How do 40 Million iPhones/iPod touches Look as a Gaming Platform?
During the WWDC 2009 Keynote, Apple announced that over 40,000,000 iPhones and iPods touches had been sold to date. We know what that looks like in the smartphone market space, but now Gizmodo has done some research and shown us what that might just look like in the gaming platform space as well. (See graph above).
Might explain why we see so many games already, and as Gizmodo points out:
Combine this with the fact that the faster graphics support in the iPhone 3GS is going to make it a pretty damn good gaming device, you’ve got a juicy target for game developers to hit.
Game on…
June 12th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Somewhat of a bad analogy considering the 40 million owners don’t use it for gaming (since primarily it’s a phone/mp3 player). the 360, ps3, wii, etc are all used specificly for gaming. Granted it’s a lot of people but i don’t think sony, nintendo, & ms really have much to be worried about…..yet.
June 12th, 2009 at 8:59 am
I’d say I spend the most time gaming now. Probably the last thing I was expecting to do on my iPhone. Also, judging by the amount of games in the top 10 lists for apps downloaded I’d say a lot of people are also playing and downloading a lot of games. It also doesn’t take long for the big name games to shoot up to number one on the top 10 paid list, Sims 3 took about 5 minutes.
As more and more big name developers jump in Sony and Nintendo could be left scratching their heads.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:18 am
@Sting
Eh…Sony for the handheld, they may scratch their head. Nintendo…no.
You forget that when it comes to handheld Nintendo is like Apple. They could sell you **** in a box with a name on it. And read 1 million in a week!
And the way I look at it, you still need some hardware buttons. Yes the games are good and wonderful to play. I’m not going to say that they aren’t. But as I’ve seen in many a reviews…the most repeated complaint is touch controls on the games. You can not replicate real hardware from touch control.
Nintendo will never have to worry. Their DSi (which is basically their jump from iPhone 2G to 3G) sold over half a million in a weekends time.
June 12th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Sony is already scratching their heads. Nintendo probably won’t ever have to worry your right. People are already upset that Sony is going to charge $250 for the new ‘PSP Go’, while the old model with more features is only $170.
Hardware buttons would be nice. But really developers are figuring it out and the touch screen can give them more options and a new medium to create. I do fine with the on-screen joy sticks and buttons when they are done right. The complainers in the reviews are most likely same people (myself included) who grew up with a controller in their hands and so can’t figure anything else out. They probably can’t work the Wii either, I pretty much don’t even use the motion controls on the Wii because I’m a controller guy and most are tacked on. But I’ve gotten past that with the iPhone and it’s surprising how many people pick it up pretty quick when I show my friends some sweet games.
I’m really digging gaming on my iPhone. So much so that I’ve many times thought of getting an iPod touch just for games because gaming eats up the battery faster than 3G, and I should be using my iPhone for communication. When is Apple going to start quoting battery life for gaming?
June 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Casual games are nice. Beyond that? Not really…
June 12th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I know lots of people who bought PS3 primarily as a BD-player/media streamer and rarely if ever play games (myself included). Know quite a few who primarily use XBox 360 as a Windows Media Center Extender as well.
I think these consoles are trying to broaden their appeal as much as possible.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Yeah, I get you on that and agree. Sony really messed up putting a higher price on that device. But eh…
And when it comes to gaming, I have to have a separate device (and of course…I mean it’s Nintendo, the games are AWESOME! LOL)
Like I don’t even go to the game section on my G1. I never touch them. My roomie though has an iPhone and he loves gaming on it.
@Rene
That’s one reason why I like (or should now say “liked”) Nintendo. They stuck to gaming…it took me awhile to adopt to Sony because I didn’t want to pay a premium for added content I didnt use (at PS2 time I had 5 separate dvd players, LOL).
June 12th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Two reasons why iPhone sucks as gaming platform 1) Battery already weak once I use it for EAS, phone, web browsing
2) No buttons is just meh
June 12th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
the number say it does not suck…sorry…
June 12th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
But just think, it’s a game platform, but you can do so much more with it. Imagine pulling out your DS, checking your email, seeing if the table is straight, listening to some music, watching a movie, playing Sims 3 and wait… a PHONE CALL!!!!!!!!
June 12th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Agreeing with other posters. I’m sure it would be much lower taking into consideration that every example in the chart is used primarily for gaming other than Apples products which are primarily a phone and mp3 player. That said I think the iPhone is a real threat to the PSP and DS. I don’t like carrying around multiple devices. I want a Phone, Web Access, Gaming, Music and ebooks all on one device.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
@Ian
You’re seriously on some loopy medicine if you think iPhone/Touch is a threat to the PSP????
Pfft…when Apple can sell a incremental upgraded hardware and move 600,000 in just a weekend, then hit me up.
Until then…keep dreaming about Nintendo being worried. As for PSP…well, they might be worried over at Sony, LOL
June 12th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I meant PSP and DS…