Normally when people start spouting figures about mobile devices selling like unibody hot cakes, stoic defenders of the traditional consoles cite the (factual) old faithful: not everyone that buys a smartphone plays games.
This is true. But Apple’s figures for Game Center – the service that you activate on your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch when you want to play against other online and compare achievements – show that over 130 million people do play games.
That puts iOS devices way beyond the likes of the PS3 and Xbox 360. There’s still the notion that someone might activate it and then never use it, but that could also apply to those buying a PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies on, right?
And that’s not all. Cult Of Mac is saying that Apple’s iOS devices are likely to become the world’s biggest gaming platform by the end of the year. To do this they’ll need to make that figure 200 million, which would surpass Nintendo’s DS.
It’s not unreasonable: there’s already 180 million OpenFeint accounts, the precursor to Game Center.
Sure, some people might have more than one account, but it’s clear the market is there, and the figures at the very least make you stop and think for a moment. Even Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli thinks that the future is – potentially – the tablet.
“The current generations are drying out, and the longer we wait for the next generation of consoles, the higher the likelihood that they could fall behind tablets in terms of being the first thing people reach for when the time comes to play games,” Yerli said in a recent interview.
“Tablets are putting pressure on the gaming industry, and taking over in some ways, so that should be kept in mind,” he added.
FRUITofDOOM
Regardless of whether or not the Game Centre account is active – at some point somebody has activated it and taken a look, that’s a potential customer for developers.
Now the quality is no where near as good as the home consoles for sure, but on the move it offers a unified gaming experience similar to PSN / LIVE / Steam where you can earn achievements and brag to friends, even play with friends.
130 million members is substantial indeed! If Apple release a console and include the Game Centre then that’s 130 million subscriptions carried over and whether active or not – no developer is going to ignore the potential consumer base there! Then there is the iPad etc too, which is perhaps even more family friendly and easier to play on than the “casual focused Wii”.
This IS big for the industry – stop petit bickering about “oh it’s not comparable to consoles” etc and look forward to the developments in this area. Mobile OS is becoming massive in games, just look at Ouya for example.
blarty
Game Center isn’t even developed properly, when I can get a game that gives me 20 accolades, or whatever for 20 total points, and another that give me 6 for 300 total points, say, where’s the consistency, the guidelines for games developers to work to?
yd
Why do Apple need 130 million accounts when you can just phone them up and ask to be whichever one you want to be today? ;)
Sympozium
lol, I know its ridiculous
JesseDeya
More individual registrations /= more popular.
None of the lies lies and more statistics is gojng to change my enjoyment or excitement for consoles.
blarty
What a load of twaddle from Cult of Mac (qu’elle surprise). When Apple can seriously develop gaming on the Mac beyond their basic Chess game, with proper platform-holder focus given to games development, then I’ll think that they give a shit about gaming and gamers, until then, all they care about is sound bites, lawsuits and their 30% on the App Store.
eye8have9you3
Yeah and more people buy Ford Fiestas than Aston Martins, but that doesn’t make me want a new aston any less. You’re comparing two completely different products with two hugely different markets, so the stat is meaningless