iOS Nearly Surpasses Nintendo as Most Popular Gaming Platform

[+Warwagon MVC]

iOS Nearly Surpasses Nintendo as Most Popular Gaming Platform

http://www.macproductions.org/home/ios-nearly-surpasses-nintendo-as-most-popular-gaming-platform/

After owning an ipod touch 4th gen for little under a month I can say that for most games the touch controls suck balls. The one exception is angry birds. I guess with certain type of games it can work ok and that's a pretty short list.

Games need physical buttons, touch borders on unusable. I say borders on, because I can get the person in an FPS to move forward and back by touching the up and down arrow, but that's it. It's unusable for any sort of accuracy and I usually just end up spinning in circles.

thoughts?

[Tharp Daddy]

Best mobile gaming device? I imagine Nintendo wants to have a word with them.

[+Warwagon MVC]

They are touting their large amount of games on the app store Which is great is great if the controls of most of those games didn't suck balls.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

We've had very similar topics in the GH recently, I don't think they need to be repeated.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I strongly disagree. It isn't a dedicated portable gaming device. Nintendo offers better gaming with the DS. At most, the iPod Touch and iPad are better for ultra-casual games that work better with a touch-only control interface.

Moved Here

[Xerxes]

Surprisingly, I agree. I own both a PSP 3000 and DS Lite, both great consoles but these days I find it easier and more convenient to game on my iPod touch. It may not have the power of the PSP/DS Lite and I know many argue the iPod touch/iPhone lack of physical keys makes it unsuitable for a serious gaming device, however, for a quick blast on the train/bus on the way to work, nothing can touch (pun intended) the iPod touch/iPhone in my humble opinion.

[Duality]

I love my iPod for gaming :)

[Pauleh]

however, for a quick blast on the train/bus on the way to work, nothing can touch (pun intended) the iPod touch/iPhone in my humble opinion.

Exactly. Nothing like a game of Worms on the daily commute.

[dead.cell]

Try are probably touting their large amount of games on the app store.

Large amount of games don't mean diddly. The fact that they have a lot of entertaining games that don't cost you an arm or leg is the key point, many of games which you can try before you buy.

Nintendo has no trial options, no renting, no demos... Nothing! Yet, the games cost a lot more, closer to that of a console. Don't get me wrong here, I don't mind buying decent games, but I hate finding out that the game(s) people go on raving about turn out to be something that just doesn't interest me.

The controls of the iOS have only limited me on shooter games, and some side scrollers like Mega Man 2, which was just balls to play with the controls. Overall though, Mega Man is currently $3, and I think I got it on sale at the time too. My mistake for thinking it'd be totally awesome without trying the lite version first, but losing that money doesn't bother me at all, knowing I've spent (much) more on crappy games for the DS and other consoles.

Because of this, my DS has begun to gather dust as I now take my iPod everywhere. Fits in my pocket (without looking weird), performs a variety of tasks (recording meetings/conference calls, communication, etc), and of course music for me to jam out to while working/working out. I dunno... I thought it pretty odd when my boss mentioned using his iPhone as his primary mobile gaming device, and I thought he was crazy 'til I got my iPod. I mean, it'd be one thing if it only had dumb casual games, but since they've started to gather bigger names and decent titles, it really seems like a viable option for gaming on the go.

I'm not worried about Nintendo though. So long as they have their Pokemon and Mario games, I'm sure they'll be fine. However, I'm not about to buy into their handheld market anymore, as it appears to heading in the same direction with the GameCube and Wii, with only the first-party titles being the main selling point.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I'm not saying the games don't look great or they suck, or that having demo's of games before you buy them isn't great, all that is fantastic. I'm saying the controls on most games borders on unplayable.

[notuptome2004]

Surprisingly, I agree. I own both a PSP 3000 and DS Lite, both great consoles but these days I find it easier and more convenient to game on my iPod touch. It may not have the power of the PSP/DS Lite and I know many argue the iPod touch/iPhone lack of physical keys makes it unsuitable for a serious gaming device, however, for a quick blast on the train/bus on the way to work, nothing can touch (pun intended) the iPod touch/iPhone in my humble opinion.

well the iPod touch current generation and last years model both have more power then your PSP/DS-lite graphics wise and CPU wise .

[Chasethebase Reporter]

I strongly disagree. It isn't a dedicated portable gaming device. Nintendo offers better gaming with the DS. At most, the iPod Touch and iPad are better for ultra-casual games that work better with a touch-only control interface.

Moved Here

This.

[Growled Member]

I'm not saying the games don't look great or they suck, or that having demo's of games before you buy them isn't great, all that is fantastic. I'm saying the controls on most games borders on unplayable.

This segment of the game market is in it's infancy. The controls (and every other feature) will get better over time.

