“It’s already a groundbreaking phone and digital music player, and now Apple’s iPhone [and iPod touch are] emerging as a popular gaming device[s] as well. Of the 1,300 add-on programs currently available for [them], about a quarter are games — as are seven of the 10 most popular selections in the Apple App Store, which opened on July 11. That kind of demand, along with plans for more and better offerings, could launch the iPhone [and iPod touch] into a whole new stratosphere of mobile gaming,” Anita Hamilton reports for Time Magazine.
“The cell-phone gaming market is ripe for the picking. While millions of people play games on the portable Nintendo DS and Sony PSP every day, fewer than 10% of cell-phone users in the U.S. do the same on their phones, according to Nielsen Mobile. What’s more, the average cell-phone gamer spends just $8 a year on new games, versus an estimated $45 a year for users of the PSP and $65 yearly for DS players. The iPhone [and iPod touch] — with [their] gorgeous touchscreens, wireless delivery of applications and hundreds of entertainment titles — [are] poised to bridge that gap. The Gartner Group research firm projects that iPhone games will help propel cell-phone gaming revenues in the U.S. from $845 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2011,” Hamilton reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Cameron” for the heads up.]