The iPhone as a Gaming Device

One of the most intriguing possibilities for the iPhone is as a gaming device. The iPhone lacks the directional pad and buttons of a traditional handheld gaming device, but is that a drawback? Maybe not. The Nintendo DS utilizes a touch screen for half of its gaming experience, and the DS is a hot seller. But the iPhone is all touch screen (let's ignore that "Home" button). So, instead of comparing the iPhone with classic handheld gaming devices, let's consider the possibilities of a pure touch screen handheld gaming device.

What the iPhone has to work with is 3.5 inches of touch screen real estate. Does a touch screen lend itself to advanced gaming? The technology has never been widespread enough for game developers to be forced to be creative with it. There is one place that touch screen gaming has been around for a while: in bars. These bar games are usually simple, such as compare two pictures and point out the differences, or basic trivia games. These kinds of games could be easily translated onto the iPhone. Other common puzzle games could be translated easily as well, such as sudoku.

But what about advanced gaming? Could there be a Grand Theft Auto for the iPhone? My first thoughts are, no, you'd need a directional pad to direct that car to run over pedestrians. But, what is stopping them from simply redesigning the gameplay? What if you simply touched the sides of the screen to direct your car, or slid your finger forward for up, and slid your finger back for down? What if you hit little graphics on the screen instead of hitting an "A" or "B" button? Or, what if the buttons moved, adding an additional challenge to the game play? Let's see a Sony PSP do that. There are probably dozens of new frontiers that are waiting to be discovered.

The processor of the iPhone is still a secret, so that could be a limitation. Also, there is the ever-present specter of lack of tactile feedback. In David Pogue's lastest blog entry about Microsoft's Surface technology, he says touch screens are "inaccurate, slow, and unsatisfying," and will never replace a keyboard and a mouse. I would argue with the use of the word never--why can't someone develop a touch screen with tactile feedback--but that's another post. He does make a good point about current touch screen technology though, and frustrating controls for game play could sink the iPhone as a gaming device.