Do you consider iOS a major gaming platform?

[WCP]

Unfortunately, yes I think iOS would qualify right about now. The problem with this is no buttons. That's my only issue. No buttons. No D-Pad. No thumbstick. F a gyroscope.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I don't deny that iOS is a gaming platform. That would be closed minded. It's the "major" stipulation I take issue with. I've never considered Tiger handhelds to be major gaming products either. iOS is filling a similar role, the tech utilized is just much better today. So of course you get better results. I didn't call my Dish receiver a major game system either, though you can play games on it and Dish is a large company. That would be a result of a mind so open, things start falling out.

[Swamperon]

I don't deny that iOS is a gaming platform. That would be closed minded. It's the "major" stipulation I take issue with. I've never considered Tiger handhelds to be major gaming products either. iOS is filling a similar role, the tech utilized is just much better today. So of course you get better results. I didn't call my Dish receiver a major game system either, though you can play games on it and Dish is a large company. That would be a result of a mind so open, things start falling out.

Exactly.

I really don't see the idevices taking anything significant away from the handheld market anytime soon. If anything I'd say most people would go for both as iDevices all have another primary function (phone, mp3 player etc). If Apple released a dedicated gaming device then yes maybe.

Also Sony's and Nintendo's catalogue of titles, which will never see release on another format, will always ensure a healthy audience for their handhelds. Nintendo perhaps more so. Pokemon isn't going away anytime soon.

[portnoyd]

I don't deny that iOS is a gaming platform. That would be closed minded. It's the "major" stipulation I take issue with. I've never considered Tiger handhelds to be major gaming products either. iOS is filling a similar role, the tech utilized is just much better today. So of course you get better results. I didn't call my Dish receiver a major game system either, though you can play games on it and Dish is a large company. That would be a result of a mind so open, things start falling out.

I like this.

Considering I have about 20-30 games on my DroidX and the only game I ever play is Wordfeud (scrabble), I'm going to say it's most definitely not a major platform in my book.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I don't deny that iOS is a gaming platform. That would be closed minded. It's the "major" stipulation I take issue with. I've never considered Tiger handhelds to be major gaming products either. iOS is filling a similar role, the tech utilized is just much better today. So of course you get better results. I didn't call my Dish receiver a major game system either, though you can play games on it and Dish is a large company. That would be a result of a mind so open, things start falling out.

I think generally speaking the word "major" is relative and also unnecessary. It only serves to confuse in this debate.

If your qualification is the primary function of the device as a gaming platform - personal computers from the very beginning and continuing all the way through modern versions have always been considered "gaming platforms" and none of those are strictly dedicated gaming devices.

iOS devices are essentially personal computers. Some make phonecalls as a primary function, but I'd venture to guess that those who own the iPhone variety of iOS devices probably put more hours into gaming/web browsing/using apps on it than they do using that phone feature.

Also, if the combination of the largest AAA developers/publishers (EA, Activision, Square, Namco, Konami, etc.) developing software product that is equivalent in graphical presentation, substance and content to what they're releasing on Sony and Nintendo's dedicated gaming devices, AND the independent game development community having a window into the marketplace to develop, distribute and profit off of games on a GREATER scale than they do with DS or PSP development (I doubt that companies like Rovio, Ngmoco, Chillingo etc. would have made the impact on the market and the very culture of portable gaming on PSP or DS even IF they had developed and produced games like Angry Birds, Rolando, Cut the Rope etc. for those systems instead of the iOS) doesn't stand to legitimize the platform as a place for real developers and real games - I'm not really sure what does.

Though, as I've stated in the past, I think that the marketplace is sorting this all out organically. With the natural saturation of iOS devices in the hands of more skeptical/doubting gamers there are more and more of these "epiphanies" every day via hands-on experience, and it won't take very long for a majority share of "core" gamers to come around to accept iOS as some type of equal, even if it's in a begrudging sense.

[Bojay1997]

I think generally speaking the word "major" is relative and also unnecessary. It only serves to confuse in this debate.

If your qualification is the primary function of the device as a gaming platform - personal computers from the very beginning and continuing all the way through modern versions have always been considered "gaming platforms" and none of those are strictly dedicated gaming devices.

iOS devices are essentially personal computers. Some make phonecalls as a primary function, but I'd venture to guess that those who own the iPhone variety of iOS devices probably put more hours into gaming/web browsing/using apps on it than they do using that phone feature.

Also, if the combination of the largest AAA developers/publishers (EA, Activision, Square, Namco, Konami, etc.) developing software product that is equivalent in graphical presentation, substance and content to what they're releasing on Sony and Nintendo's dedicated gaming devices, AND the independent game development community having a window into the marketplace to develop, distribute and profit off of games on a GREATER scale than they do with DS or PSP development (I doubt that companies like Rovio, Ngmoco, Chillingo etc. would have made the impact on the market and the very culture of portable gaming on PSP or DS even IF they had developed and produced games like Angry Birds, Rolando, Cut the Rope etc. for those systems instead of the iOS) doesn't stand to legitimize the platform as a place for real developers and real games - I'm not really sure what does.

Though, as I've stated in the past, I think that the marketplace is sorting this all out organically. With the natural saturation of iOS devices in the hands of more skeptical/doubting gamers there are more and more of these "epiphanies" every day via hands-on experience, and it won't take very long for a majority share of "core" gamers to come around to accept iOS as some type of equal, even if it's in a begrudging sense.

I feel like we just had this same discussion a few weeks back in a similar thread about the 3DS. In any event, I agree that iOS is a gaming platform. Having said that, I have played quite a few iOS games in the past few weeks and the depth and complexity of game play is not there yet on a lot of titles. Part of it has to do with pricing I'm sure and the sense that people won't pay $20-$30 for iOS games just yet. That could change in the future. There are also quite a few older games that are getting re-released for iOS especially on the graphic adventure side which in my mind, makes iOS a more serious platform for older gamers. Having said all that, I don't think iOS is a direct threat to the DS and PSP and probably won't be for a very long time, if ever.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I feel like we just had this same discussion a few weeks back in a similar thread about the 3DS. In any event, I agree that iOS is a gaming platform. Having said that, I have played quite a few iOS games in the past few weeks and the depth and complexity of game play is not there yet on a lot of titles. Part of it has to do with pricing I'm sure and the sense that people won't pay $20-$30 for iOS games just yet. That could change in the future. There are also quite a few older games that are getting re-released for iOS especially on the graphic adventure side which in my mind, makes iOS a more serious platform for older gamers. Having said all that, I don't think iOS is a direct threat to the DS and PSP and probably won't be for a very long time, if ever.

We did, but, you know. New threads, same positions. At least I don't feel as bad about spouting off about iOS here since this thread is topic appropriate.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Then there is no fundamental disagreement. PCs are not major game platforms and the N-Gage is/was by these refinements for clarity. iOS, Droid or what-have-you is best described in function as mobile computing devices that are communication centric, not a device specifically geared toward gaming.

The market for such devices is newly emerged... Advances are going to come fast and in unexpected areas in development. Eventually, what we have today will have as much relevance as vacuum tube computing does now. So, no. N-Gage has a better chance than the iDevices. Because it was primarily a gaming device. Communication is an extremely utilitarian market, nothing like the entertainment industry. Who uses a telegraph still, because they prefer it over today's methods? No one sane.