Apple's iPhone Emerges as Legitimate Gaming Platform
Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:43 pm
Apple's iPhone has sprung up as a serious video game platform, fulfilling the long-held promise of mobile phone gaming and positioning itself as a legitimate competitor to traditional handheld gaming consoles.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has sold around 30 million devices on the market -- 17 million iPhones and 13 million iPod Touches -- and consumers are buying and playing games by the tens of millions.
Meanwhile, game designers are diving headlong into the market, churning out offerings at a furious pace.
Some say the iPhone's GPS, connectivity and touch screen give it an edge over the Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP -- its more established handheld console competition.
Nintendo has sold more than 100 million DS units and the Sony has shipped more than 50 million PSP consoles since both came to market in late 2004.
Since Apple's App Store went live last July, developers have emerged and make thousands of games, ranging from action and shooting games to puzzles and arcade games. Developers take 70 percent of the revenue, while Apple keeps 30 percent.
Major game publishers such as Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glu Mobile and up-and-coming startups and small developers are jumping in.
Gameloft said it has made more money selling iPhone and iPod touch games in the past eight months than it has made overall from some other carriers. It offers 27 games in the App Store and has sold 2 million copies so far.
"The mobile industry has been waiting for some sort of tipping point when the App Store was launched, that was the tipping point," said Sanette Chao, Gameloft's director of public relations.
Due to the high volume of offerings on the App Store, developers say the key to success is pushing a game onto a top 10 or top 25 list, where consumers can easily find them.
Apple plans to release its new iPhone 3.0 software this summer. It will offer new features such as peer-to-peer capability to allow gamers to square off against one another. The company will also let developers offer subscriptions and sell content within their applications.
Many analysts expect Apple to launch an updated iPhone handset this summer, although the company has been quiet. The second-generation iPhone 3G was released last summer.
