Apple positions iPod touch as a gaming device

Today might be remembered as the day that Apple finally, officially entered the handheld gaming market. During the "Let's Rock" event this morning in San Francisco, Phil Schiller took the stage to do an extended demo of a few upcoming games for the iPhone and iPod touch. He first demoed Spore Origins, a game that only recently has arrived on the iPhone's App Store, made by EA as a mobile version of the popular PC/Mac game. Real Soccer, above, was shown off as well, and finally EA's Need for Speed rounded out the pack.

It's a shame that Apple chose to spotlight games from giants like EA rather than some great games from actual iPhone developers, like the much-loved Aurora Feint or the upcoming Rolando. But the most interesting thing about the presentation today wasn't even the games they showed off — it was the fact that Steve himself called the iPod touch one of the best gaming devices on the market. Apple appears to be positioning the iPod touch as not just a music player with a multitouch screen, but an actual gaming and media device for this holiday season. That would be a smart move — with a few more quality games in the App Store, Apple could move the touch away from its own product lines (the other iPods and the iPhone), and step up to start taking on older gaming handhelds like the PSP and DS.