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I have to say I was a naysayer of the Apple Ipod Touch until I got one for free off my sister.
I actually find it to be a fantastic PDA replacement for basically any task I can't do when I'm out and about.
I also invested quite a few pounds into it's games to test out I actually like the games and some of the games work fantastically with the accelerometers and touch screen controls because they were made for the platform from the ground up.
I also love the games that have been made exclusively for the system with standard joystick and button controls mapped onto the touchscreen. However
these games while excellent I can't help but think man I wish I had some real controller. 1st problem is your hands are in the way of the action and that feeling when you have a controller in your hand you just forget that it's there and instinctively control the game just because you know where the buttons are, well that's all lost because you always are concious about it. Even if you manage to get used to the control scheme on the odd occasion you find the touch screen isn't responsive due to you pressing in the wrong place.
I found this Ghosts and Goblins by capcom.

However with everything said I can see games are going to carry on coming out on the device because people buy them in the droves because they are so cheap.
I mean even me I wanted to buy some games on it as I was going through a rough patch money wise plus its currently the only platform where I can play Street Fighter IV on the go.
The money factor is enticing because you think man a game for 0.59p verses standard games at least 30 pounds brand new on a DS.
I mean Street fighter IV on the go for £6.99 or there about, don't get me wrong its not the best SFIV experience but its alright for a bash on the go.

Personally I think the price factor comes into the fact that the platform is touch screen only too. I mean a lot of games are dumbed down difficulty wise to compensate for the lack of real buttons. Ghost and Goblins was one such game I mean its known as a rock hard game but on the Iphone in comparison to all other versions I had ever played it was piss easy.

I think that its a replacement for mobile phone gaming at the moment because as the novelty wore off I found myself wanting to return to standard consoles after a while.
But you never know there might be a game that is so good that it will become a must have classic so it's good to keep one of these devices around just incase

ZeroAX wrote:The DS can play both touch screen games AND hardcore games, thaks to its buttons.

Whilst I agreed with most of your argument, this one irritated me. Buttons =/= hardcore and touch screen =/= casual.

Either way, I agree with most of what has been said here, this is just marketing spin. What this DOES symbolise to me however, is that it's increasingly obvious that Apple is aiming to take a larger slice of the gaming pie, and companies like Nintendo and Sony are going to have to think of them as an increasingly growing threat to the market. I know I can't be the only one who was annoyed by paying 500 DSi Points for Flight Control and Maestro: Green Groove on DSi (£4.50 each) when both of those games were available on iPhone/iPod Touch for 59p a piece.

At least in the downloadable games sector, some at least mildly competitive pricing would be nice. Paying £2 wouldn't have bothered me as much (there is a 200 point option on DSi) despite being more than 3x as expensive because it's still a small amount and more comparable with the Apple products pricing. I understand that Nintendo and Sony dont have the market for Apps and Downloadable games that Apple does, but a more reasonable pricing might help.

alienjesus wrote:
Whilst I agreed with most of your argument, this one irritated me. Buttons =/= hardcore and touch screen =/= casual.

oups yeah you are quite right. I don't like the terms casual and hardcore anyway . But the online gaming community has forced me to use those terms to distinguish between games that existed before this gen, and all of the new genres touch screen and motion controls and facebook have brought to the market.

also it's !=

The touch screen is great for certain games. The Cave ports are really fun on the iPod. However, they also are MUCH easier because you can move at infinite speed. The other option would be a virtual d-pad, which is terrible.

As mentioned, the logic being used is:

1. iPod is the top selling MP3 player (fact)
2. iPod can play games (fact)
Conclusion. iPod is the top selling portable gaming device (you're missing a step)

People buy it as an MP3 player. The fact that when they get it home they notice it can play games is gravy. When people buy a DS or a PSP they buy it to play games.

Almost everyone I have seen use an iPod touch uses it for internet & games more than just using it strictly for mp3s.

Its more close to a miniature computer than a MP3 player, they are extremely versatile devices. Now with multi tasking and 720p HD video recording, HD pictures and the most quality retina screen on any mobile device - I guess well just have to wait and see.

There is potential for million dollar games, there are apps ranging from $10-$100 price point, people would pay $20 for a seriously epic game.

I mean, the Garmin GPS app was $70 and its one of the top apps in the store!

Crazy!

I must say that most people I know buy the iphone/ipod touch for the apps,
because if they wanted to listen to music

they can buy the less expensive ipods like the nano for example or classic. And trust me, no one is buying the iphone to make calls. Its a portable computer that can make phone calls.

Lets put things into perspective a little bit(and I don't own ipad,ipod, or iphone):

1-Ipod has larger screen than ds(best portable gaming device?), not sure about psp
2- it can play HD video , correct me if I am wrong, it can play games in hd graphics?
3- the current ipod touch has clearly superior display over ds+psp
4-Ipod touch has minimum 8 GB sotrage, UMD 1.8 GB, ds cartridge , I will make huge bet and say ds cartridge carries a lot less than that. More space means more content..

