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iPod Just Became the Biggest handheld Games Machine

PistolGrip

sex vacation in Guam
Again my comments are for "Extremely Casual" (ipod users) gamers not hardcore ones. No one who seriously likes games would choice their Ipod over their DS or PSP for gaming.
 

thefro

Member
They picked some good games to work with the wheel layout of the IPod (and some games that'll appeal to the entire demographic), but unless there's a button revision it's going to be hard to play many games on it.
 
cabel said:
I'm with Stinkles on this.

How can you not care?

Because the touchwheel is shit for game control. Many of us have tried various games on our Rockbox and iPodLinux units. It sucks. Aiming games like Zuma will be OK, but the controls just don't fit a cool, diverse set of games.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Luna104 said:
You say it's a horrible comparison, but you fail to explain why.
Because I am posting from my work.

This is big because:

-it is an semi-standarized platform
-the screen is not shit
-iTunes provides publishers and consumers with a superstrong distribution service, like Steam
-it has as buttload of potential customers from day one
-the average ipod user is more receptive to videogames than the average cellphone user
-iPod users like to buy online
-downloading and installing new games should be very easy
-the cellphone space is pestered with tons upon tons of small developers and publishers without a clear aim or an unified distribution system

I could keep posting, but I have no time.
 

cabel

Member
beermonkey@tehbias said:
Because the touchwheel is shit for game control. Many of us have tried various games on our Rockbox and iPodLinux units. It sucks. Aiming games like Zuma will be OK, but the controls just don't fit a cool, diverse set of games.

Technically, the clickwheel doesn't just go in a circle.

There are up, down, left, and right buttons. You just press the clickwheel. That's the "CLICK" part of the "WHEEL".

Now, admittedly, it won't be the most responsive. It'll be extremely interesting to see, in the next few hours (!), if the games only use the circular motion.
 

PistolGrip

sex vacation in Guam
Funky Papa said:
Because I am posting from my work.

This is big because:

-it is an semi-standarized platform
-the screen is not shit
-iTunes provides publishers and consumers with a superstrong distribution service, like Steam
-it has as buttload of potential customers from day one
-the average ipod user is more receptive to videogames than the average cellphone user
-iPod users like to buy online
-downloading and installing new games should be very easy
-the cellphone space is pestered with tons upon tons of small developers and publishers without a clear aim or an unified distribution system

I could keep posting, but I have no time.

I completely agree here. We should definitely not discount the IPOD as a gaming device. I am just happy to see the industry expand even further. Of course to us hardcode gamers, this doesn't even get us to blink but the impact there is possible.

With the PSP downloadable service coming Nov, this should get even more interesting. Wonder if Sony will sell small titles like these in the future.
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
Good lord you people have absolutely no clue :lol. This is BIG news, shit it's like mana from the gods for all casual game companies. Right now Apple has established an enourmous market filled with casuals and possible gamers who have instant exposure to the most accessible games on the market. The only direct competitor are cellphone games and its a guarantee you'll see some migration from those companies to support Apple's format.
 
cabel said:
Technically, the clickwheel doesn't just go in a circle.

There are up, down, left, and right buttons. You just press the clickwheel. That's the "CLICK" part of the "WHEEL".

Now, admittedly, it won't be the most responsive. It'll be extremely interesting to see, in the next few hours (!), if the games only use the circular motion.

I own two iPods, I'm well aware of the click. :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Not in a million years would I consider the current clickwheel as even a half-assed substitute for a joypad when playing Pac Man, Tetris, etc.

TekunoRobby said:
Good lord you people have absolutely no clue :lol. This is BIG news, shit it's like mana from the gods for all casual game companies. Right now Apple has established an enourmous market filled with casuals and possible gamers who have instant exposure to the most accessible games on the market. The only direct competitor are cellphone games and its a guarantee you'll see some migration from those companies to support Apple's format.

I'm not saying that it is bad business or will fail.
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
Like has been stated before, the iPod itself doesn't lend itself well to gaming however neither does the mobile market, the closest competitor to what Apple is providing. It'll be interesting to see just how much the next-gen iPod is influenced by this new influx of gaming applications.

I think people are confusing themselves with how much it'll impact handheld games or gaming in general. To be blunt it won't directly but you'll be seeing much greater focus and new start ups geared for the casual market much in the same way as mobile gaming has finally begun to be a legitimately profitable and massive global market. The iPod is still clearly within the mobile gaming market and I don't see that changing in the near future. IE: Shutup the DS/PSP is not doomed nor will it be affected much by these turns of events.
 
