Ng:moco's Young aims to create an early EA for the iPhone

Touch Arcade has an interview up with Neil Young. Just like you, I was only slightly disappointed to learn that it was the Neil Young formerly of EA who recently formed ng:moco, quickly becoming one of the most high-profile iPhone game houses, not that other one. But only slightly, because also like many of you, I'm looking forward to Rolando and the "over a dozen" other games ng:moco is releasing on the App Store, and I'm interested to see what ng:moco has to say for themselves about the little iPhone game empire they're building.

Unfortunately, TA didn't get a price or a strict release date out of Young for Rolando, but he does say that the game's shaping up well -- he even says creator Simon Oliver "could be the first Miyamoto of the iPhone," which, even if an exaggeration, is an interesting idea. They also discuss the plan behind ng:moco, a company which, like EA in the earlier days of PC gaming, aims to bring together publishers, designers, and promotion and sales all under one big roof. And the volatile issue of iPhone App pricing comes up, but I agree that the big balance on price always seems to be quality -- looking at a system like the Xbox 360's marketplace, you can justify almost any price for a game, as long as the user has an experience that feels worth what they paid.

And finally, they hit on the iPhone's competitors, and it sounds like Young thinks Android phones have a ways to go -- the difference is not in the hardware (touchscreen, size, and so on), but it's in the usability and interface, and in those arenas, Young says, Apple still has the edge. Very nice interview with a company that seems destined to play a big part in the iPhone gaming market.