Slashdot Mirror
iPhone Shakes Up the Video Game Industry
Hugh Pickens writes "Troy Wolverton writes in the Mercury News that in less than a year, the iPhone has become a significant game platform, but its bigger impact could be to help change the way the game industry does business. 'It's got everything you need to be a game changer,' said Neil Young, co-founder and CEO of ngmoco, which develops games solely for the iPhone. With a year under its belt and an installed base of iPhone and iPod Touch owners at around forty million, the iPhone/iPod Touch platform has eclipsed next-gen console penetration numbers and started to catch up to the worldwide penetration of both Sony's (50 million) and Nintendo's (100 million) devices. Wolverton writes that not only is the iPhone one of the first widely successful gaming platforms in which games are completely digitally distributed, but on the iPhone, consumers can find more games updated more often, and at a cheaper cost per game than what they'd find on a typical dedicated game console. While an ordinary top-of-the-line game for Microsoft's Xbox 360 sells for about $60, and one for Nintendo's DS about $30, a top-of-the-line iPhone game typically sells for no more than $10. With traditional games, developers might wait a year or two between major releases; ngmoco is planning on releasing new versions of its games for the iPhone every four to five months. 'You have to think differently,' says Young. 'It's redefining what it means to be a publisher in this world.'"
considered games on a cell phone before. While some of my phones have supported games I wasn't interested. That is until I saw the iPhone commercials. Now an iPhone 3GS is on this years' xmas list. :)
I can honestly see how the iphone and the related gizmos may change the landscape but I can't help but think that is is just a passing fad. Right now the iphone is still new and exciting and people are discovering its potential and trying to make fast money off it. What happens 5 years down the line? (Besides apple bringing out some new cool gadget everyone wants but no one needs.)
I predict that the iphone may change some gaming but it will not significantly change those who want an in depth experience which can only really be provided by a console or computer. I'm sure there are still a few of them left.
Then again my opinion and $5 will get you a cup of coffee.
This is silly; mobile devices and "full size" gaming systems have to be considered different markets.
I can write documents on my iPhone, but that doesn't mean I won't be buying word processing software for computers any more.
The article seems to be more hype than anything else, but it does hit on a couple of good points.
Yes, the iPhone platform has shaken up the industry, due to the digital distribution of games. This has a lot to do with timing (you need oodles of cheap flash memory for this) but it also builds on the fundamentals of how the iTunes store has built up over the years. It's clearly proven that digital distribution of games can be viable, and you're going to see a lot of this in the future. Both to sell games that would never be viable retail releases due to pricing (micro transactions come to gaming), and because everyone wants to cut Gamestop out of the loop.
And no, the iPhone platform has not shaken up the industry, due to hardware designs. The hardware is fundamentally that of a phone. The processor is overpowered and the GPU is underpowered for gaming, and the whole thing eats too much power when you ramp up the *PUs. The DS gets something ungodly (10+ hours) and even the PSP can do 5+ hours with its better graphics. The controls are also lacking - a touch screen is good for some things (e.g. Solitaire) and bad for others (e.g. Super Mario Brothers). iPhoneOS 3.0 will allow what amounts to button caddies, but since buttons aren't standard they can't be counted on. The hardware means it's an additional avenue for gaming, but it's not necessarily a threat to traditional handhelds like the DS/PSP.
As an avid iPod touch user (and iPhone if Apple ever gets one onto Verizon . . .)
PHS-300 + Verizon UM-175 + iPod touch does nearly what you want. If only Apple would release an iPod touch with a camera and GPS chip.
Edith Keeler Must Die
iPhone + iPod Touch: ~30 million, sold as a phone / iPod
PSP: ~48 million, sold as a games device / media player
DS + DSi: ~105 million, sold as a games device
The DS also has 77 games that have sold over 1 million copies at an average price of $35.
7 titles have sold more than 10 million copies.
Nintendogs has sold 22.5 million copies.