This is the biggest shift in the U.S. casual gaming market in the history of the medium and if you can't see that, immediately, you are pretty much completely retarded.

U.S. cellphones have always lagged behind Japanese phones, but U.S. casual game developers now have a killer, internationally successful platform on which to hawk their wares. This is bigger than big.

This is to the DS and PSP what the Wii is to PS3 and 360--changing the rules and changing the market.
 

Alien Bob

taken advantage of my ass
soooo... this is all the small casual games that casual people have been playing casually for a few casual years on their casual pc's.... only portable.....



A GREAT LEAP FOR GAMING, A TRUE QUANTUM REDSHIFT OF PROPORTIONAL ORDERED MAGNITUDE
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Funky Papa:


-it is an semi-standarized platform

Everyone has a mobile phone.

which are not standardized

-the screen is not shit

The touchwheel is.

not for the games they announced

-iTunes provides publishers and consumers with a superstrong distribution service, like Steam

True.

-it has as buttload of potential customers from day one

Like mobile phones.

but iPod has a large installed base of shoppers already visiting iTunes and downloading stuff. Easier conversion to new content such as games

-the average ipod user is more receptive to videogames than the average cellphone user

Uh, why? Everyone has a mobile phone, only some have an iPod.

because games, videos and music go together better than games and....talking on the phoone

-iPod users like to buy online

Right.

-downloading and installing new games should be very easy

So is downloading for your mobile phone.

But not as easy as using a store/interface you already use

-the cellphone space is pestered with tons upon tons of small developers and publishers without a clear aim or an unified distribution system

How does this affect the consumer? The games are there for you to download.

But you have to dig for them through multiple suppliers. As opposed to a single entry point with a focused selection designed to work specifically on your device
 

Vark

Member
You people may not give a shit, but the people that fund the money that make all your precious games all just stood up to listen.
 

bard

Member
Meh.

People will buy it, obviously, but mostly the non-gaming crowd. I don't forsee anyone giving up their DS for this...
 

Dsal

it's going to come out of you and it's going to taste so good
Vark said:
You people may not give a shit, but the people that fund the money that make all your precious games all just stood up to listen.

Exactly. This is a huge new revenue stream. I don't see it impacting the other handheld markets, but this is a superhighway to casual gamers' dollars.
 

Eric_S

Member
Luna104 said:
- consumers don't care if mobile phones are standardized or not
- the touchwheel is shit for almost every game. Give me a d-pad please
- you don't even need iTunes to download mobile phone games. All you need is internet, and everyone uses the internet
- I fail to see how iPod + games is better than mobile phone + games. Everyone has a mobile phone and 95% of those people carry it around all the time. That's what's relevant

People will buy games for their iPods. Now while, overall, the tie ratio will propably suck ass, there are so many iPods sold each year that it won't matter. Apple will make plenty of money on it anyway, as will quick and dirty game devs. I don't think that it'll change gaming as we know it, I don't think it'll be a revolution, but then again it doesn't need to be.

The really interesting bit would be if they took it a step further a few years from now, and released a console-ish iPod, using the base their building now. I don't know how they'd fit in with the next DS and PSP (and I assume, the MS portable device) propably going more in the media player + online store direction, aside from being gaming devices. But it'd be interesting never the less.
 

ralexand

100% logic failure rate
bard said:
Meh.

People will buy it, obviously, but mostly the non-gaming crowd. I don't forsee anyone giving up their DS for this...
Last time I checked the non-gaming crowd outnumbered greatly the gaming crowd.
 

loosus

Banned
Luna104 said:
- consumers don't care if mobile phones are standardized or not
Uh, they don't have to "care." They'll just get pissed once they realize a game they want to play won't play on their phone for some dumb, small reason.


Luna104 said:
the touchwheel is shit for almost every game. Give me a d-pad please
Like someone has already stated, for the games mentioned, the wheel is fine.


Luna104 said:
you don't even need iTunes to download mobile phone games. All you need is internet, and everyone uses the internet
In that case, why doesn't everyone just program their own games? Compilers are free. It's all about ease of use, and the iTunes application is already popular with people who ordinarily aren't into technical things. It's easy to use for anybody. iTunes, whether you like it or not, does it right.
 

boutrosinit

Street Fighter IV World Champion
Stinkles said:
Yep, while GAFers dismiss it because it's not an Xboy, a PSP or a DS, EA, Ubi etc., are hard at work preparing for a massively lucrative new market.

