Comments on: Question of the Day: Can an iPod ever really replace a games console?

By: Ben Sillis

Ben Sillis — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:37:41 +0000

There’s no buttons! I’m not tilting around on a bus looking like a berk, even if onscreen d-pads do work OK.

By: Stephen Ebert

Stephen Ebert — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:29:34 +0000

No chance! First of all there’s the obvious matters like screen size, then there’s the controls. Handheld devices don’t lend themselves to genres involving more than limited button presses. Also, there’s no way handheld devices will be able to replicate the feeling of playing with your mates in person. There’s nothing better than gathering your chums for a Pro Evolution Soccer tourno! Try doing that with an iPod. If the iPod really was the future of gaming it would cause certain genres to die out (far fetched?) and eliminate the “hardcore” to use a common term element to gaming. And for me that would be the death of gaming.

By: Simon Munk

Simon Munk — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:03:47 +0000

As the Wii has amply proved, you don’t need to make a gamepad for a home console covered in buttons. And the iPhone has definitely shown there are fun games to be had without shoulder-buttons.
BUT what iPhone games are competing against in a way is not PSP games, or DS games, but other things to do on an iPhone. And for that matter, other things to do full stop.
Portable games are mostly played at home. The iPhone *may* become the most-played portable console. But home consoles will always offer a better gaming experience than portable devices.
And yes, just as the Wii lends itself to certain game types, but not so well to other game types, I can’t see the iPhone working brilliantly for complex RPGs, first-person shooters etc. Which have worked well on the DS and PSP.
In short, it’s horses for courses, innit?