iPhone 3GS

The iPhone versus the DSi and PSP

During my testing of the 3GS, I made it a point to download and play a ton of games; it is, after all, a huge selling point of the iPhone. I downloaded everything from action titles like Fieldrunners to puzzle games like Peggle and Sudoku. After logging serious hours and nearly spraining an index finger, I've come to the following conclusion: the iPhone is a legitimate gaming platform, albeit one with a very defined ceiling.

You only need to venture into the app store to see that the first part of that statement is true. There are thousands of titles available and most of them are available for a relatively affordable price. It's not just a bunch of casual titles either: there are titles with a lot of meat on their virtual bones, including several that were developed by major video game companies like Capcom and Konami. But because the iPhone is not a dedicated gaming device, it has serious limitations when it comes to delivering a gaming experience.

The lack of dedicated gaming controls is the most obvious obstacle; even though developers are doing some clever things with the touchscreen and accelerometers, it can't compete with face buttons, analog sticks and directional pads. Also, even though they can be fun and engrossing, iPhone games will never deliver the full featured experience of a DSi or PSP game. You'll never see a Final Fantasy IV or a Chains of Olympus on the iPhone.

But Nintendo and Sony, as well as Microsoft and companies like Valve which owns the Steam service, should be worried about the iPhone because it's quickly established itself as a viable competitor. Gamers only have so much time and money to spend and you have to believe that the iPhone is taking its fair share of those two valuable resources. Downloading a game is relatively painless (the only obstacle I encountered was that games clocking in above 10MB had to be downloaded either on the PC or over a wi-fi connection) and they're competitively priced, enough so that it's easy to make several impulse buys without realizing it-trust me, I know from first-hand experience.

So while the DSi and PSP will continue to dominate the handheld market, Apple is slowly and surely carving out it's own piece of the pie. They can happily co-exist since they deliver different types of gaming experiences but it's becoming more and more clear that Apple will continue to grow as both a gaming platform and as an influential player in the games industry.

iPhone 3GS

Comments [16]

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Heather

Awesome review! I'm glad to see that you were very open to iPhone despite your aversion to the "apple cult". It is sad you had to go back to the Storm :/

wutisupmon

booyah. Not worth the upgrade from the 3G in my opinion, but still fantastic.

wutisupmon

btw, no mention of tethering in this review. It's not for everyone, but with it I was able to surf on my macbook on the highway.

TKK

I didn't try tethering because that isn't something the average user would do but it is a cool feather nonetheless.

I miss the 3GS.

TKK

mpvinny78

So i have no choice but to use itunes to put music on it. I used to use that and it was such a resource hog. There is no other way?

wuffenstein24

i love my 3g, and even though the 3gs is amazing (my friend has one), it isnt worth the price to change. btw, great review!

maranda

if only The Conduit had received an objective review, I might believe this guy.... sorry but had to bring that up

mpvinny78

Conduit is a last gen shooter up against current gen games. IGN's review chose to put it in a vacuum and only compared it to Wii games. His, and many others, including gamespot reviewed it for what it was, a last gen shooter. Don't bag on a guy for being honest.

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