Apple closes in on Nintendo portables in U.S.

Apple closes in on Nintendo portables in U.S.
Apple closes in on Nintendo portables in U.S., News from GamePro

This chart is only comparing the number of gamers using each platform. Apple may be catching up slowly to nintendo in terms of sheer number of users, but the average nintendo gamer spends much more on games than the average apple gamer. So then profit margin as a game device is far less.

Nintendo will own the video game market for am long time to come for a few simple reasons: Mario, Zelda, Pokemon.

However, after experiencing the epic citadel tech demo, I can see real hope for true quality gaming on apple devices.

Time will only tell what happens here.

But if my memory serves me correctly, CNET (back when I could trust them) wrote an article called "Sony PSP: Drowning in a sea of Gameboys?"

I don't game on my iPhone like at all. >_>" I own an NDS, a PSP.

It just does not really make sense.

I have an iphone and yes i have played a game on it, but i have spent much more time using it as a phone and for browsing the web / listening to music.

I bought my PSP to play games, i bought my DS to play games. I bought my iphone to phone people. Yes i have played the odd game but it was not purchased as a gaming device.

The survey should be asking for people who purposely bought the iphone to play games on rather than if they have played a game on the iphone ipod or ipad.

Its sort of like saying that 5 million people prefer and use the PS3s web browser rather than IE or Firefox because thats how many PS3s have sold and the web browser is already loaded on there.

The iphone has a long way to go as a gaming device.

My iPod touch has taken over as my "everything all in one" device. I mean, for me, I wanted to check my email, view YouTube and be able to listen to music all day without the battery dying on me before the end of the day. A PSP could barely do that (but the games were fun), and I've owned three Nintendo DS models (first gen, second gen and the DSi). I would say the DSi is the best DS by far, but something more useful needs to happen to the dual camera. It's great we can take pictures, and chat with other DSi users (and other DS users), but on a memory card?

Chris H. said:

My iPod touch has taken over as my "everything all in one" device. I mean, for me, I wanted to check my email, view YouTube and be able to listen to music all day without the battery dying on me before the end of the day. A PSP could barely do that (but the games were fun), and I've owned three Nintendo DS models (first gen, second gen and the DSi). I would say the DSi is the best DS by far, but something more useful needs to happen to the dual camera. It's great we can take pictures, and chat with other DSi users (and other DS users), but on a memory card?

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My little brother has that DSI with the dual cameras, it's pretty cool he's a gamer, He's on that thing all day. I don't think Nintendo mobile gaming will be going anywhere anytime soon, but then again I never thought Apple would make a phone worth spending money on, nor did I think the iPad would be any good either, So what do I know? If anything I hope Nintendo will learn from this unlike other Apple competitors (Nokia) and improve upon the mobile gaming platform.

Sure the total spend on games is way higher for Nintendo DS users. But the total number of gamers on iOS is catching up. Sure a lot of the iOS gamers are playing the same dodgy little game they played 99¢ or nothing for. And they only play it for 5 mins a day while waiting for the bus. But even that 5 mins a day makes them a game player on iOS.

Success in this field is measured in profit, and sometimes satisfaction. I've already pointed out that these numbers mean very little if talking about profit, and they mean absolutely nothing in terms of satisfaction.

Am I the only one who doesn't care much at all about this comparison? It's great that Apple's #'s are going up, and equally great that Nintendo's are going down, but I also think that what Nintendo has out right now is getting a bit old in this day and age where an ipod touch has better gaming graphics!

The graphics argument is likely to be false very soon. Have you seen the 3DS renders? it's due this year before the holidays and some of the rendering is absolutely fabulous.

I think apple WILL certainly dent nintendo's market, and will likely kill the PSP entirely unless it goes through some major changes, but it won't be any time soon that nintendo gets even close to going under in the portable gaming market.

I can tell you that as a 10 year old I would have taken a 3DS over an iPod touch without a second thought. Even now as a happy iPad user, there is certainly a 3DS and a few hundred dollars of nintendo games in my future. It's an entirely different gaming experience with nintendo, always has been.

The games on the iPhone/any phone at the moment are laughable. They are like Game Boy Color games minus a few good (expensive) ones. I just don't see gaming becoming that great on a touch screen. It's kind of like the Wii, sure it's fun but it's not really a gaming console...

alexsd123 said:

The games on the iPhone/any phone at the moment are laughable. They are like Game Boy Color games minus a few good (expensive) ones. I just don't see gaming becoming that great on a touch screen. It's kind of like the Wii, sure it's fun but it's not really a gaming console...

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The simulated analogue sticks on epic citadel are a great idea, but if anyone is like me and has sweaty hands then it becomes really difficult to control the game, i had this problem on call of duty nazi zombies on the iphone too, to start with it was OK but then the more i played the sweatier my finger tips got and the screen was a mess and the game was a nightmare to control.

If they had something like the PSP Go where the analogue sticks could slide out from underneath i would go for that but that will increase the size of the iphone unit and i cant see them going down that route at all. As long as it stays as ALL touch screen then its going to be niche games and ones you just play when there is nothing else about. Not a serious gaming machine.

I agree with the above comment. The digital on-screen sticks take the fun out of the game for me. It really doesn't provide the same amount of movement, and you oftern have to lift your finger and reset it. I just wish some of those independent companies roll out those gaming adapters for the iphone/touch that come with buttons and a proper joystick.

SlickShoes said:

Not a serious gaming machine.

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But iOS devices aren't designed to be serious gaming machines. APple already tried to make a serious gaming machine and it was a big fail. It seems those 2 minute games while waiting for the bus are a big hit. There is a lot more casual gamers out there than most people think. And for this end the iOS suits their needs just fine.

But I agree a touch screen at the moment is not the best instrument for the hardcore gamer. Mind you in saying that Nintendo have made some really good touch screen based games. The latest couple of Zelda DS games come to mind. So making a good touch screen game for iOS is possible, it would just take a little "thinking different" to come up with it. And would it sell to a casual game driven iOS audience? I don't know. It just might cause not having to make and physical media to distribute the game would help keep the costs down a little. And I can't see many iOS users paying $30-$50+ for an iOS game.