With Apple pushing iPhone game development, industry veterans quitting their jobs to focus on game programming, and some developers making record profits with their iPhone apps, it's getting harder and harder to argue that the iPhone isn't a good gaming platform. With recent announcements from the likes of Konami, Namco, Paramount Digital, and Electronic Arts, gaming on the iPhone is starting to mature.
The iPhone is a casual gamer's dream since you're likely to have it wherever you go and its touch interaction works great for puzzle games like Sudoku, Crosswords, Bejeweled, and Trism. But its relatively fast processor and 3D-capable GPU—John Carmack compared the iPhone's specs to serious consoles like the PS2 and Xbox—gives the iPhone far more gaming mettle than other mobile handsets. Though that may be stretching reality just a tad, it's clear that companies are starting to look to the platform more seriously.
From top left: Iron Man: Aerial Assault, Katamari Damacy, SimCity, and Dance Dance Revolution.
Several companies have announced that they are bringing console-quality titles to the iPhone recently. Namco just released Katamari Damacy, a sleeper hit on the PS2. You can roll your Katamari all over various levels, gaining enough mass to create a new star. Paramount Digital has a new game based on the hit Iron Man movie, called Iron Man: Aerial Assault. The game lets you fly around as Iron Man, blasting baddies out of the sky. And finally, EA has announced that an iPhone version of the venerable SimCity is now available. EA says this is a full version of SimCity—similar to SimCity 3000 to my eye—and not a stripped-down, mobile version.
