Apple Confirm Premium Games Set for App Store [Apple Targets Larger Publishers]

Posted by Andrew Tingle on January 30th 2009 | 1 Response

iphone-gaming

Apple have acted to confirm that it is, as rumoured, set to offer a new, premium range of iPhone and iPod Touch games via its App Store in a bid, it would appear, to offer an incentive to larger games publishers to begin developing games for its devices in earnest – rather than just offering sporadic releases invariably serving as tie-ins to accompany prime releases on dedicated gaming platforms.

According to reports, Apple is particularly keen to push its iPhone and iPod touch as alternative handheld gaming platforms – setting them against the likes of Nintendo’s DS and Sony’s PSP – and its planned premium range is undoubtedly a bid by Apple to get premium games publishers to take the iPhone and Touch somewhat more seriously in this respect. The sweetener? The premium range of games are envisaged as retailing for just shy of $20 a pop though Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iPod product marketing, is on record as stating that he believes the $7 – $14 price range is the ’sweet spot’ in terms of premium games pricing for its platforms.

ipod-touch-nano-concept-by-isamu-sanada-link-image

Quite whether premium games titles will serve to cement the iPhone and iPod Touch as true competitors to dedicated gaming consoles such as the DS and PSP is, however, wholly open to speculation. Personally our take on it is that neither will offer a serious threat to the DS and (especially) the PSP regardless of premium titles but will, rather, just be seen as additional platforms offering further choice. Still, it’s interesting to note that Apple are believed to be developing a new Touch with a larger screen and we cannot help but wonder whether this could mark the beginning of Apple pushing towards offering a device that can truly take on the likes of the PSP in terms of gaming capabilities (particularly graphics) – perhaps something along the same lines as this (as featured above)?

Time will tell, but we wouldn’t bet against it (the gaming market is simply far too lucrative to continue to treat in a somewhat ancillary fashion) and, besides, if there’s ever a company that has its head well and truly screwed on, especially in terms of produce development, it’s Apple.

[Via | PocketGamer]

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Apple Confirm Premium Games Set for App Store [Apple Targets Larger Publishers]

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“Apple Confirm Premium Games Set for App Store [Apple Targets Larger Publishers]”

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Response by Terry Rogers | February 4th, 2009 at 2:04 am

Hi everyone, I’m a bit late on the chat, it’s not like I was going
any more relevant than anyone else but here is what I think.

I think it’s safe to say that people are slightly narrow minded when
it comes to defining these portable device. Being a “fanboy” or a
“fangirl” is quite a comftarble status unlike simply being rational
about the situation.

First, the iPod Touch and the iPhone are multimedia platform. Often,
the music player is acknowledge has it’s unique feature. The iPod
Touch and iPhone is actually a pretty powerful device (memory, speed
& rendering) that can actually browse the web, run diverse types of
application and support a large array of media files.

These device are now pushing toward their gaming aspect. The Touch
Gen are unconventional for gaming, they are somewhat less technical
and more intuitive (this is the same reason some may never like the
Wii). Because of their nature, a lot of the game released for Apple
devices are crap and of homebrew quality. It was the same for the DS
when it came out, but Nintendo had more experience in blocking trash
from their platform.

It’s safe to say that the Apple Premium Games will push the gaming
aspect of the Touch Gen even beyond their MVP app’s. They have to.
Why? Well this brings me to my second point.

The DS and PSP which are what people call “gaming dedicated devices”
actually have a lot of multimedia potential. Sony and Nintendo are
slowly but convincingly pushing toward multi-functions devices with
new firmware, hardware and services just like Apple. Everyone is
adventuring in to everyones territory. Thats how capitalism works
Apple, Sony and Nintendo actions are not really surprising.

I’ll watch how things work out for these guys. Fanslaves, choose your
camp; technical=PSP, hybrid=DS, intuitive=iPod. Has for me, I’m
pretty much versatile.