How the iPhone can overtake all gaming handhelds in five steps
The iPhone's almost ready to leap the final hurdle.
(Credit: TouchArcade)Apple had its own E3 press conference at the beginning of the week, with its newest model in the iPhone line finally being unveiled to the world. The iPhone 3G S, while in some ways a modest upgrade, introduces significant improvements for gamers--some obvious, others not so much. Will it help even further cement their growing position in a handheld games market previously dominated by Nintendo and Sony? Read on.
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Faster processor speed, more RAM. T-Mobile leaked the hard 3G S specs, and they're all-around zippier than the old 3G--which Apple confirmed when it promised overall speeds up to 2x faster. This will matter in particular with game load times and game crashes, both of which can tend to plague an overstuffed iPhone. While the spec bumps are relatively modest, the iPhone's game-playing prowess has already been more impressive than early pundits predicted, especially on recent releases like The Sims 3 and a PC-perfect port of Myst. The only thing missing now is...
Proper controller support. Sneaked in under the radar amid the iPhone 3G S news is the fact that the 3.0 software update allows third-party app interfacing with peripherals. While a larger focus on this functionality has been on medical devices, it's now possible for someone to make a clip-on control pad case and to have that controller be usable in any game. What should happen is that publishers gather to designate one universal controller that then gets adopted as the iPhone's "gamepad." The question is, who will make that accessory? For a while last year it was rumored to be Belkin, although it was unclear who would support the device. On consoles, the manufacturer usually settles these issues by making the controller themselves (except in the case of peripheral-driven games like Rock Band).
While it would be easiest if Apple made a gamepad, it's entirely unlikely. The whole appeal of the iPhone is its interface simplicity--too many plug-ins kill the minimalist chic. If a third party makes a controller, there's a likelihood that some publishers would support it, while others splinter off under some other controller accessory. Either way, someone should make sure there's a good consensus. Otherwise, soon enough we'll be buried in plastic miniperipherals, not unlike what's currently happening to (or plaguing) game consoles.
Open GL 2.0. As you may have heard, the iPhone 3G S is one of the few smartphones that can run OpenGL ES 2.0, which allows for more robust graphics and effects. Some say this alone can help the iPhone achieve PSP-level or greater graphics in games. The now "old-school" iPhone 3G, already pretty good at 3D graphics, is only able to render in Open GL ES 1.1. Some say this will split the App store into two sets of tiered games, one for 3G, one for 3G S. Others, like Rolando developer Ngmoco, say , like a PC. Hopefully the truth is the latter and not the former, because it could get confusing for customers.
Larger app sizes. Now that 16 is the new 8 and 32 is the new 16, there's more space for storing software. File sizes are already creeping larger--the recent Myst game broke the scales at three-quarters of a gig--and with direct downloading of TV and movies to the iPhone, there's no reason why 1-gig-range titles couldn't start proliferating on the higher end of the game spectrum. Needless to say, larger games at slightly higher prices should begin to equate to fuller, deeper titles.
Everyone else is becoming like them. The PSP Go, with its 16 gigs of memory, download-only gaming model and music/video purchasing capabilities, looks even more like a direct attempt to take on the iPod Touch. Nintendo's DSi not only shares an "I" in common, but it also has an online store, as well as touch, a camera and music playback. The move to cheaper downloadable games plays right into Apple's wheelhouse, since the industry at large is learning to publish and develop titles in a different manner than before. Making a DSi or PSP Go game will increasingly become similar to making an iPhone game, both in terms of budget and even system capabilities.
OK, we said five, but here's a sixth...
Penetration. With a year under its belt and an installed base of iPhone and iPod Touch owners at around forty million, the iPhone/iPod Touch platform has eclipsed next-gen console penetration numbers and started to catch up to the worldwide penetration of both Sony (50 million) and Nintendo's (100 million) devices. With a little more push, and the release of the supercheap $99 iPhone 3G, this will truly and legitimately be a three-platform race in 2010...if it isn't already.
(P.S....although it wasn't announced as part of 3.0, we hope someone cleans up the App Store a little and makes it easier to search through, especially as the number of titles continues to grow beyond belief.)