So the ipod touch has by fact , better bigger screen, and more storage space to more games or more game contents. It can do exactly what would ds do, and maybe better than the psp.

So why can't it be the best portable gaming device?

The only down side here is that there are no physical buttons or d-pad, this is the negative point about the ipod touch/iphone. But I believe you can have an add on to it?

It needs buttons.

kingmohd84 wrote:I must say that most people I know buy the iphone/ipod touch for the apps,
because if they wanted to listen to music

they can buy the less expensive ipods like the nano for example or classic. And trust me, no one is buying the iphone to make calls. Its a portable computer that can make phone calls.

I agree I got my ipod touch because I needed a mobile pdf reader without the bulk of my laptop.

kingmohd84 wrote:Lets put things into perspective a little bit(and I don't own ipad,ipod, or iphone):

1-Ipod has larger screen than ds(best portable gaming device?), not sure about psp

Not bigger than the PSP

kingmohd84 wrote:2- it can play HD video , correct me if I am wrong, it can play games in hd graphics?

Not every model will play "HD video" as far as I know the latest model of Ipod touch and Iphone 4 do but not the older models.
That's a good point actually as a gaming platform it's not exactly stable as the hardware frequently updates in comparison to the others that you are comparing to.
Also while the DS and PSP have had hardware revisions slim models and so forth the hardware specifications have stayed the same.
So every single game that works on older models or newer models would work interchangeably with no performance differences

kingmohd84 wrote:3- the current ipod touch has clearly superior display over ds+psp

Comparable to the PSP and while it can take HD video the display is not exactly HD from the Apple website
"960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 pixels per inch"

kingmohd84 wrote:4-Ipod touch has minimum 8 GB sotrage, UMD 1.8 GB, ds cartridge , I will make huge bet and say ds cartridge carries a lot less than that. More space means more content..

The video game media is not the consoles storage media as both the DSI and the PSP have expandable memory DSI uses SHDC for it's downloadable content and the PSP uses Pro DUO and the PSP Go has 16GB internal memory as well as expandable

kingmohd84 wrote:So the ipod touch has by fact , better bigger screen, and more storage space to more games or more game contents. It can do exactly what would ds do, and maybe better than the psp.

So why can't it be the best portable gaming device?

The only down side here is that there are no physical buttons or d-pad, this is the negative point about the ipod touch/iphone. But I believe you can have an add on to it?

Well I'd expect it to have better specifications as it's a newer device but as we well know specifications don't necessarily mean better games.
Also the Iphone costs quite a bit more on initial purchase than your average DS or PSP does and also battery life seems to be a concern.
My experience was that after playing one game for a few hours resulted in low battery.
Not having buttons or an addon for buttons is a major concern and not having a stable platform is also a concern for me as it seems to frequently update it's hardware specifications.
The other major factor for me is while a lot of games do come out on it the main stream releases or big names don't come out on the Iphone / Ipod touch just yet.
You have a few exceptions like Capcom with Street Fighter IV but generally the big releases are normally for the other hand helds.

Although 1ghz handheld with HD graphics sounds appealing

Last thoughts Apple has no inhouse development team for games.
Sony , Microsoft and Nintendo all do.
I remember when Xbox was a new player they spent ages establishing their franchises and coming up with experiences to match that of Sony's
Gran Turismo = Forza as an example.

I don't know I guess no matter which way you cut it not having buttons makes it a casual gaming platform for me as games that should have buttons frustrate even when the game itself is actually excellent

kingmohd84 wrote:
1-Ipod has larger screen than ds(best portable gaming device?), not sure about psp
2- it can play HD video , correct me if I am wrong, it can play games in hd graphics?
3- the current ipod touch has clearly superior display over ds+psp
4-Ipod touch has minimum 8 GB sotrage, UMD 1.8 GB, ds cartridge , I will make huge bet and say ds cartridge carries a lot less than that. More space means more content..

1) The ipod/phone has a bigger screen than both the DS screens put together? Anyway this is hardly an argument for better games.

2) I don't think it is the same thing. Video isn't as hard to process as games (interactivity and all). That is why the FMVs looked killer on the PS1 but the games hardly did. Plus even if it is HD, there is no way the human eye can tell the difference in such a small screen.

3) And is that supposed to make the games better? Besides the DS and PSP are 6 year old. Of course Apple will always have an upper hand on this one, since people don't have a problem buying a new 600€ phone every year, but they have a problem buying a new console every 5 years.

4) What now? Do you mean the iphone can have more games ON its memory than the DS and PSP, or are you seriously saying that people will make 2gig games for the iphone? And the DS uses SD cards so in theory its games can be up to 32 GB large. Ain't going to happen cause 32 GB cards are too expensive at the moment, but it could happen with the 3DS.

It has no d-pad or buttons so it fails in my book. Not interested.