iPhone users are about ten times more likely to download games for their phones than other smartphone users, according to a new ComScore report helpfully summarized by MacRumors: "32.4% of iPhone users have downloaded a game, compared to a market average of only 3.8% amongst other manufacturers. In all, iPhone users were responsible for 14% of all mobile game downloads last year."
Who had the bright idea to make gaming a cornerstone of the iPhone platform? Some credit must be given to Apple's head of iPhone software development, Scott Forstall, who reports directly to Steve Jobs and has an impressive team under him. Last year, Forstall showed the iPhone's game capability with a demo that let the user fly a Star Wars-style spacecraft by using the entire phone as a steering wheel, rather than pressing buttons or handling a joystick.
Electronic Arts' Spore is even more impressive.
As iPhone games proliferate into the thousands, and gamers become more aware of the gadget's potential, there's an obvious threat to portable game machines. Once they've splurged on an iPhone, how many people will also buy a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS for over a hundred dollars? Compare the iPhone's hardware specs to a PSP, and its potential becomes obvious. Industry analysts aren't forecasting this yet, but gamers may choose to spend their money on more games for an iPhone, instead of a separate box.
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Comments
My husband just got a new iPhone but we are keeping his old one so that I can use it to entertain my 3 yr old. I've just wiped it clean and starting downloading apps for him. I've put all our toddler music from my iTunes library on it. Now the old iPhone is just for him and me. Before I was hesitant to get the Lego Batman, my son's favorite game, because I knew he would always want my husband's phone. But now they we have the extra one that I am not using as a phone, we got it. Plus at $4.99 I consider it a huge bargain. I paid almost $50 for the ps3 version. All the other apps I got him were 99 cents or free. Another favorite app so far is preschool pals- henry and hailey. This is all cheaper than buying a Nitendo DS and buying the games that go with it.
IMO, the downloaded games numbers are skewed. A great majority of the games for download at App Store are free. Would be interesting to compare paid games from App Store vs Nintendo DS (no download capability) and DSi (with download capability).
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