Cellphone gaming doesn't work because its retarded, non unified and actually annoying to purchase and then play.

The good news for DS, PSP et al is that Apple is limited significantly by input device and actually processing power. It's going to be a totally different market. You'll pick up an album, then maybe a little game. Bam.

It's Flash-based too I hear. It'll rape. Guaranteed. Homebrew FTW.

Also, for no reason, a picture of a man with funny hair:

spector.jpg
 
People understand a new version will come out...with the right controls?




Btw, the Itunes service could just as well become available for PSP. Sony and Apple, make it so.
 
if apple put in a Java virtual machine that could play the same games that cell phones play, it would revolutionized the Mobile games market.
 
the click wheel is NOT fine, have you ever tried playing Breakers or any of the games that come on the iPod? it's so frustrating I just delete them all.

The wheel might work alright for finding a song, but precison controls for gaming? I think not
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
You just don't get it Luna.

consumers don't care if mobile phones are standardized or not
The lack of an unified format hinders the distribution, the development *and* the community feeling, something gigantic in terms of marketing importance.

the touchwheel is shit for almost every game. Give me a d-pad please
Once again, the touchwheel is not shit for the announced games. Nobody is going to play Street Fighter with the current gen iPods. Plus, it is an investment, Apple can change the interface to accomodate new software and media whenever it pleases.

you don't even need iTunes to download mobile phone games. All you need is internet, and everyone uses the internet
Most people with a cellphone don't know squat about tech. They just learn how to store their numbers and navigate around them. Most people with iPods know about iTunes and how to use it. There's a big market out there.

I fail to see how iPod + games is better than mobile phone + games. Everyone has a mobile phone and 95% of those people carry it around all the time. That's what's relevant
Profits>gaming quality.

I don't want to come out as a petulant asshole, but I've been involved with the creation of a cellphone software company (distribution and production) and I still have good friends among software developers and phone companies. I think that I know what I am talking about in this respect. As for my friends, I have to read their e-mails, but my inbox is clogged with their messages so I guess that means something.

Oh, and BTW, nobody is saying that this is going to own cellphone gaming just as it won't own any portable console.
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
ElectricBlue187 said:
I am not playing video games on my iPod that's so stupid it makes my brain hurt.
Yes but you are posting on a video game message board, you are obviously not the intended consumer. The normal iPod user might swing for a game if it's cheap and simple enough Mobile game sales over the past few years supports that idea quite well. We're also talking about a global audience, one that's already embraced mobile gaming whole-heartedly. This is the same platform that’s been abandoned and typically considered cumbersome and difficult to enjoy by the core gamer market.
 
Isn't the worldwide iPod install base significantly less than GBA's? A great deal of those iPods aren't capable of playing these games, as well.
 

Juice

Member
Well, suddenly Zune and PSP have lost their arguments. (I realize PSP is a dedicated game machine, but that's the last thing Sony's PR arm has been willing to call it).
 

Juice

Member
I'm all over Zuma and Tetris.

:lollercaust at $44.91 to buy all the games.

BTW, when did EA get publishing rights for mobile tetris?
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Chris Remo said:
Isn't the worldwide iPod install base significantly less than GBA's? A great deal of those iPods aren't capable of playing these games, as well.
Yep, but I think we can agree that Apple doesn't want to compete with Nintendo ;)
 

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
Juice said:
Well, suddenly Zune and PSP have lost their arguments. (I realize PSP is a dedicated game machine, but that's the last thing Sony's PR arm has been willing to call it).
Didn't you get the memo?
Dracos said:
Impact to DS/PSP = Zero.

Please trolls take head out of asses, stat.
 

Mrbob

Member
Forget Sony for a second. Apple is about to steal Nintendo's casual marketplace.

DS second best selling portable gaming system now. PSP bumped to third.
 
Funky Papa said:
Yep, but I think we can agree that Apple doesn't want to compete with Nintendo ;)
Oh I know, I was just responding to the thread title. iPod certainly isn't the "biggest handheld games machine."
 
Could i have Metal Gear Slug please?

You know side scroll, shoot with the button in the middle..:)


I dig the new Nanos, very hot. And iTunes 7.0 of course, very very nice. But I don´t get it, is a update out or not? The service says my ipod has the latest firmware.
 

brocke

Banned
The casual market as a whole who would eat this kind of stuff up has never had high expectations for gaming. We could have Virtual Reality 100 years from now and they would still be selling casuals seriously gimped games marketing them as the best thing ever.
 
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