Apple: iPod Touch #1 Games Handheld, 'Game Center' Inbound

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has declared that the iPod Touch is the "#1 portable games platform in the world", outselling both Sony and Nintendo handhelds combined.

The statement came during a company conference last night, focused on Apple's music and media services. Alongside video, gaming was a big highlight in the proceedings, with news of a dedicated Game Center (sic) application reaching end users in an iOS update next week.

"It's pretty amazing," Jobs told the audience, "The iPod Touch has been a remarkable product for us, and it has become our most popular iPod."

Jobs backed up the #1 portable games platform claim with a number for sales of iOS devices: 120 million. That's not, obviously, to be sniffed at. Jobs also revealed that around 1.5 billion game and entertainment apps have been downloaded for iPod Touch alone.

Game Center was showcased in detail at the conference, and will allow developers to take advantage of an API that helps iOS users connect with each other for multiplayer games. Profiles, Achievements, and Matchmaking are among the major features, and games that will work with the backend from day one include Angry Birds, Pac-Man and Field Runners.

Game Center will be a part of iOS 4.1, which is due to launch "next week".


(Updated with iOS device sales figures.)