iPhone Pwns Indie Gaming?

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Apple's made a point to highlight gaming on the iPhone and iPod touch (the so-called funnest iPod ever), and six-months in, games still routinely dominate the App Store Top Ten lists. But what about outside the Apple ecosystem? How are iPhone/iPod touch games doing in the greater gaming 'verse? TUAW lets us know:

the iPhone more or less owns the finalist list for the 2009 Independent Games Festival Mobile category. 11 of the 14 contestants aren't on the Nintendo DS or PSP -- they're built and played on the iPhone and the iPod touch.

While Apple's taken (justifiable) hits for policing their store, we've heard before that it's nothing compared to hoops developers need to jump through to get in on the PlayStation or Nintendo action. Add to that a phenomenal SDK, great hardware, and that little App Store icon on every single iPhone and iPod touch (no UMDs or cartridges need be found here), and it makes for not only a killer offering, but pretty much brings the next, next generation in gaming home now.

So is anyone really surprised by this?

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.