Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, is quoted in the WSJ as being bullish on iPhone and iPod Touch gaming:

"I think the iPhone and iPod touch may emerge as really viable devices in the mobile games market this holiday season."

His VP of iPhone and iPod marketing, Greg "Joz" Joswiak, meanwhile, spoke with T3 recently about his views on the iPhone and iPod Touch in the gaming space, wrapping up strongly with:

"if you squint your eyes you can see a future where you say it’s amazing the things you’ll see as far as gameplay, and we know from working with these developers and the things they tell us they’re working on, especially original content ideas, I think they’re going to blow everyone away. Because again the computer power and the 3D graphic power here [iPod Touch] is significantly greater than what you have here [picks up Nintendo DS]. So this allows people to do significantly higher quality games. And the Touch is always in your pocket, whereas you can’t always carry some other games consoles."

So while cut and paste and turn-by-turn may still be complicated, Apple may actually be putting some muscle behind gaming this time -- something they've never historically done well on the Mac.

Still at issue, however, is whether low price points and an unwillingness among some consumers to pay for premium apps will drive the bigger developers away (thanks Julien for the tip!). Dieter and I would happily pay $20 for Jobs of War or Grand Theft Auto: Cupertino Vice, but with people complaining about $1.99 puzzlers, we may never see the Mario or Halo of the iPhone. (You get what you pay for is a cliche for a reason?)

What do you think? Does iPhone gaming have a bright future? Would you pay for premium play? And are you ready to ditch your Nintendo DS or Sony PSP yet?