The DS, despite RAMPANT piracy, has pushed over 420 million pieces of software.
If you're a games developer who likes money, the answer is pretty damned obvious.
iPhone + iPod Touch: ~30 million. Phone/iPod.
PSP: ~48 million. Games device/media player.
DS + DSi: ~105 million. Games device.
There is, however, a much lower barrier to entry on the iPhone/iPod Touch than there is for the DS. Nintendo requires you to get approval for your game before you start, and you have to be a registered, paid developer to get a look at their Dev Kit. In part, this is to try and keep the overall quality of software on the platform high, and it has been since the NES days.
http://cavalcadegames.com/blog/iphone-gaming/epic-iphone-app-stats-roundup-1st-half-09/
165,000 sales at $1.99 a sale. Even after the Apple tax that seems to be pretty good...
Correction:
iPhone + iPod touch: 40+ million.
Source? WWDC 2009.
Available for a while now, see here.
It's not that great. The tilt control feels lose, and the levels feel very small.
Kinda neat, but just not "there".
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Oh they haven't positioned it as a game device have they?
Then what's this then:
http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/gallery/ads/
???
The entire iPod Touch ad campaign is "The funnest iPod ever" and the ads don't show anyone playing music or watching video, or surfing the web.
Do your research before spewing forth your opines. Apple HAS positioned the devices as game platforms, not necessarily unitaskers, which I think is the better strategy.
Objective C is used to build the apps on the iPhone. Sure, some developers might elect to use some C or C++ code, particularly if they have a mountain of it they are porting, but there is a lot of Objective C running on the phone, even in games, and it's... snappy!
The platform and tools are OSX and XCode, and are not available on other platforms, hitherto frequently derided as being either insufficient or insufficiently "open" by developers with an interest in multiple platforms, and certainly not considered to be "pretty standard".
The types of games include FPS and highly graphics oriented games, some of them derived from "regular/bigger" projects.
If there's anything "slow" hereabouts, it's probably not Objective C.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
For the DS, it's 420 of your earth millions, despite rampant piracy. At an average price of $30.
Fail troll fails.
People who think Apple has any shot in hell simply don't know the scope of Nintendo's personal money printer.
Yes, those flash cards are illegal for various reasons. They violate the DMCA for one. But if you're using it simply to run unsigned code you put together to create a demo to show Nintendo as you apply to be a developer, it's not going to be an issue.
You start your business.
legalzoom.com
You have an actual office (this is a specific requirement for Nintendo, MS and Sony don't have this requirement as far as I know).
mrofficespace.com
You make games for various platforms. DS homebrew, PC, java, flash, whatever. You build a body of work. Nothing has to be published, you just have to show that you're not an internet asshate who want's to get their hands on a dev kit.
You apply.
I'm assuming you dont have an iPhone etc and are interested in one? I'll give you a beginners FAQ about the games, they are all quite short sadly, sad is the right word for me, I imagine what the iPhone could do with a full game with levels and quests etc. You know what I think would KICK ASS on the iPhone? Pokemon type games, I really can imagine that taking off, I remember playing Pokemon Yellow when I was little, and that was basically the best game ever! I still remember the items, etc. I guess it was like Zelda for another generation. I think a Pokemon style game could work very well on an iPhone or iTouch, using wifi for multiplayer, swapping items and working together....playing over the internet....
Overall iPhone games are about Playstation 1, with a few good ones that are PS2 quality. Many games have "cheap" feelings to them, and basically none have a great story that takes days to beat. Most of the time, you have to do something involving tapping, dragging, tilting, and each level gives you more items to work with, and less time etc.
The iPhone could do so much more, I'm thinking of RPG type games with multiplayer. The graphics could be summed up as PS2 I guess, if people put in the time I think PS2 is reasonable to think of as the average iPhone graphic quality. But, its so much more, with the wifi, motion controls, multi touch etc, its so much more than JUST a old PS2.
---