Igamer

Games have gone a Long way, we are now used to playing on the Xbox, PS3, and Wii but what about portable gaming? Yes we have both the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, however a newer system has come out of no where and dominated the portable scene…the Iphone/touch.

Gamers love to play games of course but being able to carry games around with them is something that many love to also do. One issue that comes to mind when you talk about portable gaming is the quality of games. Do to being more portable the machines that we carry around don’t have the same processor power or graphical capabilities unlike it’s distant cousin’s. We sacrifice the graphics and horsepower for portability.
The PSP has the most power and speed out of all portable gaming machines but issues involved are the horrible UMD disc that they come with. You need to combat battery life and the noisy spinning of the disc. The lack of very good games also sets the machine back.

The Nintendo DS is the most used portable machine catering to both Adults and kids. The machine actually is also a very successful system garnering over 9 iterations throughout it’s lifespan and counting with the new release of the Nintendo DSi. The lineup of games features every genre and makes it’s games fun for both adolescents to adults. To many the flaw comes with lower graphical power but allows you to have that “32bit” era style graphics that appeal to many older gamers.

Now we reach the system that this blog is all about, the Iphone/Touch. The unusual competitor of the PSP and DS from the same makers of the Apple brand. No one expected someone like Apple to make a machine that can remotely compete between Nintendo and Sony. When Apple decided to give out their SDK to the public and open the App Store old and new developers came to the scene to see what can be done to create new applications to further enhance the machine.
To Apple they were never behind in gaming but rather set it aside and watch how the industry folded in front of them. Deciding that the mobile arena was the safest route due to dominating the mp3 business with their ever so popular Ipod’s was a great idea. Ways developers grab attention to gamers in the App Store is to entice the audience by first having a great concept first of all. Second they either create a “lite” version which might be single levels, or limited weapons, time, etc…to get people to try the game out and decide if the full version would be worth while. The other route is to give the game out as a promotion for free which is always the way gamers would love and last would be to lower the price to 99 cents to $2.99 for a while before increasing the price to help benefit first time buyers.

Due to the games being so cheap this brings us to the addiction that many people have, games are limited to 99 cents to just over $10 which is a bargain compared to buying a Nintendo DS game at $30 or a PSP game at $40. No harm no foul to most people that purchase a game costing 99 cents compared to spending a fortune on another system game and being disappointed with it. This also makes the user want to seek more games due to price and causing many the addiction of looking at the App Store daily for the next deals or next release.
Gamers on the Iphone/Touch experience euphoria with their new device that causes many to drop their existing handheld and even high end systems and pick up the ever so popular Iphone/Touch. Igamer? Addiction? Maybe but what is shown is that Apple has brought their system to do what many never thought possible. To compete with the majors.

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