Next iPod To Have Downloadable Games?

[Sol]

I'm afraid the iPod games will be lame. I've already heard of portable game machines picking up PDA features; it may sound harsh, but the music player feature would be a lot easier to add to a game machine than the other way around. Sure, cartridges are crap... but still...

Most of the iPod games are lame and colour did not make them better. Music Quiz is the exception but I think it would be better on the television.

The iPod could very easilly take a controller peripheral, maybe something with another click-wheel or plain buttons. The remote port allready does this. For games the display would be viewed with the short sides horizontal, N-Gage style. I think graphics would be all software rendered. Games would be Mortal Combat, not Tekken.

 

[homerjward]

SNAKE!!! that'd be awesome with the wheel, as would a simple racing game, like select as gas and steer with the scroll wheel. it'd be even better on a 3g imho

 

[Dr. Dastardly]

I didn't even relize my iPod had any games on it until like six months after purchase.

 

[coolsoldier]

I don't really see the advantage of downloadable games. I always thought iPod games are unnecessarily difficult to play -- A scroll wheel is great for navigating your music library. It doesn't make a very good game controller.

[update: on second thought, if they can make games for calculators, I guess there's no reason not to make them for the iPod]

 

[hob]

At the moment I have a device that I use for one thing at a time:

iPod - Music (ocassionally use calender or contacts if in a tight spot)
T630 - All comunications
Gameboy Advance - Games

That's the way it will stay till someone can get all three into one device AND it works just as well if not better. I bought a PDA at one point, biggest waste of money ever. It just couldn't handle all the stuff I wanted it to do...

Then again, it was a PPC

Hob

 

[virus1]

i thought they were already games for the ipod that you can download... nm..

 

[MattrixMSP]

Motorola / Apple - iTunes as Game Manager

Although I rarely play games on my current iPod or mobile, if iTMS could manage purchasing, downloading and loading the iPod and/or Motorola Phone, the integration may just entice a few game purchases while music shopping...

 

[PaisanoMan]

I don't think anyone cares about downloadable iPod games, but in Apple's quest to keep the iPod the undisputed champion, they might keep on adding features well before demand exists for them.

But why would they even bother talking to Digital River, a company that makes crappy small-time e-commerce systems? Apple would definitely extend their existing music store infrastructure to include games -- I'm sure they already have plans to include video in the future.

The skeptic in me says that Digital River is just drumming up the rumor to make their stock price jump.

 

[gekko513]

This would appeal to some teenagers, I guess. There is a market for crappy cell phone games (and apparently calculators), so why not iPod games?

 

[macridah]

I would see it hard to control some games with the way the wheel and buttons are. Maybe tetris and breakthrough. At any rate, my cell phone has games and I never play them, just use it to make and receive calls; i'll probably do the same with an iPod if it has games, just play music (and use as a hardrive, notes, and calendar)

 

[unsigned]

hi i am tech company man. i have shares in tech company. i start rumor. it say my company and ipod. my shares go up for no reason. i make money.

 

[crachoar]

(if this is true....)

Good thing Apple is listening to their customers! Damn! The demand for a 'game iPod' is so huge!

But nobody wants the ability to play videos on (or from) their iPods.....nope...

Also, playing games on the iPod click will would suck. They would need to add a d-pad at least (aka, clutter)...

Why doesn't Apple just suck it up and make a new version of the Newton called the 'iPod something-er-rather' that does everything?

 

[Windowlicker]

There's no way for me to see this as a bad thing.. The iPod already has games.. why not have a bit better games?

But what company I'd like to supply the games is Nintendo! Zelda on your iPod the clickwheel would still be quite limiting though. Anyway it's a pretty cool idea, but I don't really care that much since I rarely play games on my iPod or phone..

 

[Jalexster]

IMHO The ONLY reason to purchase an iPod is to listen to your music, if you want to play games buy a PSP or GameBoy DS etc. Waste of time (Battery life would be rubbish too !)

I played with a Nintendo TS at Target a couple of days ago. Friends, it sounds weird, having two screens... but this is a very impressive machine.

I'm afraid the iPod games will be lame. I've already heard of portable game machines picking up PDA features; it may sound harsh, but the music player feature would be a lot easier to add to a game machine than the other way around. Sure, cartridges are crap... but still...

