Apple reckons the iPod Touch is the best handheld game system

[Randdalf]

At the event, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller, compared the PSP and Nintendo DS to the iPod Touch, claiming that the handhelds "don't stack up". To support this, he went on to mention that games available for Sony and Nintendo's machines were too expensive and paled in number to Apple's offering - 21,178 via its App Store, compared to 607 PSP and 3,680 DS releases.

Schiller mentioned that the big positives going for the iPod Touch included its inexpensive game range, multi-touch interface, App Store and the fact that the competitors are "no iPods". Sony is set to counter Apple's downloadable game threat with the introduction of Minis on the PSP however - offering bite-sized product for a similar cost. Many iPhone and iPod Touch developers are looking towards Sony's offering, and the Japanese electronics company recently implied that the PSP is a pure gaming device.

What's your response to this? If you watched this guy talking, he came up with lots of stats, and called iPod Touch games "amazing," as you would if you were Apple's VP of Marketing.

Yet, I can't help but feel that he's kind of skipping the point that 95% of the games on App Store are complete and utter crap, I mean, I bought the hugely hyped Super Monkey Ball for it... and it had horrible gameplay.

Apple say that their games are cheap compared to PSP and DS games... which they are, but the best have nowhere near the production values and content that the best DS and PSP games have.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe both the PSP and the DSi have their own online content stores, music playback, web browsers and app functionality, so although the entertainment portion is not as good as Apple's, claiming that the iPod is a better games console because it has an iPod music player on it, is not a legitimately better games console.

/rant

 

[MrAlBobo]

heh...that made me laugh...
ipod is not a gaming system, its a media device + games
just like the DSi is a gaming sytem + media

this is like saying a web browser is better then a stand-alone application for playing games because you can find more games in a browser (don't try to argue this, for every 1 simple pc game there are 30 remakes in flash)

 

[Engineer]

i have an iTouch, and sure i enjoy playing games, and some of them are great. But i cant say that its the ''best'' handheld system. But ill stick to it.

 

[YM]

I laughed at iPod.

Most. Overrated. Piece. Of. Junk. Ever.

 

[J4CK8]

iPhone is meant to be used as a phone, not a gaming system right? Or are they going to make the Apple DSiPhone next?

The games are cheaper for a reason, becuase they're old, unheard of, cheap remakes, or unplayable. Also, can the iPhone conenct to other people online and play games? Lile WiFi with DS

Also also:

20:18 - |IaFc| Beanz: apple are misfiring at Nintendo and sony, using Bollocks as ammunition

 

[Ganonmaster]

I like my iPhone, I have five games for it, which I all downloaded through Installous/Cydia. Four of them are indeed pretty shitty, one is quite interesting but gets boring fast. It's definetly not a gaming platform, but I didn't get it because I could play games for it anyway. The iPod Touch is perhaps a slightly different case, but it's more of a media platform then a a handheld gaming device.

 

[Psy]

It's just statistical bollocks. How many of the games are made by relatively well-known developers? How many of them aren't just mini-games rehashed hundreds of times under varying names?

Bah. Screw Apple. I still think the iPod is a waste of money and iTunes too. It installs Safari without telling you. Surely that's not legal? :|

 

[Bockagon]

It installs Safari without telling you.

It also tries to install that Bonjour program that I don't even know what it does.

I have an iPod touch and I have to say that there are probably fewer than 100 games available for download that aren't crap or remakes of other games (seriously, how many different ways can you re-make tower defense?).

 

[Psy]

Ah yes. Bonjour relays information back and forth over the internet without your knowledge.

 

[PMAvers]

It also tries to install that Bonjour program that I don't even know what it does.

It's basically Apple's version of ZeroConf that actually works. Note that, unlike Psy's FUD, it doesn't actually go out on the internet, just your intranet.

Q. Why do I have Bonjour on my Windows system?

If you didn't install Bonjour for Windows manually, the most likely reason is that it was installed by an application that relies on Bonjour functionality. For example:

iTunes uses Bonjour to find shared music libraries, to find AirPort Express devices for streaming music to, and to find Apple TVs.

Safari uses Bonjour to find devices advertising web pages on your network. Many of today's network printers, network cameras, and wireless gateways provide a web interface for status and configuration, and many of these devices (especially network printers) now advertise those web pages using Bonjour, to make them easily discoverable in Safari.

Internet Explorer, via the Bonjour toolbar plugin, also provides easy discovery of Bonjour-advertised web pages.

The Bonjour Printer Setup Wizard uses Bonjour to discover and set up Bonjour-advertised network printers.

Adobe's Creative Suite 3 applications use Bonjour to discover digital asset management services.

 

[HeaH]

I like Peggle on iPhone. Great for taking a duel with a friend on the bus or something like that

 

[Bockagon]

ahh so that's what it does. Obviously it's not necessary though because I don't let it install whenever I update Itunes and everything still works fine for me.

 

[Terr]

You can disable the Bonjour service in Windows.

That said, Apple's argument is indeed idiotic. The number of games is higher because of lower barriers to entry, which in this case doesn't mean better games and generally means duplicates as pieces of crap that don't deserve to be called games.

Call me when the Apple store distributes more than a million games/day.

 

[Randdalf]

Oh I loved my Nano, and I loved my iPod Touch until the charger broke (and I keep on forgetting to use the USB charging method), there's nothing wrong with them, I think they're quite good.

But claiming an obviously flawed gaming platforum (ironically, I can barely stand touching my iTouch's screen), which has no distinct buttons to control and an average accelerometer that is better used to control cover flow and shuffle (shaking to shuffle feels goooood) is as good as the DS, which I've invested many hours into, and thoroughly enjoyed (even if the shovelware is starting to pile up) is an entirely unfair perspective.

Also, you can choose if you install Bonjour etc., it's just conveniently ticked by default on the Apple Download Service, and I'm pretty happy with iTunes, I mean, all I want to do is play music, and it does it admirably.

 

[Terr]

"Digital convergence" is like "Paperless office". It might arrive but it'll be a heck of a lot longer and less immediately marketable than people selling you things will claim.

 

[Ganonmaster]

I like Peggle on iPhone.

You and I are now friends.

 

[owly-oop]

quality over quantity

 

[Mexican Apple Thief]

I like the iPhone because after using the iPod I'm spoiled when it comes to mp3 players and the iPod format just appeals to me. Plus I need a new phone. And I might actually be inclined to agree. I've played games on the iPhone and they're very fun. Pocket God is hilarious and gets updates of TF2 level. Plus I'm going to be carrying the thing around anyway so it's convenient. DS and PSP just don't have any games that appeal to me. They've been collecting dust for quite a while now. Yes, they're better for playing games, but there just don't seem to be any good ones being made, mostly because everything has to be a full $30 game. I much prefer buying small $2 mini games.

Of course Scribblenauts will change that.

 

[Caliostro]

Yet, I can't help but feel that he's kind of skipping the point that 95% of the games on App Store are complete and utter crap

Not unlike the Wii and that one's making a killing...


On the other hand... It's their own product... You think they'd endorse it? It's kinda like being surprised that burger king says their burgers are the best... Apple also says macs are good... So yeah...

 

[Jack Riguel]

I'm a mega-music listener, so the iPod and touch modes were great for me so I could put my entire library of about 9,000 songs on a portable device at once. I got the iPod Touch as a birthday gift and I'm finding to be one of the most useful personal devices to carry around, especially when I don't want to take my laptop everywhere.

I wouldn't consider it a gaming console in the slightest however, since most the games on it are watered down versions of actual games. I find it useful more as a PDA then anything else. But even calling it a gaming console is a bit silly.