[Minifig]

FTA: Market research and consulting firm Newzoo found that 77 million Americans play games on mobile phones and portable devices. Of those, 40.1 million use the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. The platform of choice for 41.0 million ages 10 and up is the Nintendo DS and DSi. Eightteen million Americans play using Sony's PSP. The survey also reveals that two-thirds of PSP and iPad users play games at least three days a week, compared to 50 percent on the DS, DSi, iPhone and iPod Touch. Players willing to spend money on games is highest on Nintendo devices (67 percent) and PSP (66 percent) compared to iPod Touch / iPhone (45 percent) and iPad (32 percent).

----

I'd just like to say that Newzoo's market research and consulting is ******** and full of ****.

The Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have sold 118.69 million units worldwide, with 32.47 million units in Japan, 44.06 million in the Americas, and 42.16 million in other regions.

On December 1, 2006, Nintendo of America released launch-to-date information indicating that the Game Boy Advance series had sold 33.6 million units in the United States. On January 18, 2008, Nintendo revealed that the Game Boy Advance series has sold 36.2 million units in the United States, as of January 1, 2008. As of December 31, 2009, the Game Boy Advance series has sold 81.50 million units worldwide, of which 43.55 million are Game Boy Advance SP units and 2.42 million are Game Boy Micro units. Link.

As of March 31, 2010, the DS cemented its place as the top-selling handheld platform of all time by selling 27.11 million units worldwide during the fiscal year, totaling 128.9 million units life-to-date. Of that, some 17.82 million were DSi's and 2.08 million were DSi XL's.

[WelshBluebird]

FTA: Market research and consulting firm Newzoo found that 77 million Americans play games on mobile phones and portable devices. Of those, 40.1 million use the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. The platform of choice for 41.0 million ages 10 and up is the Nintendo DS and DSi. Eightteen million Americans play using Sony's PSP. The survey also reveals that two-thirds of PSP and iPad users play games at least three days a week, compared to 50 percent on the DS, DSi, iPhone and iPod Touch. Players willing to spend money on games is highest on Nintendo devices (67 percent) and PSP (66 percent) compared to iPod Touch / iPhone (45 percent) and iPad (32 percent).

----

As of March 31, 2010, the DS cemented its place as the top-selling handheld platform of all time by selling 27.11 million units worldwide during the fiscal year, totaling 128.9 million units life-to-date. Of that, some 17.82 million were DSi's and 2.08 million were DSi XL's.

Thats worldwide though. The Newzoo research is just the US.

Plus it is likely that the iPhone / iPod touch isn't counted as a "handheld platform" in the last comment.

[Xtreme2damax]

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

This research is full of donkey turds. I didn't bother clicking the link, quite obvious that they are biased toward Apple/Mac/Iphone/Ipad etc..

[thealexweb]

Games on iOS keep you busy for a few hours maybe even a few days then they get stuck in a folder and rarely used. A game for the DS like one of the new Pokemon games can keep you busy for weeks if not months.

[matt4pack]

Pokemon keeps you busy for months. :laugh: That couldn't keep me entertained for 5 seconds.

I'll take casual games like angry birds, cut the rope, bejeweled, and doodle jump for $0.99 any day before some overpriced crap like that.

And people complain about Macs being overpriced. :wacko: You couldn't even make these games for the PSP or DS as they only world work with touch.

[Minifig]

Thats worldwide though. The Newzoo research is just the US.

Plus it is likely that the iPhone / iPod touch isn't counted as a "handheld platform" in the last comment.

The DS has sold 44.99 million, the DS Lite, 33.51 million, and the DSi: 330 thousand, in the 'Americas'.

http://en.wikipedia....nd_handheld_war

I assure you.. Nintendo still has them beat.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Props to Sega. While I do admit the controls for most games on the iPod touch suck ****, Sega got it right. Sonic 4 is not only playable but enjoyable. Well done sega, may others learn from you. Then again, it's 2D which those games tend to be more playable than 3D games.

[rajputwarrior]

^ sonic is awesome

I strongly disagree. It isn't a dedicated portable gaming device. Nintendo offers better gaming with the DS. At most, the iPod Touch and iPad are better for ultra-casual games that work better with a touch-only control interface.

Moved Here

their are some crazy games for this iphone/ipad that the DS would dream of doing i.e. choas rings

they need to start taking the iphone/ipad/ipod touch seriously as a gaming device.

[Massiveterra]

iOS is a perfect platform for jrpgs and turn-based strategy games

edit: BTW, has anyone thought of doing a push-enabled multiplayer turn-based strategy game?

[LightShadow]

iOS Platform (Just games to play on the go,small mini-games)

DS - Games that last longer and provide more experience.

Don't worry Nintendo, next year with the 3DS you'll still be in the lead. 3DS ftw!

(And I like both! I own a DS and DSi, and am getting an iPod Touch 4G + 3DS)

[johnnyq3]

The iOS gaming platform is best for games that would be just as good as a flash based counterpart.

[Massiveterra]

Don't worry Nintendo, next year with the 3DS you'll still be in the lead. 3DS ftw!

For $300 it won't.

Honestly, in 2010 on, I don't see the reason to have more than one portable device in my pocket