually create artwork by touching both ‘digital’ knobs at the same time, something you can't do on any other wireless device, or you can just use your fingers to draw directly on the gray canvas.”

Hear that people? Something you "can’t do on any other wireless device" … except, oh wait. Actually, there is something very much like this; in fact, it’s a free homebrew program on the DS called Colors. But, but, in the iPhone version of Etch A Sketch you can clear the screen by shaking the iPhone, a totally innovative feature that makes the game more than worth the $4.99 price tag. Colors totally doesn’t let you clear the screen by shaking the DS which obviously makes it inferior. What now, Nintendo? What now?

LAUNCH GALLERY (5 IMAGES)