Mainstream Media: PSP and DS Should Fear iPhone this Xmas
Interesting take on gaming
Business Week magazine appears to have come over all appley in the lead up to what our cousins in the USA like to call 'the holidays'.
In an article entitled "Apple: Soon To Be A Mobile Gaming Force" the author states, "Apple is on track to sell an easy 40 million devices or more a year that are capable of playing games...
"Nintendo sold 42 million DS consoles during the 18 months from January 2007 to June 2008, according to market research firm iSuppli. So Apple is on pace to sell about as many game-capable handhelds in a single year as Nintendo, the market's current leader, has sold in the most recently reported 18 months.
"This suggests that Apple could be on the cusp of claiming the crown as the world's market leader in handheld gaming."
Bearing in mind that BizWeek is a popular journal amongst those traders who still have money, statements such as, "Apple already has more titles for its games than both of the other two (PSP and DS) combined. And aside from the free ones, games on the App Store sell at prices ranging up to $9.99 and sometimes a little more. Compare that with the $20 to $40 for Nintendo DS games and the $10 to $40 for games on the PSP."
More figures are tossed into the mix (9% of users time spent on the first iPhone is used for gaming. 6% on the newer iPhone 3G, for example) before the pay-off.
"It's enough to make me wonder whether Apple is on its way to conquering yet another sector of the consumer-technology business from out of nowhere. We'll certainly know more after the holiday season, but if I worked for the Sony or Nintendo handheld gaming divisions, I'd be watching the holiday sales figures closely."
While the iPhone is certainly popular and surely does have games available for it, we think it's something of a stretch to claim that the DS and PSP might want to look to their laurels this Xmas.
Do you have an iPhone? How many games do you play and how often? Tell us on the Forum below.
Source
In an article entitled "Apple: Soon To Be A Mobile Gaming Force" the author states, "Apple is on track to sell an easy 40 million devices or more a year that are capable of playing games...
"Nintendo sold 42 million DS consoles during the 18 months from January 2007 to June 2008, according to market research firm iSuppli. So Apple is on pace to sell about as many game-capable handhelds in a single year as Nintendo, the market's current leader, has sold in the most recently reported 18 months.
"This suggests that Apple could be on the cusp of claiming the crown as the world's market leader in handheld gaming."
Bearing in mind that BizWeek is a popular journal amongst those traders who still have money, statements such as, "Apple already has more titles for its games than both of the other two (PSP and DS) combined. And aside from the free ones, games on the App Store sell at prices ranging up to $9.99 and sometimes a little more. Compare that with the $20 to $40 for Nintendo DS games and the $10 to $40 for games on the PSP."
More figures are tossed into the mix (9% of users time spent on the first iPhone is used for gaming. 6% on the newer iPhone 3G, for example) before the pay-off.
"It's enough to make me wonder whether Apple is on its way to conquering yet another sector of the consumer-technology business from out of nowhere. We'll certainly know more after the holiday season, but if I worked for the Sony or Nintendo handheld gaming divisions, I'd be watching the holiday sales figures closely."
While the iPhone is certainly popular and surely does have games available for it, we think it's something of a stretch to claim that the DS and PSP might want to look to their laurels this Xmas.
Do you have an iPhone? How many games do you play and how often? Tell us on the Forum below.
Source
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Comments
PreciousRoi 4 Nov 2008 19:52
1/3
Theres also the iPod Touch, which, as it lacks phone features (I assume, only seen the advert), might be a bit more of a direct competitor for the handhelds.
HeathenUK 4 Nov 2008 23:21
2/3
Just for you records, it's spelled Christmas. Sorry, had to get that off my chest after the last few days of news stories. It's out of my system now.
SuperSaiyan4 5 Nov 2008 08:52
3/3
Why would the iPhone compete with handhelds is beyond me, imagine this scenario:
Dad: Hey son got you an iPhone
Son: Ermmm cool how do I play on it?
Dad: F**k knows just play with it or you get a slap
Now with a DS or PSP, pop in the game and your good to go.
Also the iPhone is just an iPod touch with phone and cheap camera and bluetooth thrown in.
I got an iPod touch but the iPhone is not as good as some other phones on the market as a phone especially when you got the new HTC Touch HD coming out which I want to get.
Dad: Hey son got you an iPhone
Son: Ermmm cool how do I play on it?
Dad: F**k knows just play with it or you get a slap
Now with a DS or PSP, pop in the game and your good to go.
Also the iPhone is just an iPod touch with phone and cheap camera and bluetooth thrown in.
I got an iPod touch but the iPhone is not as good as some other phones on the market as a phone especially when you got the new HTC Touch HD coming out which I want to get.