According to extremely reliable and embarrassingly handsome Engadget sources, at an iPhone event held today, John Geleynse (AKA Director of Technology Evangelism at Apple) made some statements regarding the iPhone platform that should seriously raise a few eyebrows. During an ADC "iPhone Tech Talk" in San Jose, Geleynse apparently waxed excited about the potential for the handheld as a viable threat to the DS (and the PSP by proxy), calling the iPhone a "gaming console" and claiming that "it's not a phone, it's a console experience." Pretty bold talk about a device that has yet to really prove its gaming mettle, but nothing new from the Apple camp
as far as we're concerned. Considering these comments alongside those from a
recent interview in which Greg Joswiak compared the touch to the DS, it seems clear that the company is making a noticeable effort to push this angle. Adding some fuel to that fire is PR that just went out announcing a series of EA "sneak peek" events at Apple Stores around the US. In their words:
Throughout the month of December Apple Stores in New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago will host special "EA Games Sneak Peek" events where Electronic Arts will discuss why the iPod touch and iPhone are amazing platforms for mobile gaming...While there's no question the iPhone and touch have made inroads when it comes to gaming, it still isn't clear that there's going to be anything beyond a casual interest for these devices. Then again, if the Wii's success has proven anything, it's that there's plenty of cash in casual if you can make it appealing enough. And you know how Apple feels about appealing products and money.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kapshure @ Dec 12th 2008 6:59PM
pfffftt
Crayshen @ Dec 12th 2008 7:53PM
Shouldn't be surprising. That thing is a handheld Dreamcast. (We can only dream of re-releases...or emulators.)
Virtuous @ Dec 12th 2008 10:07PM
Nintendo and Sony should be scared. The iPhone App Store has only been open for less than 6 months. This is only the beginning stage of iPhone games. It takes a year or more for developers to get the most out of a new console platform. Nintendo has never faced a competitor the likes of Apple.
cwj @ Dec 13th 2008 2:11AM
(insert discussion of Sony's size, impact on gaming industry, & the opportunity it missed in the DAP market by trying to stick w/its "we create the standards" model.
phobic99 @ Dec 13th 2008 3:10PM
Nintendo should be scared? You're joking right? Nintendo sold over 1.5 million DS consoles in November in the US alone. The DS was released in 2004 (DS Lite in 2006). I think the last count of DS sold was above 84 million.
Yeah, Nintendo should fear Apple alright.
celz @ Dec 12th 2008 11:44PM
sorry fan boys this will never happen.. and i think u mean apple has never faced a company like nintendo... who had motion and touch screen gaming first lol every piece of nintendo hardware is revolutionary in some aspect save the gamecube but that was the most powerful console until ps3.. the iphone is to big with no buttons.. it wont work.. a game pad add on would be bigger than a game gear lmao and not to mention the avg new windows phone has more power more buttons and a better screen.. the iphone is great for mario kart knock offs tho... the iphone is the best ipod thats it.. its a great phone but u never see me swear my wm phone is the best music phone cuz its not yea i can do music stuff an iphone cant do but that doesnt make it better..
Crayshen @ Dec 13th 2008 7:24PM
Uh, you do realize that both touch and motion based gameplay were definitely NOT pioneered by Nintendo right? Both the Wii and DS are evolutions of earlier technology, not groundbreakers.
Ayle @ Dec 13th 2008 12:02AM
Nope not gonna happen. It doesn't have buttons so the type of game you can play on it is limited.
EJ @ Dec 13th 2008 5:19PM
Unless cell phone plans become cheap enough for most kids to buy, there will always be room for dedicated portable consoles. That said, as phones become more capable, they will certainly cannibalize some portable system sales.
There's already an audience of millions with iPhones and Touches, and trust me, there are a lot of good developers working on interesting titles for such an audience (who also prefer publishing via iTunes and the App Store to the pains of licensing and navigating publishers and retail channels). Full-featured games like War, Inc and Hero of Sparta convince me that there are game studios that want to make serious games for the iPhone.
JC @ Dec 13th 2008 7:18PM
Apple was formerly known as Macintosh.. If you have faith in Apple, somewhere along the road you must have forgotten that.
On an unrelated note, does anyone know the ratio of Apple customers to "Green Revolution" followers because I betcha it's pretty close.
vorjay @ Dec 13th 2008 9:14PM
Apple was never known as Macintosh! Epic Fail!
Carlos Muralhas @ Dec 14th 2008 3:46AM
With the current generation of games for the iPhone, i believe it may replace for the small and less time-consuming type of games. In a future iPhone who knows?
NuShrike @ Dec 14th 2008 4:45AM
This could blind-side Google whom seem to only think of phones as a micro-app platform instead of possible next-generation platform.
After all, the iPhone does have superior performance specs versus the DS and PSP. All that's left is great apps/games, really great developer support, and steady follow-through. Apple historically (since they went all Mac) has been only good for one of them.
N-Gage has tried, but tremendously foobared the device form-factor, hardware support, tight SDK focus and integration, and execution so far.
Will @ Dec 14th 2008 2:30PM
Hey, here's an idea for free Mr Geleynse, why don't you concentrate on making some good games for your iphone before you go poking at the big boys. You arrogant pillock.
Dokmo @ Dec 20th 2008 11:28AM
As an iPhone developer, I don't really think about the platform as a dedicated game console -- it doesn't need to be, because playing games it arguably the 3rd or 4th reason that consumers buy the device. This has an interesting affect though, as the install base climbs and the number of developers increases, the platform may, through sheer force of numbers and convenience become a true competitor to the portable handhelds.