News
iTunes Store drops seven 5G iPod Games, updates Zuma
Following an extended period that saw Apple re-release some of its fifth-generation iPod Games in a format compatible with third-generation iPod nanos and iPod classics, the company today added PopCap Games’ previously-released Zuma to its master list of nano- and classic-ready iPod Games, and removed a section of the iTunes Store that linked to seven other titles. The titles are:
Bejeweled
iQuiz
Lost
Mahjong
Musika
Royal Solitaire
Vortex
Two of these titles, iQuiz and Vortex, now come pre-installed on iPod nanos and iPod classics; the other five were never updated for compatibility with the newer iPod models, and all require separate purchase for owners of the fifth-generation iPod. Though Apple has dropped all of these titles from its iPod Games index page, as of press time, working links to the download pages for each of these titles can still be found inside of the reviews above. Updated: This article was corrected after publication to reflect the inclusion of Mini Golf as an updated title.
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1
Where’s the games for my locked iPod Touch?? I couldn’t believe none came with it and that you couldn’t buy any? Jailbreak it is before the SDK is released
I mean apart from listening to music, watching video, reading email, surfing the web etc, what the heck am I supposed to do with the thing??
Posted by robroe in Manchester, UK on April 8, 2008 at 8:23 AM (PDT)
2
I want off the Apple treadmill. I am SO sick of being treated like unwanted scum just because I don’t buy the latest version of hardware _every_ year.
There is no reason or excuse for not leaving links to these products available for people handing down iPods, people who adopt the idea of iPod gaming late, etc. It costs them _nothing_ to leave them available via the iTunes list of games. It’s just one of a million ways Apple makes certain that anyone who doesn’t have the latest hardware feels like a second class dork who isn’t good enough to sit with the cool kids.
My next MP3 player is going to be something other than an iPod. I’ve had enough.
Posted by malren on April 8, 2008 at 10:45 AM (PDT)
3
malren -
Well said indeed. Forced obsolesence from Apple is an ugly trait.
Posted by Obadiah on April 8, 2008 at 11:58 AM (PDT)
4
Forced obsolescence??????? Are you kidding?????? In my opinion, Apple is one of the best companies around for this. My 3G iPod still works fine for downloading music from the iTunes store. Regular, iTunes Plus, it all just works. Heck, you can still use a 1G iPod with the iTS (which wasn’t even around when the iPod was first introduced). Now that’s good support if you ask me.
As for the games, you can still buy plenty of other games for your 5G iPod. My guess is that it was just too confusing to have a separate 5G only section. And I wouldn’t be surprised if those games were soon updated and made available again for both the 5G and the Classic just like the others have been.
Posted by Phantom45 on April 8, 2008 at 7:41 PM (PDT)
5
Yes, it should be noted that all of the games, updated or not, remain compatible with the fifth-generation iPod. Apple has only dropped the seven titles that have not yet been updated. It’s not unusual for content to be pulled from the Apple Store, and this could be a case where they’ve decided to discontinue these games regardless of the platform issues.
The issue is not so much Apple’s lack of support for the older models, IMHO (they may not get shiny new features like Cover Flow and Movie Rentals, but they still work as well as they did before), but rather the fact that they make people who are upgrading and bought the original versions buy these same games again. This is even more ludicrous when you consider that the updated games are still backward-compatible with the 5G.
Posted by Jesse David Hollington in Toronto on April 11, 2008 at 4:27 AM (PDT)