Blue Skies [iTunes Link] is one of the first notable iPhone 3GS-specific applications to hit Apple's App Store, and at a great low introductory price of $0.99.
Warning that its profits may decline, Wii and DS manufacturer Nintendo played the "current economic conditions" card but also laid a new one on the gaming table -- increased competition thanks to Apple's iPhone and iPod touch.
The newly launched Nintendo DSi is seen as a partial response to Apple's new gaming model, according to Electronista, which includes an on-device digital App Store, rather than the cartridge based physical media traditional gaming companies have thus far preferred.
Eurogamer spoke to Johnny Two Shoes (The Heist, Banana Dash), Normalware (Bebot) and Firemint (Flight Control) about how Sony's new PSPgo platform may compete with the iPhone, and the answers were interesting:
According to Business Insider, just 1 year later, Apple's iTunes App Store has made the iPhone the hottest gaming platform on earth:
Apple became not only the hottest mobile platform in the world -- which around 15,000 developers have made software for, and all of its major rivals have tried to replicate -- but arguably the hottest gaming platform in the world. No other platform has had such a rush of developer and consumer interest in the last year.
Apple's iTunes App Store launched on July 11, 2008 alongside the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0. Now, just a few days shy of its first birthday, iTunes is getting ready to celebrate by showcasing some of Apple's favorite iPhone (and iPod touch) apps [iTunes link].
Rolando 2 Quest for the Golden Orchid [$9.99 - iTunes link], available now for the iPhone (and iPod touch) shows that Ngmoco not only takes great gaming concepts and beautifully renders them on the iPhone, but that they can make those great concepts and renders even better.
New gameplay includes a 3D stylized world, driving, swimming, and flying, and -- now the Rolandos can fight back!
DOOOOOOOOOM! [$9.99 - iTunes link] That's right, the mother of all Martian first person shooters (FPS) is in the App Store now:
-Advanced graphics engine designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the power found in Apple’s mobile devices
-Wield an arsenal of heavy-hitting weapons to defeat a variety of hideous monsters and bosses
-Innovative controls for fast-paced and accessible first-person action
-An all-new chapter of the DOOM saga that new players and long-time DOOM fans can enjoy
During the WWDC 2009 Keynote, Apple announced that over 40,000,000 iPhones and iPods touches had been sold to date. We know what that looks like in the smartphone market space, but now Gizmodo has done some research and shown us what that might just look like in the gaming platform space as well. (See graph above).
Might explain why we see so many games already, and as Gizmodo points out:
Ngmoco takes classic gaming concepts and genres, re-interprets them for the iPhone, and then makes them look better than anyone can believe an iPhone game can look. Star Defense, a galaxy-spanning take on tower defense, is no exception.
