iPhone Gaming
Apple has officially declared the iPhone to be a “gaming platform” now, competing with the DS and PSP. I don’t doubt they truly believe that it is.
I desperately want to love the iPhone as a gaming platform. I can’t tell you how sweet that would be, having awesome games to play anywhere, because it’s all in my phone (if I had one, I can’t bring myself to shell out so much money). That said, it just sucks as a gaming machine.
I’m sorry, I truly am, because I want it so badly to be good. Every game I’ve tried save maybe two (and I’ve spent a lot of time at the Apple store trying games, especially in New York City, trust me) have controlled like a nightmare. Touching the screen with your fingers while you’re trying to see what’s going on? Stupid. The only reason it works on the DS is because you have a long pointed pen to not be in your way. My fingers are very large and block nearly the whole screen when I need to use both hands. Tilt-control? Abysmal. This is the hardest to control method I’ve ever seen. Trying to fly through a ring when you have to move the phone in such a way that you can’t see the screen is beyond retarded. I’ve never wanted to go back to traditional controls more (or really ever) than I always do when I play on the iPhone. It’s miserable.
So yeah, as soon as they fix the control issues and maybe weed out the 19,950 pure-garbage “games” they claim to have (some are literally the works of an incompetent 10 year old) I’ll be on board in a SECOND. I surely won’t be giving up my DS, which I consider the greatest system ever made, but it would be a dream come true to have a great gaming system and phone in one. If the DS was also a phone, I doubt I’d ever ask for anything ever again.
September 10th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I’m on the other side of the PSP/DS isle, but on this, I completely agree.
I generally don’t comment on the IGN boards, but back in December when Levi Buchanan wrote his ridiculous iPhone vs PSP Grudge Match article - of course it was linked on the PSP page - I wrote several lengthy comments of rebuttal, not of the iPhone’s gaming credentials - if that’s his bag, that’s his bag, whatever - but of the blatant fallacies he used in his argument.
As far as the iPhone itself, I know several people that have them, so I’ve played a few iPhone games in my time. They’re passable - about as engaging as free online Flash games most of them - but something as seemingly simple as Peggle ran that battery dry in just a couple hours of on-and-off putzing. Now, the PSP is certainly no role-model in the battery-life department, but it has the luxury of only being a game device, whereas a phone is rather a necessity.
From my experience, it comes down to this: You can’t “game” too much on an iPhone if you’re going to actually need your phone later, and if you don’t actually need a phone, you could bring an objectively superior gaming handheld instead. And what if you actually need both a phone and a gaming handheld? Well, that’s why pants have more than one pocket.
September 10th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
The iPhone doesn’t have any “killer apps” either. Nintendo has Mario, Link, Pokémon, Sony has Sackboy, Killzone, Metal Gear, Microsoft has… um… Master Chief.
When you think “Apple” you never think of any interesting characters or worlds. You think “music”, which is how it should stay, really.
Unless they release AppleMan, which would be awesome alone for the title. Geddit? App? Apple?…
That was bad.
September 10th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
apple used to have its own game avatar and its own game system but i failed miserably
September 10th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
i went on the forums today, and i wasnt logged in, so i was a guest, and it said, ’sorry guest, you have been banned from using this forum!’ what the-
September 10th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Welcome to my world
September 10th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
hehehe
September 10th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I think I’mma hafta disagree. There are some pretty good games on it..
My top favz:
Zen Bound
Peggle
Rolando
Rolando 2
Tap Tap Revenge
Try those out, THEN tell me that the app store sucks.
September 10th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Ooh, and de Blob.
You like de Blob, amiriiight?
September 11th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Yeah, Apple saying the iPhone is competing with the DS and the PSP is stupid. It’s the best phone gaming system, without any shadow of a doubt….but it sucks compared to the DS, and to a lesser extent the psp. Super Monkey Ball is good, but with quite the difficulty curve…and most everything else sucks
September 11th, 2009 at 1:37 am
1,800,000,000 downloads disagree with you.
September 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
De Blob for iPhone is pretty poor. Minus the fact that they kept the menu music.
April 30th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Beautiful pics! I appreciate the post so much!
May 2nd, 2010 at 3:56 am
Stunning photos! I appreciate the post so much!