GameCyte

In BFGs at Dawn, two GameCyte writers who find themselves at odds on a particular topic will duel over the merits of their own argument while attempting to tear gaping holes in that of their colleague. On today’s feature, Sean and Jesse explore the highly-anticipated iPhone games library, and the varying opinions as to whether it will overtake existing handheld gaming markets.

Jesse: Let’s cut right to the chase. Pachter and Cole are right on the money when they suggest the notion of the iPhone threatening the DS is downright absurd. Their points regarding the established developer support, install bases, and separate target demographics are strong, yet neither one even bothers to point out the obvious — perhaps because they don’t feel the need to insult our intelligence. I have no such qualms, so I’ll go ahead and loudly announce the elephant in the room: The iPhone, first and foremost, is a cellular telephone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great phone. It’s also a very handy web browser, PDA, email device, and so on. Now it’ll be used for games as well, and I have no doubt they’ll be implemented very well. But, like every portable device, from phones to PDAs to digital watches, the gaming is, and always shall be, a secondary focus. It’s swell that the games are there, but that’s never been why people buy it.

The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, is designed for one purpose. People who buy a DS are getting it to play games, and chances are, folks who want to game on the go are going to stick with the dedicated device. People will buy and play iPhone games, sure — but they will almost exclusively be people who already have an iPhone, and are impulsively or curiously adding some functionality to a device they’ve already heavily invested in… for the most part, these folks won’t own a DS or PSP, and those that do will stick to their dedicated platforms for their primary mobile gaming fix. Saying people will start replacing their DS because the iPhone has games is like saying people will replace their Sidekick because the DS has PictoChat.

Sean: I thought this might be an uphill battle, but it seems you’ve made my argument for me. The opinions of Michael Pachter, David Cole — and you, sir — are quite compelling, but unfortunately firmly grounded in the reality of yesterday. Literally yesterday, when the iPhone was either a $400 business tool or a plaything for “hip, wealthy people” like Pachter’s wife. Yes, I went there. At $200, the iPhone is today officially within reach of anyone who would purchase that aforementioned Sidekick, and only $70 more than the Nintendo DS itself. Now, you can argue that not everyone needs a smartphone, but there are few teens, let alone adults who would go without a cell phone, period.

I hardly need to connect the dots for you, but at $200, that means iPhone buyers are getting a handheld game system and — like you said — a great phone, for the same price it would cost to purchase a DS and mediocre phone separately. And that’s without considering that in terms of tech, the iPhone far outstrips the competition. With massive storage, GPS, mobile internet, multitouch, an accelerometer, speedy CPU and dedicated video chip, the iPhone can do things even modern home consoles can’t, and its inevitable mass adoption will provide incredible incentive for developers to take advantage of that technology.

Jesse: Does it come with twin-cooling gigs and deeper resomolutions, too? Since, obviously, the more powerful device will always win. That’s why the PSP is outstripping the DS in sales, and the underpowered Wii has been relegated to bargain bins, right? Powerful tech does not equal popularity, nor prosperity.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend the cell phone is anything short of a ubiquitous accessory for any demographic, but if we’re going to compare prices, let’s not forget the contracts and fees you get, post-purchase, with the iPhone. Nobody’s tethering you to AT&T for two years when you buy a DS — which, by the way, is the minimum contract you’ll need in order to qualify for that $200 tag. Yes, everyone and their dog gets a cell phone. No, not everyone, nor their dogs, pay $70/month for it ($30 data + $40 voice). Anyone paying $70/month for upkeep on their DS is walking away with at least two games a month, if not more.

It’s like I said before. People who want phones will buy phones. Some of them will probably buy iPhones and be very satisfied with them. Of that population, some people will probably buy some games. But nobody in their right mind who’s looking, specifically, for a handheld/mobile gaming device, is going to pick the iPhone as their solution. The DS and the iPhone occupy wholly disparate market groups, and the area of overlap is far too small to threaten the Nintendo behemoth. There’s no glowing runes for the iPhone to stab here.

Sean: Forgetting that 2-year contracts are ubiquitous in the cell phone market, and setting aside the fact that I can count the number of sub-$40/month cell phone plans on one finger (you can guess which) it’s inane to suggest that the markets are disparate when we’ve already established that everyone is buying a cell phone. Sure, the extra $30 to put the “smart” in smartphone would buy you a DS cartridge, but for that price you’re getting built-in technology that PSP users will likely pay hundreds for, not to mention enough flash storage to make sure you’ll never have to swap a cartridge again — or even buy boxed games to begin with, since iPhone users will be able to download their games on the go.

You want to talk Wii? The glorious Nintendo Wii has been trundling along on a motion-sensing gimmick and its own scarcity, and here comes the iPhone with twice the tricks, sixteen times the storage, and the same mass market appeal. Now, I’m not saying the iPhone will compete with the Wii — the home console experience is nothing like what you’re likely to find on a mobile — but the similarities are obvious, and so Wii’s success bodes well for Apple’s portable. In addition, the iPhone can capture a lucrative block of users the DS only dreams of — first-person shooter enthusiasts.

Jesse: Yes, naturally, FPS players will be what puts the iPhone over the top. The DS will just have to settle for every other genre of game in existence, the poor saps. And yes, I’m well aware that list has a lot of garbage on it, but don’t go pretending the iPhone’s library is going to remain pristine if it takes off. For every Quake or Super Monkey Ball, there’ll be twenty Sudokus or “Look How Awesome Our Motion Sensing Minigames Are” shovelwares, and you know it. Of course, the Wii has done nicely for itself with pretty much the same lineup, but the point stands — the DS, the PSP, and their ilk aren’t in danger of losing any segments of gamers, FPS or otherwise. This is because, for the third time, the iPhone is first and foremost a phone, and the games will always be an afterthought. Nothing you’ve said contradicts this. Will it get some unique and fun games? I think so, absolutely. But nobody is going to think of the iPhone first when they’re coming up with the new killer app. Super Monkey Ball looks like great fun, but nobody’s buying an iPhone to play it. People who have iPhones may play it, and more power to them, but the DS is going to retain its hold on the general population.

Let me go anecdotal for just a moment here. A week ago, I was at Costco, replenishing my ever-dwindling supply of consumer goods, and while perusing cheap pants, I happened to witness this brief event: A mother and her three children wandered over to the games area, and the youngsters each picked up a DS bundle. The mother asked them, “Are you sure this is the one you want? ’cause you’re only getting the one.” The children all nodded, and pointed out the value of the package (coming bundled with a game, carrying case, etc). Reminding them all that this was going to cover their birthday gifts for the year, the mother agreed, and the family walked off with three new DSes, at a cost of roughly $500.

How big a segment of the population can you envision going through a scenario just like that one? Now, by comparison, how frequently can you envision a similar scenario happening at the Apple Store? Maybe a little less? By the same token, while we might see some more adults saying “For a phone, I should get an iPhone, it can play games,” I don’t think many more kids will say, “For a game system, I should get an iPhone, it’s also a phone.” As mature a market as gaming is becoming, a massive segment of the market is still very much a business of entertaining the young’uns. Those young’uns are looking for the toy that lets them show off their pokemans — not the one that shares their photos and has GPS.

Games on the iPhone will be great — I’m glad to see it’ll increase the mobile gaming audience and see some developers experimenting with the hardware in interesting ways. But in the end, it’s just bringing value to an existing audience. It’s not going to alter the landscape any.

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