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I didn’t own an original iPhone. In fact, I’ve never had a data plan before, never purchased a piece of software for a phone, never played any phone games more complicated than the demos that came with the free phone that came with my contract (read any given iteration of Snake). And after swearing up and down that I was not going to stand in line for an iPhone 3G on launch day, and would maybe, eventually get one when the hype died down, I found myself driving 90 miles each way to a distant mall, swapping places in line with my wife every half an hour or so for three hours. When all was said and done, we both had shiny new iPhone 3Gs, which we spent what little was left of the day playing with and exploring. It’s an extraordinary piece of machinery, really, and if any other company than Apple had pioneered it, it likely would not suffer the backlash it does—nor, however, would it likely be as popular.
Having brought the thing home, I decided to poke around the iTunes App Store, really the thing that gives the iPhone longevity as a mobile platform. In time, I might not need to take my laptop when I go on a trip, though we’re still a touch away from that. I purchased both Super Monkey Ball, a property I’ve had affection for since the GameCube, and Bejeweled 2, a version of the game which arguably started the popularity of modern casual games.
Super Monkey Ball is… well, it’s Super Monkey Ball, with tilt controls, which is admittedly pretty cool. It takes a little getting used to, and it’s clearly supposed to be the graphical showcase for the system, but it’s fun. Bejeweled is exactly what it’s always been, but somehow my fingers might be fatter than a mouse pointer or stylus, because I’m having problems playing it as well as I remember being able to.
What really stands in the way of the iPhone as a gaming platform is partially what makes it so attractive in many other ways—its sleekness. With no dedicated physical gaming buttons or joysticks, its appeal to gamers as a gaming platform seems limited. But the reality is that as casual gaming becomes more and more popular, that doesn’t really matter to the bottom line.