TREASON! HERESY! YOU HERETICS! How DARE you make mistakes about the glorious Nintendo DS. Not GameBoy DS. Not Nintendo TS. It's called the Nintendo DS!

And if that cartridges was crap thing was in relation to the DS, then I punish you with using Windows for the rest of your life!

 

[whooleytoo]

I don't think anyone cares about downloadable iPod games

I guess you haven't read this thread then!

 

[ASP272]

Prediction:
1st: iPod photo will come with Quicktime to play all your video media.
2nd: iPod games sold from the music store.
3rd (optional): both Quicktime and games released at the same time, but less likely since Apple can profit more from separate releases

The rumor says that file size might be limited on games, but why? Because of download time out of the music store? That's not really an issue. And the iPod definitely has enough space on it for a lot of big games. Makes no sense to think file size would be limited. Unless they are talking about the iPod software and how much it can handle.

Does anyone see any reason why it would be difficult to add Quicktime to the iPod?

 

[FelixDerKater]

A clickwheel would be quite the interesting input device for games.

 

[whooleytoo]

Makes no sense to think file size would be limited. Unless they are talking about the iPod software and how much it can handle.

Yeah, it's quite possible the software available from the menu must be in a separate partition (or firmware?), and thus might be quite limited in size. That would be quite a shame, all that drive space available and the software being forced to squeeze into such limited storage.

 

[ASP272]

Yeah, it's quite possible the software available from the menu must be in a separate partition (or firmware?), and thus might be quite limited in size. That would be quite a shame, all that drive space available and the software being forced to squeeze into such limited storage.

I honestly don't understand how the iPod OS works. Can anyone elaborate on the specs of the iPod's file system structure?

 

[wdlove]

A clickwheel would be quite the interesting input device for games.

I haven't actually tried the iPod myself. My wife thinks that the iPod clickwheel is a little bit awkward and confusing. Guess that it much be a function of age, for ease of use.

 

[puckhead193]

I could see this, but knowing apple will totaly over charge for a little game like tetris or pac-man, but look at the cell phones now, who ever thought you could buy a game and have it downloaded to your phone.... crazyness

I know the ipod does have alot of space for big games, but do you really want to waste that space on games. Also you do you want play Halo or someting like that on that tiny screen. My eyes hurt when i look at my cell phone for a couple of mins and i'm 19!

 

[JesterJJZ]

I could go for Tetris on my iPod.

 

[earthtoandy]

games pfff....i just want crossfade controls on my iPod!!! Thats not too much to ask for.

 

[nagromme]

Lots of games lend themselves to a tiny screen... and pathetically enough, now that I have my first iPod... sometimes I play them! Candidates:

* Tetris
* Columns
* More card games (even for 2+ people)
* Rummikub
* Tron/Light Cycles
* Tempest (a no-brainer with the wheel)
* Minesweeper
* Concentration/Memory
* Jewels/BubbleX/etc. type games
* Space Invaders
* Pac Man / simple maze games
* Simple platform games
* Angband/Moria-style adventuring (cringe! but they're still popular)
* 2-player turn games with computer opponent option: Chess, Checkers, Risk, Reversi, Battleship
* Album Art Quiz
* Mah Jong Solitaire (j/k... my eyes!!!)

There's even a fledgling effort to put Doom I on iPods via Linux! I hope they got Linux-on-iPod working for iPod Photo soon.

One thing that could help make games better is the fact that the wheel knows WHERE you put your finger (revealed by diagnostic mode)--so you could just tap parts of the circle instead of scrolling, in theory. Instant joystick.

 

[iPost]

Current gen iPods supposedly already support games

Good point. However, you could limit the programmable ability for iPod - like not being about to add new codecs!

I've heard that the PortalPlayer chips that Apple uses in the iPods already have the ability built into them to play WMA content, but that Apple explicitly disabled that portion of the chip through firmware.

Also, I've heard that the 4th generation iPods already have the ability to play games (using Java). Apple just hasn't announced it yet. This was just a rumor that I heard... remember there was talk about some kind of "untapped" feature in the new iPods when they were released. Well, games were supposed to be it.