I’ve been saying for quite some time that the iPhone and iPod touch would eventually become killer gaming devices. Last week’s SDK presentation in Cupertino finally showed what was possible: Multi-touch and accelerometer-driven GameCube and PS2-quality visuals on the most compelling mobile multimedia platform in the world. It’s actually a lot better than what I was expecting in terms of 3-D visuals performance. Right now, it blows the DS and PSP away visually.
But does that matter? Do we need another portable games platform?
Yes. But not the way you might think. Though Apple is dazzling with visuals and gameplay from upcoming major publisher titles. And iPhone Spore and Monkey Ball will be cool, as will Pac-Man and the new version of Galaga that have been announced. But that’s not what will make the iPhone and touch must-have gaming platforms. What will make them take off and start to pull players away from PSP in particular will be the user-generated games. The creativity of the developer community. Anyone who comes up with a good game can get it published on the App Store and make some serious cash off of it if it takes off. That’s one hell of an incentive to break new ground. I’m tempted myself.
Now, on computers, and even on cell phones, user-designed games are a dime a dozen, and many of them are of far lower-quality than what the commercial publishers create. But this is different. This is a real platform with sophisticated tools available to everyone. There has never been a portable games platform of this power and pro-gaming features that has been this open to outsiders and upstarts. The DS is closed. So’s the PSP. Most cell phones have horrendous gaming interfaces. Keyboards and mice are great for MMORPGs and First Person Shooters but little else. The iPhone will be relatively open, has a great distribution model, and the best interface in the world for portable games.
So keep an eye out. I’m willing to forecast here and now that the best-selling game for iPhone by the end of 2008 will be made by a virtual unknown. Anyone throwing in?
