iPod = future of handheld gaming?
Well, it’s quiet time here in game land and as we’re awaiting any news from the big three something popped up at an Apple event earlier this month and declared itself ‘funnest’. Now, whether that’s a word or not is beside the point, Apple went out of their way to show the worlds press that the iPod touch and the iPhone play games, good looking fun games and cheaply too!
There are a couple of touches in our house (1 & 2G) and we both have apps a go go on them and a few of these are games. I’m personally addicted to Bejeweled, but this is no surprise I’ve bought it on my mobile and play it online, lots, it’s like a compulsion! Cube Runner is another favorite making very good use of the accelerometer a simple but addictive game. Both of these games are ‘dip in’ but they are very very fun and with the inclusion of online leaderboards make my competative spirit get into a fizz!
Tiny puzzles aren’t all the iPod has, there are simulators, emulators, Super Monkey Ball and even little versions of big games, we have ‘Spore origins’ and ‘The Force Unleashed’ has just been released. All awesome pick up and play games, perfect for short journeys on public transport or beating a moment of boredom. But where they dont stand up is for a more in depth story driven experience which is the only reason that this machine isn’t going to be lord of gaming.
The technology is perfect for an immersive experience, the accelermoter is perfet for tilting joy and the multi touch makes touch screen gaming a treat to play and sadly makes it a little painful to go back to my beloved Jake 2.0 (my DS) and with the second generation having an inbuilt speaker this could make for tough competition. But only if Apple have in house developers working on titles, relying on Sega and Eidos to create your games will make this fail as a platform, all you need to do is look at the N-Gage and how well that went. Although oddly that has risen from the grave again and Capcom have given its blessing.
I do wish Apple the best of luck inthe gaming world, its about time the big N had some competition that didn’t rely on ‘Monster Hunter’ to sell consoles.