After several kinks and a great deal of frustration, the iPhone 3G is finally out, along with the iPhone 2.0 software update. Along with these two big releases is the equally significant (perhaps even more significant) release of the highly anticipated App Store. The App Store gives developers an easy and streamlined way to get their apps to customers, either through iTunes, or on the iPhone/iPod touch themselves. Along with this has come the arrival of several games tailored to the iPhone/iPod touch’s unique capabilities. However, after downloading Super Monkey Ball, I am left wondering how successful Apple’s innovative platform will prove to be for gaming, at least as far as motion-controlled gaming is concerned.
The fundamental problem the iPhone/iPod touch have, and one that the Wii doesn’t is the fact that in order to control a motion-sensitive game, one has to move the entire device, including its screen. With the Wii, the Wii Remote is its own separate entity and thus, is not restricted in terms of how it can be manipulated (e.g. turned, twisted and shaken). With the iPhone/iPod touch, one is limited in terms of how much the device can be moved. This became blatantly apparent to me when playing Super Monkey Ball.
In Super Monkey Ball, you must guide a monkey in a ball through various stages by manipulating the iPhone/iPod touch. Turning the device to the left causes the monkey to go left, tilting it down makes the monkey go forward, etc. No matter what gaming device you’re using, whether its a Nintendo DS, a PSP or a cell phone, it is natural to hold the device at an angle. Rarely would you hold a device in a horizontal position (i.e. parallel with the floor) because this would be very uncomfortable, forcing you to look straight down. However, in Super Monkey Ball, this would be the ideal position, since you are, in essence, replicating a board. It therefore felt very awkward to have the board be level while holding the iPod touch at an approximate 30 degree angle, yet this is something which the developers could do little about, since holding the device flat would be so uncomfortable. Motion control is also a tricky business when the device that’s utilizing it is meant to be portable.
Case in point, Super Monkey Ball requires a great deal of precision, especially during later levels. This kind of precision is next to impossible to achieve when riding in a car or bus and the roads are not smooth. Does this mean that motion in portable games won’t be as useful as once predicted? Not at all. It just means that developers will have to be more imaginative in how they design their games.
Although it may feel awkward at times, Super Monkey Ball is still a good game, especially when considering it was built for a “cell phone”. However, it definitely would have been nice to have some sort of calibration option in terms of how it’s controlled. Another game that utilizes motion control (and one which I admittedly have not have a chance to play yet) is Cro-Mag Rally, a racing game that has you steering by moving your iPhone/iPod touch. Though I have read mixed reviews of the game, it seems as though the folks over at Pangea Software were able to exploit the idea of motion a bit better for the purposes of their game, but again, I have not played this one myself.
Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that the apps appearing in the App Store were created by developers who have had very little time with the iPhone SDK. As developers begin to work more with the SDK and learn more about the inner workings of the iPhone/iPod touch, we will surely start to see games that take portable motion gaming to completely new levels.
Filed under: Apple, Technology, Video Games | Tagged: App Store, Apple, Cro-Mag Rally, iPhone, iPhone 2.0, iPhone 3G, iPhone SDK, iPod touch, Super Monkey Ball
