Tektodo

We generally don’t think of our cellphones as being great mobile gaming devices. Sure, they satisfy the five-minute urge to occupy ourselves while on the bus, but they’re hardly considered the preferred platform for portable gaming. It looks like all of this may be changing thanks to the recent unveiling of the iPhone SDK, which, among other things, showed the iPhone’s potential as a power gaming platform. However, the iPhone is different from other phones on the market and because of this, it may serve not only to change the way we look at gaming on cellphones, but the way we look at portable gaming in general, something which could make both Nintendo and Sony very nervous. Here are five features of the iPhone that Nintendo and Sony should be worried about:

1. Screen – Much has been made about both the Nintendo DS and the PSP’s screen. The Nintendo DS is known for it dual-screen layout, as well as its bottom touch screen, something which has allowed the DS to differentiate itself from previous handheld devices. The PSP, although it does not have a touchscreen, does sport a gorgeous 4.3 in, 480×272 pixel, 16:9 widescreen.  The iPhone combines the best of both worlds, offering a 3.5 in, 320×480 pixel touchscreen that, unlike the DS, does not require the use of a stylus. Furthermore, the iPhone’s screen is composed of glass, making it much less prone to scratches.
2.  Accelerometer – Unlike the DS or PSP, the iPhone comes with a built-in accelerometer, a 3-axis accelerometer to be precise. At its recent iPhone SDK unveiling, Apple announced that it had challenged several game studios to create a demo for the iPhone in just two weeks.  EA showed a sample of Spore, with the player controlling the creature on-screen by simply tilting the iPhone up, down, left and right and customizing the creature by tapping on the screen. Sega showed off a version of Super Monkey Ball, which also showcases the iPhone’s ability to manipulate a game world by just tilting the phone. As I watched the video, I couldn’t but help think of the Wii remote. The iPhone really did behave just like a Wii remote, that is, if the Wii remote came with a built in screen. Apple even showed off a simple photo-editing program which allows users to undo changes by simply shaking the phone, again, an action very common in Wii games.
3. Storage – With both the DS and PSP, users are required to insert game media (cartridges for the DS, UMD discs for the PSP) in order to play games. The iPhone however features built-in storage (up to 16GB). Therefore, gamers would be able to take their games along with them in one device, without the need to swap in and out different cartridges or discs.
4. Multi-touch – I already briefly discussed the iPhone’s touch capabilities, but what I didn’t mention is the iPhone’s multi-touch interface. While the DS is limited to just one touch input, the iPhone allows for multi-touch input, giving video game developers much more freedom as to how they wish to have players control their games.
5. Size – The iPhone has the DS and PSP beat on all fronts when it comes to size. The iPhone comes in at a diminutive 4.5×2.4×0.46 in, while the DS measures 5.24 in × 2.9 in × 0.85 in and the PSP measures  6.7 in x 2.9 in x .9 in. Portable gaming is all about convenience and usability and one of the best indicators of this is size. Gamers want to be able to quickly and easily take out and put away their gaming devices and they don’t want their devices to take up too much room. Apple has a passion for creating thin products, which is certainly apparent in the iPhone.

After looking at all the features the iPhone offers, I am very excited to see how gaming companies will take advantage of this unique platform. At the end of the Super Monkey Ball demo, Sega’s Ethan Einhorn stated how “It’s gonna be really hard to go back to a traditional game controller,” a sentiment that Nintendo has become accustomed to hearing about the Wii. Einhorn went on to say that “This is not a cellphone game. This is a full console game.”

It seems as though Nintendo and Sony may have more to worry about than just each other in the handheld market. While we won’t know how the iPhone will fare in the gaming market until June, the future of handheld gaming certainly looks interesting at this point in time.

Filed under: Apple, Cell Phones, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Sony, Technology, Video Games, Wii Tagged: | accelerometer, Apple, Cell Phones, EA, iPhone, multi-touch, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PSP, Sega, Sony, Spore, Super Monkey Ball, touch screen, UMD, Video Games