Scott Stein, a New York Jets fan and CNET senior associate editor, has written about tech, entertainment, video games, and viral culture for outlets including Laptop, Wired, Maxim, Esquire Online, Asylum, and Men's Journal. He also appears on the Digital City podcast. In his spare time, you might see him performing improv in New York City (when he's not being a dad).
1. The peripheral should look very sleek, flush with the phone and use the same black plastic found in the front of all iphones. iPhone owners care greatly about how thier device looks.
2. The peripheral must have dual analog sticks/nubs. Imagine the PSP's analog nub, but on both sides. Portable gamers have been clamoring for this feature forever now, so it's about time they get it. I can't overstress how important it is the the iPhone's gaming pad has DUAL ANALOG NUBS.
3. The peripheral must have two shoulder buttons and a solid D-Pad akin to the PSP/PS3's D-Pad to enable fighting games.
Do these things and the peripheral will be a big hit.
It should be as small as humanly possible. People don't like large bulky addons. And it should have a rectangular design with curved edges identical to the iphone.
1. The peripheral should look very sleek, flush with the phone and use the same black plastic found in the front of all iphones. iPhone owners care greatly about how thier device looks.
2. The peripheral must have dual analog sticks/nubs. Imagine the PSP's analog nub, but on both sides. Portable gamers have been clamoring for this feature forever now, so it's about time they get it. I can't overstress how important it is the the iPhone's gaming pad has DUAL ANALOG NUBS.
3. The peripheral must have two shoulder buttons and a solid D-Pad akin to the PSP/PS3's D-Pad to enable fighting games.
Do these things and the peripheral will be a big hit.
It should be as small as humanly possible. People don't like large bulky addons. And it should have a rectangular design with curved edges identical to the iphone.
This makes all the sense in the world and I think it'll come to fruititon. I don't touch my DS anymore because I have my iPod Touch.
Go Jets, Long Live Rex Ryan.
1. The peripheral should look very sleek, flush with the phone and use the same black plastic found in the front of all iphones. iPhone owners care greatly about how thier device looks.
2. The peripheral must have dual analog sticks/nubs. Imagine the PSP's analog nub, but on both sides. Portable gamers have been clamoring for this feature forever now, so it's about time they get it. I can't overstress how important it is the the iPhone's gaming pad has DUAL ANALOG NUBS.
3. The peripheral must have two shoulder buttons and a solid D-Pad akin to the PSP/PS3's D-Pad to enable fighting games.
Do these things and the peripheral will be a big hit.
The PSP Go can't be an iPod Touch if it DOESN'T have a touch screen...
+1
People should learn to do things, not shake around their iPhones.
Get a life, people.
The truth is, gaming on the iPhone is perfect for those of us who enjoy the occasional gaming, but aren't so into it that we're going to go out and spend hundreds of dollars to buy a "real" portable gaming device and all of its overpriced games. So, the reality is the people who game on an iPhone and don't buy a PSP or DS are probably the people that actually have real lives, and those who buy them don't.
I'm not a mind reader, but I'm guessing you own a PSP or DS.
[CNET editor's note: Personal attack deleted.]
DS is not even close to the PSP on performance. Bottom line PSP and DS are for 2 different people.
Anyone that thinks the DS isn't for serious gamers is in denial (or thinks that graphics are everything). There are tons of outstanding titles on the system with great gameplay mechanics and a lot of depth. If anything the PSP is more of an all around multimedia device and the DS is the dedicated gaming system. I think both systems are great, and it's silly to try to downplay the success of either.
1. The peripheral should look very sleek, flush with the phone and use the same black plastic found in the front of all iphones. iPhone owners care greatly about how thier device looks.
2. The peripheral must have dual analog sticks/nubs. Imagine the PSP's analog nub, but on both sides. Portable gamers have been clamoring for this feature forever now, so it's about time they get it. I can't overstress how important it is the the iPhone's gaming pad has DUAL ANALOG NUBS.
3. The peripheral must have shoulder pads and a solid D-Pad akin to the PS3's D-Pad
Do these things and the peripheral will be a big hit.
It should be as small as humanly possible. People don't like large bulky addons. And it should have a rectangular design with curved edges identical to the iphone.
