Apple: DS, PSP Are 'In the Past,' iPhone Games are Future

Apple is no stranger to asserting that its devices are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and marketing VP Greg Joswiak is keeping that tradition alive by saying that gaming handhelds like the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable are "more in the past."

"The gameplay I think has surprised a lot of people, because it's not just the casual games," Joswiak said during an interview with UK tech magazine T3. "There are real 3D games, and it's hard to imagine we're only a little over 100 days into it. There are already so many games and as we look at it, to us it really seems this is the future of gameplay."

The Apple executive continued to elaborate on the challenge the iPhone and iPod Touch issued to traditional gaming handhelds. "A big part of that is not just the device itself, which is easier to carry, and has the touch display and accelerometer which is great for gameplay, but it's the electronic distribution of the apps as well."

All iPhone games are are distributed digitally through the App Store, the iPhone software branch of Apple's highly successful digitally-distributed iTunes Store.

Joswiak was quick to explain the benefits of digital distribution to developers: "they don't have to worry about licensing and manufacturing hardware, they don't have to worry about forecasting, returns, missing the forecast, what happens if there's a problem with the product," and that users "have the full back inventory" available.

Some developers have been quick to seize on the opportunity. Other Ocean's port of Amusement Visions' Super Monkey Ball alone sold 300,000 copies in the store's first 20 days online--a 10% share of the store's $30 million sales in that short period. That opportunity is ever-expanding, going by research firm NPD's conclusion that smartphones are used more for games than work.

In the future, Joswiak intends to leverage the iPhone's pocketability as a means to directly challenge Nintendo and Sony. "The computer power and the 3D graphic power here is significantly greater than what you have here," he said, picking up a Nintendo DS. "So this allows people to do significantly higher quality games. And [it] is always in your pocket, whereas you can't always carry some other games consoles."