iPhone vs. Wii

[MBX]

Hey there was an article recently on 9to5mac about Nintendo saying the iPhone is more powerful than the Wii: http://9to5mac.com/nintendo_feels_apple

If that's really true, why don't we see more games in the quality of Wii (let's say Zelda but there are many more examples)? I'm not speaking of level or plot complexity but graphics quality.

They said the iPhone is more powerful than the PSP and yet I have to see one game convincing me of that.

So what's the matter? Are iPhone developers just not tapping into the iPhone powers yet or what is the reason?

 

[Interstella5555]

Controls & Battery life for two, though there are bound to be other reasons. Besides, with RE:4 on the iPhone I think you're going to have a hard time arguing that there are no console-comparable games on the phone.

 

[GoCubsGo]

More powerful than the Wii? I agree, I've yet to see something to convince me of this. However, I would never exchange my Wii gaming experience for the iPhone gaming experience. Sure, the iPhone is great if you're friendless and you never intend on playing with anyone else, but the Wii just happens to be something that I think is a rather unique gaming experience.

 

[Unspoken Demise]

More powerful than the Wii? I agree, I've yet to see something to convince me of this. However, I would never exchange my Wii gaming experience for the iPhone gaming experience. Sure, the iPhone is great if you're friendless and you never intend on playing with anyone else, but the Wii just happens to be something that I think is a rather unique gaming experience.

I think the iPhone is a great gaming 'handheld.' Thats the thing, its just a handheld. You play it when you have 5 minutes waiting in line at the DMV or have a few minutes to kill at work. The Wii in terms of real gaming, is far better.

The reason the iPhone will not take off as a stand alone gaming device is the controls. Until Apple approves compatibility of 3rd party accessories like a joy stick that plugs into the dock, I dont see much of a future for iPhone games other than more 'Flight Control' knock-offs.

 

[bruinsrme]

Hey there was an article recently on 9to5mac about Nintendo saying the iPhone is more powerful than the Wii: http://9to5mac.com/nintendo_feels_apple

If that's really true, why don't we see more games in the quality of Wii (let's say Zelda but there are many more examples)? I'm not speaking of level or plot complexity but graphics quality.

They said the iPhone is more powerful than the PSP and yet I have to see one game convincing me of that.

So what's the matter? Are iPhone developers just not tapping into the iPhone powers yet or what is the reason?

Well I can see a couple of things.
The first being the game will most likely be cracked in an hour, ask any developer how that feels.
The second is, how many people want to spend more than $5 for a game?
Regardless whether the iphone is a more powerful platform the speakr on the iphone is just shy of garbage, limited controls features, and having to control a game by touching the screen tends to take away from seeing what is happening in the game.

 

[EdoDodo]

Well for starters it is handheld, meaning that when you are doing actions that you normally do on the Wii (eg. golf, tennis) you won't be able to see what is going on in the screen.

Also because there is so much competition on the App Store games tend to be cheaper and no developer will bother to make the DVD-size games you get on the way for a just 5-10€.

The processing speed of the iPhone is also about half of that of the Wii and the screen resolution for lower than most TVs, making it incapable of showing graphics as good as the Wii.

 

[MBX]

Well even games like Resident Evil 4 that i've just seen the demo of here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzh3upTVFC8 are pretty cool and going in that direction I was talking about. It doesn't seem as polished as some Wii games but not too far away.

There aren't that many games on iPhone yet.

Am I willing to spend more than $5 for a good game? Yes if it's a console/ PSP like quality game for sure.

I see the iPhone as a gaming device too and the controls sure are a little challenging but looking at the way Capcom does it and also ID it seems to be working quite well.

 

[Interstella5555]

More powerful than the Wii? I agree, I've yet to see something to convince me of this. However, I would never exchange my Wii gaming experience for the iPhone gaming experience. Sure, the iPhone is great if you're friendless and you never intend on playing with anyone else, but the Wii just happens to be something that I think is a rather unique gaming experience.

There's also a difference in the "power" of the wii and the "power" of the iPhone. While the phone may have more processing power, it's also not a dedicated device, so that power is distributed more (phone app, iPod, whatever game you are playing) whereas the wii is dedicating most of it's power to the game. I'd say the iPhone is realistically more like a DS with PSP power.