Paul Malone sent me this link to an article on euroGamer.
The article points out the rise of the smartphone in gaming and the inevitable changes this will make to the gaming industry. No-one would have guess that Apple’s iPhone would be the third place mobile console (behind the Nintendo DS and the Sony Playstation Portable) – both of which have been out for much longer. Microsoft has yet to enter this market though they, with Sony and Nintendo, are still warring over the static console market.
“The latest shot to be fired in this unusual war came this week, when digital research group comScore revealed its latest figure for mobile phone game consumption. Yes, mobile gaming; the videogames industry’s unloved stepchild, launched to so much fanfare and so much subsequent disappointment. The sector has been quietly marshalling its resources and building its revenues for some years now, but it’s still never quite had the breakthrough which would make up for all the overstated ambition of its early years.”
…
“comScore’s figures show that the overall number of people downloading mobile games last year grew 17 per cent, to 8.5 million. In itself, that’s respectable growth – but the real news here is that this growth was in spite of a 14 per cent decline in those downloading games on traditional mobile phones.”
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“Those pundits who looked at the early sales figures for games on the iPhone’s App Store, tapped their noses and predicted that this device would have a huge impact on the whole world of gaming on the go have, thus far, been proven correct. It’s hardly stunting the growth of the DS yet, but even at this early point, the iPhone is making waves.”
The iPhone is making waves. I love that turn of phrase.