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 How viable is the iPhone as a gaming platform? Is it really going to cannibalize sales of the PSP or DS? I think we can learn a lot from the age old debate: Consoles vs PCs... simply put, each platform has its strengths and weaknesses; and as a gaming device, the iPhone is in its own category. PC gamers will tell you that a well configured computer "rig" has superior technical specs and superior control via the mouse and keyboard. Console buffs will tell you that a console is cheaper and easier to maintain, while a gamepad is better suited for platformers or fighting games. With the advent of HDMI/DVI supported TVs and USB connections on console, many of the boundaries are being blurred. You can now hook up an Xbox360 to a computer monitor via HDMI or connect PC keyboards and mice to a PS3. However, they all retain certain advantages over the other. Similarly, the iPhone tends to blur the lines of portable gaming with the PSP and DS, but it still has its little quirks which make it stand out on its own.
iPhone strengths as a gaming platform:
Large target audience: The iPhone is a hot seller. The massive hype and wide appeal of the Apple brand helped it become a blockbuster seller before it was even released (Kinda reminds me of another "apple-esque" gaming console). If you have a large audience, more developers are inclined to develop software for the device and with the newly released AppStore , it is very easy to distribute games without an expensive publisher.
Innovative input mechanisms: Much like the Nintendo DS, the iPhone sports a touchscreen and microphone. Additionally, the iPhone has an accelerometer for Wii-mote interactivity and even a GPS (on 3G iphones) for location based gaming. The touchscreen on the iPhone is multi-touch and allows for cool new ways to interacts with a touch screen: you have multiple button presses or perform zooming. One of the best free games on the iPhone is "Aurora Feint." This game is much like Tetris Attack for the old SNES but you use your finger to directly slide the tiles around instead of a dpad. This wo rks incredibly well for a game of this nature. Even better, "Aurora Feint" adds another dimension by using the accelerometer to allow tilting: turn the iPhone sideways and the game goes horizontal with all the tiles shifting over due to "gravity." Definitely Cool. One overlooked feature is the light sensor. The iPhone has a small sensor at the top which detects how much ambient light there is - I hope this will lead to "Boktai"-like innovations in future titles.
AppStore: Like it or not: electronic distribution is the way of the future. People would rather pay 99-cents for an iTunes download over buying a CD at the store. Steam has shown us that many gamers are willing to pay for a game download over purchasing a boxed package and many analysts are describing a future where video downloads will eventually replace Blu-Ray (Microsoft is already inking a deal with NetFlix to distribute movies over LIVE). AppStore lets iPhone users log on and grab a game via Wi-Fi or EDGE/3G without leaving the home. With an intuitive rating system, it's even easier to find the gems over the generic shovelware. And honestly, who likes to carry around a stack of DS cartridges or UMD discs? Not me.
Hardware: Face it, graphics aren't everything, but pretty graphics do add much to your enjoyment. The screen on the iPhone is probably the best screen around for a portable device. Colors are lush, the resolution is crisp and there's virtually no ghosting (*cough PSP *cough). Backed with a powerful 400mhz CPU and 3D graphics chip, the iPhone can dish out eye candy with the best of 'em. Apparently there's enough power in this thing to run a Playstation1 emulator if you are willing to jailbreak your phone.
iPhone weaknesses as a gaming platform:
Innovative controls shouldn't replace traditional controls. Remember "Zelda: Phantom Hourglass" for the DS? Remember its "innovative" touch controls? Honestly, they weren't too bad, but whose boneheaded decision was it to completely remove all traditional controls? I can't count the number of times I yelled FUCK every time Link rolled into a pit instead of performing a stab. Just because you can have innovative controls, doesn't mean you should.. or even FORCE it without any options. For the sake of aesthetics (Steve Jobs thinks he's too good for buttons ), the iPhone lacks any sort of traditional controls. You are pretty much forced to use the touchscreen and accelerometer in every game and while it fits for some games (Aurora Feint), it doesn't for others (Try ANY FPS in AppStore). This pretty much constrains the genres that the iPhone can effectively support to puzzle games and slow paced adventure games.
Price and Demographics: An iPhone costs $199 to own with a 2-year data contract at over $60/month. Now honestly, that's a pretty good deal for a fully featured smartphone, but as a gaming device, it is not in the same league as the much more affordable DS and PSP. The average age of an iPhone user is in the upper 20's (since they are the ones who can afford one) and so most games will also be catered to the Blackberry generation (i.e. - games like Brickbreaker and Bejeweled). You probably won't be seeing Final Fantasy or Animal Crossing anytime soon on the iPhone.
Miscellaneous Nags: The iPhone's battery is not user replaceable and some of the more graphics intensive games can drain a full charge in about an hour. As a portable gaming device that's horrid. It's even worse if you drain your batteries playing Super Monkey Ball and can't answer an important phone call later 'cause your phone is effectively dead. Additionally, there is a single monotone speaker on the iPhone which is blocked by your palm half the time when you are gaming which basically makes it pointless. You pretty much have to use headphones while gaming in landscape mode.
All things considered, the iPhone makes a pretty decent gaming platform. While it probably won't replace my DS for hardcore gaming on the go (Final Fantasy Tactics A2 completely owns my life right now), the fact that it is a phone makes it much more convenient for the occasional gaming break. Hell, I can pretend to be texting a memo to a client during a business meeting while playing Aurora Feint. Try that with a PSP. It's also a great icebreaker: show a chick JirboBreak on your iPhone and she will be typing in her phone number within minutes. My DS only attracts obese kids if I bust it out in public. Much like how most gamers have both a console and a powerful PC, I see the iPhone as a supplement to portable gaming. Ultimately, I hope that many of the innovations that the iPhone brought to the table such as multitouch and wireless digital distribution will make way for future portable gaming devices.
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"John Carmack of id software was just as blunt when he spoke to Eurogamer. "The truth is Steve Jobs doesn't care about games. This is going to be one of those things that I say something in an interview and it gets fed back to him and I'm on his shithead list for a while on that, until he needs me to do something else there. But I think that that's my general opinion. He's not a gamer," Carmack stated."
- http://arstechnica.com/news.ar...aming.html
This is very unfortunate if true