Apple finally gets its game on

[steaner]

I purchased my first iPod over the holidays. Why did it take so long for me to join the cult of Apple? Not because I have anything against Steve Jobs, his company, or its products. I've just never really needed one. From cell phones to my PlayStation Portable to other dedicated media players that have been gifted to me over the years, I've always had lots of devices capable of playing music and video on the go.
The only reason I picked one up now is because, [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...] [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...] [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...], the iPod Touch (along with its sibling, the iPhone) is about to become one of the biggest competitors in portable gaming. Hundreds of titles have already been released through the App Store, and unlike the low-fidelity fare normally found on music players and cell phones, many of these games feature high production values and surprisingly innovative play.
What's more, they're dirt cheap. Most are priced between $1 and $5, and plenty are available for free. I haven't seen anything more expensive than $10. Compare those prices with the $20 to $50 games available for the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable and it seems to me that Sony and Nintendo have reason to be alarmed.
I've tried about a dozen iPod titles so far, and I'm generally impressed not just by the quality of the games, but also the capabilities of the iPod Touch as a gaming platform.
I have to admit that I had serious doubts about how useful a device with no buttons or joysticks would be when it came to gaming, but the touch screen and motion sensitive interfaces I've experienced have been both intuitive and effective. Gameloft's [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...] uses a “virtual thumbpad,” which means you place your thumb on an icon in the bottom left of the screen and control your character as though you were manipulating a real thumb stick. It's clever, and it works almost perfectly (the only problem I've run across is that, with no tactile feedback, my thumb has migrated off the icon a few times). I've also enjoyed using my fingers to drum out rhythms in [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...], and tilting the device to the left and right to make balls roll around in [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...]. All in all, I've no qualms with any of the touch or motion controls I've encountered.
And the games look great. The iPod Touch's renowned screen is big, bright, and beautiful, and its 3-D graphics processing power is better than I'd expected. Many of the games I've tried look superior to anything I've seen on the DS, and some even come close to the most visually sparkling titles available for the PlayStation Portable. The small, tinny, external speaker leaves much to be desired, but it seems reasonable to assume that anyone carrying around an iPod will also have a set of headphones at the ready.
Then there's the benefit of downloading games and storing them on the device on which they're played. No trips to brick-and-mortar stores, no swapping cartridges, no yawning as you wait for data to be transferred from UMD to local memory, and no games left in pockets and getting ruined in the wash. I'd be surprised if future generations of Nintendo and Sony's portable gaming machines didn't follow suit by offering their own internal storage solutions and online stores (indeed, the PSP already allows users to download games to Memory Stick via the PlayStation 3 Network).
And, of course, the iPod Touch is tiny relative to other portable game machines. It's perfectly pocketable; a big advantage for anyone who likes to travel sans bag.
Simply put, Apple's latest media player succeeds marvellously as a gaming platform. I'll put up a post next week describing a few of the best games I've encountered so far. If you're in a rush to get gaming on your iPod or iPhone, all of the titles I mentioned above—Rolando, Tap Tap Dance, and Hero of Sparta—are safe bets.