Apple iPhone competing with Sony PSP, Nintendo DS
By Dave Parrack
The iPhone has been competing with the PSP and Nintendo DS for some time now, with its ability to play games. Add to that the ability to play music and videos, and be a phone of course, and it means casual gamers can do it all with just one device. So, can the iPhone truly overcome the behemoths of Nintendo and Sony?
The iPhone has offered games developers a whole new medium, and it’s a medium that is gaining fans by the bucket load. The reason for this is the ease of distribution, via the App Store, and the fact that games don’t have to be big budget spectaculars.
The Wall Street Journal reports how Sega has managed to sell 500,000 copies of Super Monkey Ball on the iPhone and iPod Touch. And while it only costs $10 to download, the high profit margin (Apple keeps 30 percent) and the low costs involved (download only means no retail distribution or production costs).
Super Monkey Ball is a game seemingly made for the iPhone and its built-in accelerometer, with the only controls needed being a tilting of the device. The accelerometer also allows for driving games although other more involved games such as shooters need on screen buttons which can prove unwieldy and buggy.
Almost a quarter of the programs sold through the App Store have so far been games, and that looks set to continue with almost 2,000 games now available to play on the iPhone and iPod Touch. As well as big names such as Sega and Id Software, companies such as Ngmoco are being started purely to develop for the Apple devices.
Apple is in an enviable position having sold 13 million iPhones, as that’s a huge ready made market to be exploited. While people may not buy an iPhone to play games on initially, some of the titles on offer are so good, and cheap compared to new DS or PSP titles, that many owners will be tempted to buy in to the hobby.
I foresee a time when people will be fed up of carrying multiple devices around, all of which do one thing, and instead opt for one universal device. Whether that device ends up being the iPhone or whether Nintendo or Sony can win this battle depends on which company goes on the offensive first.
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November 12th, 2008
now that you mention it, I haven’t so much as touched my PSP since getting the iPhone.
November 13th, 2008
Iphone is an MP3 and cell phone.
PSP and DS are portable gaming systems.
November 14th, 2008
I did buy a PSP a couple of years ago, just for a few games when I’m waiting for a short time in some office or some plane. Cumbersome, have to carry multiple game cards.
Now, with iPhone, just the one device. Games, sure — any I feel like playing at the time. Or, continue reading one of the $0.99 books I’ve loaded. And/or listen to music, or language “tapes” I have loaded (Spanish, French, German).
Or, of course, read/write emails, read one of a variety of newspapers online: US, European, South American, and to help me struggle through the different languages, I have multiple language dictionaries available.
And it weighs a few ounces.
November 14th, 2008
the iPod is not a gaming system but the gaming is still good enough to really entertain you. over all the ipod is essiently a branched out mp3 player and for that reason it is my personal favorite gadget on the market.