Apple, the Accidental Game Company

We’ve been sceptical about the iPhone’s game-playing prowess for a while now, but since Apple’s Greg Jozwiak spent some time talking-up the device and bad-mouthing the competition, we now have a little company. Shiny Shiny, for instance, seem to share our concern about the lack of proper controls. After all, there’s only so much you can do with the touchscreen and accelerometer — it limits the amount of control you can exercise and can reduce game play to Wii-like flailing, which is okay in the living room but not so great on a crowded train.

The iPhone’s biggest problem is that it was never designed as a games platform. I’d be very surprised if the G word was mentioned once all through its years of development. Sure, it has a decent GPU, but it seems more than likely that it and OpenGL were included purely to facilitate the Core Animation features provided in Cocoa Touch. While Apple’s marketing ninjas should be praised for recognising the groundswell in games, they may find their decision to emphasis it turning around and biting them. As the number of new owners who come to the platform for the games first and foremost increases, so do the chances of the platform’s inherent unsuitability being revealed.

As Electric Pig James Holland observes, the number of games available for the iPhone is impressive. But it also servers to highlight another weakness: the App Store. Tracy Erickson at Pocket Gamer identifies two problems this profusion creates: the difficulty involved in sifting the quality games from the dross, and the race to the bottom currently to be seen in game — and more generally, app — pricing. These two points are related. Currently, the ‘Top 25′ lists act as the App Store’s shop window, providing at least a first stop for prospective purchasers. You need high numbers of downloads to get here, and developers are finding the best way of getting these is to cut the cost of their games. While lower prices are great for consumers in the short run, lower revenue means that less effort will be put into ensuring the quality of future releases.

The iPhone could — and probably will — be an excellent niche gaming machine. I can see the market splitting neatly between simple casual games to be played while waiting in line, and more advanced titles which make use of unique features like GPS. What I don’t see is the iPhone ever being able to compete with dedicated games consoles like the Nintendo DS. And unfortunately, if Apple keeps insisting that it does, they will only end up with a lot of disappointed users.

• Shiny Shiny
• Electric Pig
• Pocket Gamer