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iPod Touch is 'best portable device for games' says Jobs
Michael French Sep 9 2008, 6:55pm
Comments (6)
Games the star of Apple's latest hardware showcase
At its seasonal hardware unveiling today Apple showed off expected new models for its agenda-setting music hardware the iPod - but it was games, not audio, which CEO Steve Jobs pushed to the forefront.
Jobs revealed that 100m applications have been downloaded from the AppStore, the area of iTunes which distributes software. There are 3,000 apps on the story - 600 of which are games titles, many of them free.
But "some of [the games] are getting pretty fantastic. There is something here for everyone".
To prove it, he called Apple's senior VP of product marketing to demonstrate three new iPod Touch/iPhone games, the Gameloft's Real Soccer 2009 and the recently released Spore Origins and upcoming Need for Speed Undercover by EA.
The former ad the latter showed off almost cutting edge use of the touchscreen interface of the iPhone. Gameloft has programmed an on-screen d-pad into its game and has included gesture controls, while EA has transposed traditional racing game controls to the interface for its car racer.
Jobs summed up, claiming that Apple's iPod Touch is no longer great for just music and video, but now games too.
"Now you can make a pretty good argument that it is the best portable device for playing games on - and a whole new class of games," he said.
Jobs said that in a wider sense Apple had the best hardware line-up it has ever offered, which included also announced smaller iPod Nanos and higher capacity iPod Classics.
He also revealed details on the might of Apple's place in the market as a digital distributor. iTunes was described as the "largest online content store in the world", offering also 8.5m songs and 30,000 TV episodes for download. And there are 65m user accounts with registered credit cards on the service. All of this has "enabled us to slowly climb up to become the number one music distibutor in any format in the US," ahead of traditional retailers like WalMart and Best Buy, said Jobs.
Comments
“Interesting”
Posted by: Guru Larry - Sep 9, 8:38pm
Well he's not exactly going to turn round and say, "well actually I think the DS is the best handheld system" is he? ^_^
As long as they do PROPER games, and not just slightly nicer Java or Flash games, and also avoid the pitfallt the original N0Gage had, they could prove popular.
“Re: Interesting”
Posted by: Ben - Sep 9, 10:41pm
>.<
Steve doesn't usually make an ass of himself. That deserved a cringe. And that's why Apple's gaming glory ended with Marathon. And that was still an amazing paradox.
“Re: Re: Interesting”
Posted by: labrats5 - Sep 9, 11:57pm
Well, I can't say it's the best portable gaming device (due in no small part to th fact that I don't own all of them), but from first-hand experience I can easily say that the ipod touch/phone is a GOOD for gaming, and for such a full featured converence device, that' really all it has to be.
“Re: Re: Interesting”
Posted by: labrats5 - Sep 9, 11:58pm
Well, I can't say it's the best portable gaming device (due in no small part to th fact that I don't own all of them), but from first-hand experience I can easily say that the ipod touch/phone is a GOOD for gaming, and for such a full featured converence device, that' really all it has to be.
“Re: Re: Interesting”
Posted by: labrats5 - Sep 9, 11:58pm
No idea how that double post happened.
“I must beg to differ”
Posted by: Sean Fear - Sep 10, 1:54am
The iPhone was not designed as a gaming device... I would like to believe the hype however I am not convinced that a device not designed for games can become a first class gaming device. The UI and financial models will not let iPhone become what Jobs wants it to be.
See my full argument here...
http://iamhandheld....html