Wild speculation today from Forbes, which believes that, with the upcoming App Store, the iPhone can mount a serious challenge against the Nintendo DS. It’s a common thesis, one that’s bandied about in message boards and salons all over the land. It goes, since the iPhone already has a touchscreen interface, like the DS, as well as an accelerometer, it has the necessary controls to be taken seriously as a gaming platform. But that’s not really Forbes’ concern; it’s all about the money for them. Hence, the App Store.
Apparently developers are excited because, with the flick of a switch next week, they’ll have direct access to a large slice of the cellphone community. And that it’s the iPhone, whose owner is a little more tech-savvy than the guy or gal walking around with a free VZW phone, all the better. You’ve got a ready market of people probably willing to spend a few dollars on applications here and there, a game or two. Developer heaven.
Simple games.. Something like Lumines, just moving around colored squares, could work easily on the iPhone.
But that’s more a case in favor of the iPhone being good for gaming, and not necessarily something that’ll supplant the DS. Aren’t those two different markets? Like, my father isn’t going to buy my 12-year-old brother an iPhone just to play Game of the Moment, but a DS? (Well, he already has one, but you know what I mean to say.)
I say, let’s see exactly what the App Store and new iPhone are all about before we proclaim them DS-killers.
I’m pretty sure any household object could take on a Nintendo DS. I own a toaster that’s more fun then that thing.
@Eric
“ACHOO!” sorry but I smell ballshit
The DS isn’t in any danger from apple unless they come out with something in the mid $100 range that has standard controls added to it. You can’t appeal to the market with an overpriced gadget that can’t play “normal” games. That is to say, touch screen games and motion controlled games are great, but the DS wouldn’t have been as successful without buttons and a d-pad.
They will continue to do very well in the market they are in, and there could be some really innovative games, but they won’t be a threat to Nintendo with their current hardware and pricing.
Wild speculation? I don’t think so.
“Apple’s iPhone Faces Off With The Game Champs,” WSJ, Nov. 12, 2008.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122644912858819085.html
Remember, you read it on Forbes.com first.