1. The peripheral should look very sleek, flush with the phone and use the same black plastic found in the front of all iphones. iPhone owners care greatly about how thier device looks.
2. The peripheral must have dual analog sticks/nubs. Imagine the PSP's analog nub, but on both sides. Portable gamers have been clamoring for this feature forever now, so it's about time they get it. I can't overstress how important it is the the iPhone's gaming pad has DUAL ANALOG NUBS.
3. The peripheral must have two shoulder buttons and a solid D-Pad akin to the PSP/PS3's D-Pad to enable fighting games.
Do these things and the peripheral will be a big hit.
It should be as small as humanly possible. People don't like large bulky addons. And it should have a rectangular design with curved edges identical to the iphone.
If you where mature enough old enough to understand how hand held devices have their uses maybe have had real answers instead of personal attacks. Because you know you can`t reply without knowing or how to reply in a mature way. Oh well some much people knowing what they are talking about.......Then again when your only what 17 you can`t know the real reasons or facts about things ca you :)
Relax there cowboy. Dont need to get all upset. You are right, the iPhone/touch are not the same. But guess what, they can be damn close. And once they are and have a ton of great titles (which developers will bring), it will be harder and harder for people to justify more then one device. Sure the hardcore people will want something separate but you are out of your mind if you dont think that the iPhone/touch wont start taking a bite out of the PSP and DS market."
Well not as close as one might want to believe or be brain washed to believe. Either a few people3 lastest remarks sume up why the device doesnt work. No one wants to bulky out of style devices. This concepts is a good brain strom but if it had to pass a product design 200 level class it would barly make a "C"...................Good concepts ffuntion follows form or etc. Needs to be present in any good brain storming idea. Maybe for the common person these ideas are looked at as "SUPER" but really the end product would never look or handle like the concept thinking of what the person had in mind. IF just the facts or life in product design world.
7: ??????
8: Profit.
http://www.icontrolpad.com/
So if I were to be on a 12 hour flight to Germany, with nothing to do, I shouldn't play my DS because that means I am wasting my life away, when I could really be watching movies and sleeping for 12 hours... if so then I do not have a life.
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by tatersN
June 15, 2009 9:38 AM PDT
- I guess this is needed, but for clarification, Nintendo's DS originally launched in September of 2004, and has had an interactive screen far before Apple. So, to say "Nintendo's DSi not only shares an 'I' in common, but it also has an online store, as well as touch, a camera and music playback." is inaccurate. Yes, the music playback can be seen as a bite off of Apple. Nintendo has had camera's going far back, but they have been attachments, not built in (and if I am correct, the iPod Touch initially did not have a camera built in). Mobile devices, long before Apple, have been advancing the built-in camera functionality. Nintendo started its online store with the Wii at launch (2006), and started offering downloads of old titles, more so in competition with Microsoft, not Apple. A move to offer old Gameboy titles makes sense, more so through the DS.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (60 Comments)Sony's PSP initially debuted in March of 2005 with video playback through UMD, and initially had built in memory. To say Sony is biting off of Apple by expanding memory is a bit much, considering the entire industry is moving to flash memory, and more of it, is a bit much.
To be more accurate, Apple seems to be biting off of Sony and Nintendo. Initially, I thought this article to be about the design of already existing hand-held game systems, based off of the image above, not for an expansion of the iPhone. The idea of an expansion slot featuring buttons and control sticks/pads seems backwards, considering the immense potential and popularity of Apple's touch-screen devices. I would want to play games that use everything but buttons and control sticks. To me, that is the appeal. Seems strange that there is a drive to take a revolutionary control system and switch it to an already existing system, especially when there is an appeal for the revolutionary system. Wonder what that says about the touch screen aspect, and what Apple iPhone/iPod Touch users want its devices to do or be like?
Will they "overtake all gaming handhelds", no. Will they offer competition and set some new standards, absolutely. Nintendo has already defined the market for interactivity with games. Sony assisted in building a realm for "hard-core" gamers. Apple has invented an all-in-one device that acts as a phone, mp3 player, and now, mostly anything they and third party developers want.