Is the iPhone Killing the Handheld Video Game?
When Nintendo enjoyed a virtual monopoly over the handheld video game market in the 80s, it may have anticipated that it could be one-day face competition from another manufacturer of video games consoles; when the Sony PSP rolled around, Nintendo thought it was ready. What they were not prepared for so was the way people would one day come to own little handheld phones that were virtually full-blown computers. And that these would play and compete head-on with a dedicated handheld. Surely, both Sony and Nintendo sell millions of units all over the world and are really booming in video games. However, if there is one startling fact that the handheld video game business needs to feel fear for, it has to be this – the Nintendo DS has about 5000 titles; the Sony PSP has more than 600; the iPhone has more than 20,000.
Not that Apple is not aware of the way its phones are becoming the de facto standard for the handheld video game user.
Each iteration of the iPhone comes with faster processors, better operating systems and more memory to better play games. Put differently, the iPhone and other smartphones, with their game playing capabilities, are going far beyond what dedicated handhelds are capable of. Everybody watched all agog as Steve Jobs announced the iPad 2 in February. Most people were not aware though, of how the president of Nintendo had video game developers‘ conference right there too. And he was discussing how smartphones with their $1 and $2 video games, were driving down the quality of what video games were capable of, for the entire industry. And they were making video game development an unprofitable venture for most developers.
Certainly, cheap games for smartphones have led the charge in totally changing the way people experience video games. Nintendo is worried that since video games for smartphones are so cheap, developers interested in putting together a truly wonderful game will stop finding it profitable. Games will just not be all that profitable any longer. Still, perhaps it might just be a case of sour grapes. Developers may be forced to sell their games for under five dollars on the app store; but there are millions of app customers worldwide who could more than make up in volume what they lack in buying power. You have to admit that smartphone games aren’t as deep or as fully featured as the current games you get on a handheld video game machine. However, that could change as smartphones turn more powerful and more entrenched.
