Apple’s App Store, iPhone 4, Angry Birds, other iOS games rack up Guinness World Records

As technophiles eagerly await the announcement of the iPhone 5, the new Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer’s Edition has stepped in to put an official stamp on many of the amazing app and sales stories that have made headlines over the past four years. Everything from the ultra-popular Angry Birds to the ‘Fastest-Selling Portable Gaming System’, the iPhone 4, is covered in this new edition with top records from the past year. With its thousands of new titles garnering both downloads and accolades every day, the Apple App Store is one of the most revolutionary gaming platforms in history and has become a serious challenger in gaming records.

“The release of the iPhone has not just changed the mobile industry, but the video game world, too,” says Gaz Deaves, Guinness World Records Gaming Editor, in the press release. “With the never-ending App Store selection and an intuitive device, Apple has created a gigantic new space for itself in the casual games genre that literally brings entertainment to users wherever they may be.”

Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer’s Edition’s list of Top iPhone and Apple App Store records:

• Fastest-Selling Portable Gaming System – iPhone 4: Analyst estimates place the first-day sales of the iPhone 4, released on June 24, 2010, at 1.5 million units, making it the fast-selling portable gaming device in history. For comparison, the PSP shifted 200,000 units on its launch date in 2005, and the DS took a week to move 500,000 consoles in November 2004.

• Most Popular Application Marketplace – Apple App Store: With over 6.5 billion downloads since its launch in July 2008, the Apple App Store is the most popular downloadable app service in the world. As of September 2010 it hosts 259,470 apps for purchase of free download (a further 50,000 apps that were once available through the service have been discontinued). Of the apps currently available, 61 are flatulence simulators, a genre that includes such masterpieces as Fart Machine, Fart Ocarina and iFart – Epic Rip Edition.

• Largest Downloadable Video Game Store – Apple App Store: As of September 2010, there are 37,362 games available for download via the Apple App Store, making it the world’s largest downloadable video game store. By comparison, PC games download service Steam offers around 1,110 titles, the Xbox Live Indie Arcade has slightly more at 1,300 and the Japanese Virtual Console store for Wii offers 576 titles covering a good chunk of the back catalogues of both Sega and Nintendo.

• Largest Launch Line-up of Any Gaming System – Apple App Store: The Apple App Store’s launch on July 10, 2008 featured over 500 apps – including 145 were games – making it the “Largest Launch Line-up of Any Gaming System”.

• Top Paid-For App Store Game in Most Countries – Angry Birds (Chillingo, 2009): Physics puzzler Angry Birds has been recognized as the top paid-for game in Apple’s App Store in a record 67 territories worldwide, including the US and UK, as of October 2010. Released by publisher Chillingo on December 10 2009, sales of Angry Birds are now in excess of 6.5 million copies.

• Fastest-Selling iPhone/iPod Strategy Game – Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap, 2010): With more than 300,000 paid downloads in its first nine days on sale in February 2010, PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies for the iPhone and iPod Touch is the highest-grossing strategy game launch in the history of Apple’s App Store. Despite retailing at a pocket-money price of just $2.99, the tower defense title generated a cool $1 million for PopCap in a little more than a week.

• Most Popular iPhone Game Series – Tap Tap Revenge (Tapulous, 2008): The Tap Tap Revenge series of music rhythm games is the most popular in App Store history, having been downloaded more than 15 million times since the first game in the series was released in July 2008. Market research firm comScore reports that the games have been installed by 32% of all iPhone/iPad users. Tap Tap Revenge 3, which was released in October 2009, hit #1 in the App Store in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Singapore and Netherlands.

• First Text Adventure Engine for iPhone – Frotz (Craig Smith, 2008): The precursors to modern graphic adventures, text adventures use many of the same gameplay traditions as their more aesthetically appealing progeny. The first app to allow players to experience these gaming relics on the iPhone was Frotz, release to the App Store on August 11, 2008.

• First Physics-Based Puzzle Game on iPhone – Enigmo (Pangea Software, 2008): Announced alongside the App Store at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in 2008, the liquid storage game Enigmo demonstrates how games developers could exploit the iPhone’s multitouch screen.

To check out these records and many more, curious knowledge-seekers can pick up Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer’s Edition in hardcopy or eBook format and discover hundreds of new video game records, facts, trivia, classic quotes and much more! In addition, gamers can test their skills out on the new Gamer’s Edition Arcade app available on iOS for $0.99 at the iTunes App Store. Or try the free Guinness World Records: Gamers Edition Arcade Lite app.

Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer’s Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements.

Source: Guinness World Records