We all know that the Apple iPhone, iPod touch and iPad are attractive devices for gaming but The Unofficial Apple Weblog has put together a list of almost all the iOS games and found some staggering conclusions. It turns out that the amount of Apple iOS games outnumber the amount of games created for every other gaming system combined. Wow.
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, as we know that many of the 300,000 apps in the App Store are games, but the study found that there are more than 42,000 Apple iOS games compared to about 17,150 games for the NES, Master System, Genesis, SNES, PS1, N 64, Saturn, X-box, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Gameboy, Game Boy Advanced, DS and the PlayStation Portable. The list does not take into account cross-platform games and un-archived ones.
To be fair, a lot of the games on the Apple iOS platform are junky and can be created in mere hours with a few people. You also don’t want to confuse quantity with quality.
Even if you quibble with the methodology, it’s still quite a strong number and it shows that Apple iOS is becoming a major player in the gaming space. I know I’ve steadily seen less portable gaming consoles on public transit in favor of the iPhone or other smartphone.
That’s why Nintendo has declared Apple its enemy and I think it is tackling the mobile gaming space in a smart way with the upcoming DS 3D. This won’t be as robust as the iPhone but it will offer a unique experience that won’t be able to be replicated.
Sony is working on an Android-powered PlayStation Phone and this looks pretty good so far. We’re still waiting for it to be officially to be announced but I get the feeling it will move some units when it is finally released.
[Via TUAW]