We speculated in
our review of the new iPod touch that Apple had designs on more than just consumption of music and video, and now an interview with company VP of iPod and iPhone product marketing
Greg Joswiak all but confirms that sights are set on the gaming market. In a conversation with
T3, Joswiak boasts that the devices are breaking through as a viable alternative to established handhelds (such as the PSP or DS) due mostly in part to competitive software pricing and the company's
content delivery system. While much of the interview focuses on iPod sales figures, it does delve into more detailed comparisons of platforms, with Joswiak stating, "The 3D graphic power here [iPod touch] is significantly greater than what you have here [picks up Nintendo DS]. So this allows people to do significantly higher quality games." While it's not unusual to hear Apple's honchos hyping their products like they just skipped across some water to heal a few lepers, it
is a new trend to see the company aggressively going after gaming platform mainstays so directly. With Sony and Nintendo
just getting up to speed on non-traditional content delivery, Apple may find an edge come holiday season with casual gamers -- the real question is whether the hardcore will bite.
[Via
Eurogamer; Thanks, Zach M.]
posted November 12th 2008 10:12AM
The question is definitely NOT whether or not the "hardcore" accept the iPod/iPhone as a gaming device. The question is whether the 10-20 million people that ALREADY own an iPod touch/iPhone will buy games.
Hardcore gamers may not typically go for casual games, but when they are on a device that is already in their pocket it's a different story.
iPod Touch future of portable gaming? Gimme a break!
Greg Joswiak = Not a true gamer / Idiot.
"the real question is whether the hardcore will bite" ----- NOOOOOOOOO! Limit yourself to Music and Phone!
Ugh. I love my iPhone, but no machine without buttons will EVER become a gaming staple for me. Pandora all the way.
I consider myself a "hardcore" gamer (whatever that really means is different for everyone). I own every console and hand held.
Ever since Apple launched the App store, my DS has found a nice home on the shelf in my bedroom. I haven't purchased a new DS game since Apple launched the app store.
I have, however, purchased an obscene amount of games for my iPhone. And like so many have said, most of them really suck. But, if I bought as many DS games as I did iPhone games, most of them would suck too. And the fact that I find any games at all that I enjoy playing, IMO, makes up for any "wasted" money spent in the app store. Besides, the most money I've spent on a game in the App store was $9.99 and some of the games I enjoy the most were FREE (Aurora Feint FTW). So $9.99 is far less than the LEAST EXPENSIVE DS or PSP game available (new of course.)
Sadly, the battery life of the iPhone is far from being good enough to "take over" what the DS and PSP have to offer. And I'm sure people will laugh at this comment, but the PSP is actually just starting to come into it's own with features remote play and DLC. Even though I'm sticking up for the PSP, I personally think it's too little too late, but what I think doesn't matter. The PSP is a powerful and underestimated machine. (Anyone play God of War: Chains of Olympus? It's fricken amazing!)
So, even though I've been sucked into the iPhone gaming world head first, I know for certain that it doesn't appeal to everyone. Lack of tactile buttons seems to be a big gripe from many gamers and battery life while gaming is really the big killer for this platform. Oddly enough, for myself, I do most of my "on the go gaming" at home on my couch so the whole battery life issue for me is easily set aside.
There are an awful lot of people that are out of touch with reality.
If graphics were all that mattered, the PSP would have trumped the DS years ago. But it didn't, it hasn't and even if the DS stopped selling worldwide right NOW the PSP would never catch up.
The PSP had every important third party developer behind them.
What does Apple have to offer?
Graphics? As shown by recent/on-going history already, graphics do not determine winners in the video game market.
Developers? Sega and EA, okay.
Games? Sorry, Super Monkey Ball is great and all but it's nothing near what either handheld device offers now.
Here's a formula for selling a portable gaming system:
Affordability + good battery life + good, diversified library of games = Success
The iPod Touch is a fun device, but it's not an actual competitor in this market. If Sony couldn't do it with all the hype and media, Apple certainly can't.
You also forgot Apples track record with gaming.
#1) Does the "hardcore gamer" really matter anymore?
#2) I'd say the success of both the DS and the Wii have proven that the market is deep enough to support both casual gamers and the "hardcore", without needing one machine to satisfy both camps. Won't stop the "hardcore" gamers from whining about the iPhone (or Wii, for that matter) of course, but..refer back to #1) :p
From reading thees post a lot of people have not played any of the 1500 games in the App Store. There are some really good games in the app store and while not everyone has psp or DS lite...the penetration rate for mobile phones is super high. Think of how many iPhones will be on the market a year from now, 2 years from now, millions and millions and millions. So there is a tone of opportunity for games cause a lot of developers are making a killing off the app store. Neither Nintendo or PSP gives any common man developer this opportunity.
yeah, the nokia n-gage was the future of gaming, too.
Has anyone actually played Nanosaur 2 on there iphone or itouch? It just sucks, i mean Ive been trying to find a game that i really enjoy and all of them are just half games of something else. I'm also amazed that nobodies mentioned that the DSi and the PSP3000 Both have there own stores for downloading games and that most of the people i know who do play games on there itouch. They went through jailbreaking and are playing emulators and Doom,Quake, Real games that are fun.
I see this having about as much success as the mobile phone gaming market...because that's what it is. With Verizon Wireless you've had this ability for years. Plus all their games are available to ALL costumers, not just the percentage who have a certain phone. While it's certainely no failure, the mobile phone gaming market doesn't really have much clout in the gaming market as a whole. All you really see is ports of other games and basic solitaire and bejeweled type games. Don't get me wrong playing Sonic the Hedgehog on my phone is pretty fun, but if Verizon Wireless who happens to be the biggest US cell provider can't motivate 3rd parties to develop more and better games for them I really don't see Apple doing it.
Sure they may be as succesful as other mobile gaming content providers, but I don't think they will ever be the future of handheld gaming. Because if this idea of a phone AND a handheld gaming device was so great we would have seen this years ago on content providers much larger than Apple's, and with much better gaming controls than the iTouch/iPhone.
surprised no-ones mentioned itunes/app store as a key factor in all this.
itunes allows people who aren't really into music, who wouldn't normally visit a music store, and aren't massively tech-literate, to buy music online very easily, and quickly build up a sizeable music library. there's other ways, cheaper, higher quality, but for the vast majority the itunes store is good enough for the music they like.
now take that paragraph and replace 'music' with 'games'.
its not really about iphone/ipod touch being technically superior, or even having the best developers. it's merely good enough, and good enough should see them make a killing. maybe that'll be the new tagline? 'ipod touch games... meh, its good enough'.
won't happen next year, or even year after, but look on the tube/subway/metro and marvel at the amount of ipods you see. when those average schmo's collectively upgrade to a touch or iphone, that's when the game changes, (pun intended).
LOL
Joswiak probably never played a game on the itouch!
Wow! You got to love how Apple is use tech in the same way Nintendo did with Wii and DS. And now the Iphone/ipod are the future of gaming! NIntendo has patent a handheld system using motion and touchscreen. Nintendo is just waiting for right time to unveil it. The DS is selling like crazy all around the world. And Nintendo so released a DSi in Japan which sold 100,000+ in it's first week. Why does Nintendo have to rush when they can milk this systems from more then their worth!
Why not have it as a gaming platform? It blows as a internet device since the horrible browser crashes on every other site or if you mail a link then try to load another page.
Joswiak... isn't that just a perfect Apple name?
Mix Jobs with Wozniak and you get: Joswiak!