iPhone Getting In-Game Paid DLC

The upcoming firmware 3.0 update for the iPhone will enable game developers to sell you in-game, paid-for downloadable content.

The feature was showcased at Apple's OS 3.0 event yesterday. Electronic Arts developer Travis Boatman was brought on stage to demonstrate the system, buying in-game content in the forthcoming iPhone version of The Sims 3.

Boatman also showed off another feature of interest - functionality enabling users to access their music library from within a game. He did it using an in-game stereo, because The Sims is cute like that...

Also shown off was peer-to-peer connectivity, provided courtesy of Apple's Bonjour feature making use of bluetooth, functionality that should serve to make local multi-player in games easier to use.

3.0 will also give third-party developers access to push notifications, meaning that they will be able to ping users with updates, regardless of whether the app is turned on. This was demonstrated with a social game, Touch Pets, showing an on-screen notification requesting a “play date” with another animal.

Also potentially of interest to gamers is the revelation that 3.0 will give devs access to hardware peripherals via the Dock Connector. This could potentially enable developers of high-end iPhone games to build in peripheral support.

^{Sources:
Apple Insider
Touch Arcade}