This convincing article seems to think so.
Established game publishers such as Sega Corp. and Id Software Inc. are devoting more resources to Apple’s devices while start-ups dedicated to making iPhone games have sprung up. Already, there are nearly 2,000 iPhone games available.
Developers are being lured by Apple’s online method for delivering games, which has lowered distribution costs and made it possible to profit on games that sell for just a few dollars or are given away with advertising.
Apple keeps 30% of the proceeds of software sales through its App Store clearinghouse. But even with that split, “games sold via the App Store are the most profitable in terms of any of the formats we work on,” said Simon Jeffery, the U.S. president of Sega.
The app store is such a brilliant and fairly welcoming platform that it’s made some gaming entrepreneurs successful almost overnight.
Fun fact: although I do have an iPhone and love the thing, I have yet to use it to play video games. It’s not for lack of interest or lack of games or pricing (as these articles insinuate, pretty much everything is fairly cheap) — I just haven’t gotten around to it. There are so many games available at this point, it would take some serious research just to figure out which ones to try.
That’s really the thing, I guess. Even though the iPhone is already a viable gaming “system,” I would argue what it really needs is that one killer app everybody hears about and everybody wants to play to really take off.
Something like this, perhaps!:
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 10:14 am
The problem with Mattel Electronic Football was that once you figured out the AI, it was a touchdown every time and that soon got boring. It was like this football game I had on my Mac in the 80s.
The “inside charge” defensive formation was a guaranteed loss of 2-3 yards when the AI ran the ball. Once you could figure out when it was going to run the ball, you could force a turnover almost every possession.
As for the iPhone, I’m not sold. Aside from its position sensors, it really doesn’t have a tactile control interface. When I blast aliens or throw a roundhouse at Blanka, I want to push a button.
This comment is what happens when a nerd gets the 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. baby watching shift with his 2-week-old son and starts surfing while the baby sleeps.
BTW, found you via a Project Wonderful half-banner ad on the Pinkerton comic strip over at 3rd World Features.
on Dec 1st, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Yeah, the old handhelds were flawed — especially the Coleco head-to-head football that was only 90 yards because the Japanese didn’t know the game.
The iPhone I would argue is actually an extremely viable gaming platform, but only for specific games. Like you suggest, you’d have a really tough time with anything that required any even minorly complicated interface.
However for quick casual games like Bejeweled, which rules, it’s pretty awesome.
Also I wonder if some clever person will come along and really figure out how to use the platform for something more complicated. It’ll be interesting to watch.