News
Jobs: iPhone platform may become ‘viable’ in mobile games market
By Charles Starrett
Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
News Category: iPhone
Speaking in a brief interview as part of a larger article on the iPhone and iPod touch’s role in the industry, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the devices may become viable options in the mobile gaming market. “I think the iPhone and iPod touch may emerge as really viable devices in the mobile games market this holiday season,” said Jobs, noting that around a quarter of the 200 million App Store downloads thus far have been games. “Games sold via the App Store are the most profitable in terms of any of the formats we work on,” added Simon Jeffery, the U.S. president of Sega. Interestingly, Nintendo indicated that it already saw Apple as a competitor prior to its move into the mobile gaming space. “Whether you chose to play on your DS or listen to music on your iPod, we’re already in the same competitive space for time,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo’s U.S. division. Meanwhile, John Carmack, founder of Id Software, said that although he doesn’t see the iPhone and iPod touch as direct competitors to Sony and Nintendo’s handhelds, Id is developing at least two iPhone games. “I don’t expect them to displace DSs and PSPs,” he said. “I think they will be a fairly robust market all by themselves.”
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1
I’d much rather spend $20 on several iPhone games than $60 on one next-gen video game. Perhaps it’s just me, but I prefer to do my gaming in short bursts.
Posted by Galley in Greenville, SC on November 12, 2008 at 10:11 AM (PDT)
2
DS and PSP are very profitable businesses.
While the graphics on the iPhone are there, the control options may not be, to vie against the most popular DS games.
That may ultimately keep the top developers off the iPhone/iPod Touch, even though the revenue-sharing and distribution setup are very attractive to small developers.
Does Sega make any other iPhone game besides Monkeyball? Would be nice to get a lot of the classic Atari games on there. Marble Madness might be a good candidate.
But what makes the DS such a big hit is the Nintendo games, which will never go on any other platform.
Posted by wco81 on November 12, 2008 at 5:10 PM (PDT)