Can iPod really crush DS?

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Sep 11th 2008 at 15:54 by Tim Ingham

This week’s perennial Apple product showcase had one definite focal point: games. More specifically, games... and the newer iPods' capacity to play ‘em.

Can iPod really crush DS?

Everyone watching the event live (including CasualGaming’s own Michael French) knew the headline news as soon as it flew out of Steve Job’s mush:

“You can make a pretty good argument that [iPod] is the best portable device for playing games on.”

Wow. Only problem is... it's not true. Indeed, it's a couple of galaxies away from true. In fact, it’s utter bollocks.

I may face catcalls of being a ‘stickler’ or ‘the old guard’ here – but Nintendo and Sony will back me up.

You see, I tend to trust the experts. And Apple ain't anywhere near there yet.

For a start, let’s look at unit sales.

DS has shifted upwards of 80 million units worldwide – to all kinds of demographics. Not only that, but it has hosted a stream of software that has become etched in the annuls of gaming history: from Brain Training to Cooking Mama.

"But iPod’s already sold more than 100 million", say the desperate modernisers. Bully for iPod. But as a games device?

The nifty gadget didn’t even become a contender until last year’s pretty iPod Touch and this year’s snazzy iPhone were launched – months after Apple blew the 100m trumpet to celebrate its dominance in music distribution.

That 100 million figure was of old pre-2007 SKUs, by the way. In the days that monochrome Peggle was the best they could hope for.

Q: What older iPod owners are going to endure the costly upgrade to a Touch or iPhone just to play games?

A: Hardcore adopters of new tech: not the most fertile of audiences for software developers on portable games devices.

Then, of course, there’s gaming power. Sure, Spore, Real Soccer and Need For Speed Undercover look nice – impressive, even – but is Jobs seriously comparing them to the lengthy thrill of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass or New Super Mario Bros. on DS?

And the Touch’s interface is very clever, but will it ever really rival the intuitive control of DS; the first game input millions of ‘non-gamers’ finally found naturalistic?

And what about the tech-heavy PSP, which can manage the next-gen rivalling beauty of God Of War: Chains Of Olympus and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core? Is Mr. Jobs really saying that the current crop of iPod/iPhone titles are up there with these titles?

Don’t get me wrong, with such an enviable distribution network, some impressive tech and the support of the biggest third-party interactive entertainment companies, iPod is increasingly looking like a serious contender as a games platform.

And with Apple itself finally pledging to take games a bit more seriously, you can expect it to crank up all of those advantages at an enviable rate.

But to say the iPod – with its minute library of games and no serious first-party IP – has already outdone the current market leaders is at best a heady mix of over-excited pride and optimism; and at worst Steve Jobs' cynical attempt to bully iPod into headline-grabbing furore.

Which is exactly what’s he's done here. Bugger. I always knew he was a clever git.

Oh, well, it looks as though Gizmondo will ruin all of the established competition soon enough.

See – we can do it too, Steve.