I do not have an iPhone. But I will hate it forever, because a new Ghouls'n'Ghosts game is underway for it, rather than a console I own. Fuck you, iPhone.

Anyway, do you guys think the iPhone is worth owning purely as a games machine? Do you hope it will lower prices across the whole industry? Or do you just wish it didn't exist?

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I have an iPhone and I like it but the games I play for it are basically things like Peggle, Luxor and Cows in Space. They are games that are perfectly suited for a phone and can be played in very short bursts. I usually bust it out if I am in a large queue or in a situation where I wasn't intending on waiting for long periods of time. I don't usually carry the DS with me but if I am using the train for an hours journey to work I will probably take it and play it over the iPhone.

In conclusion the iPhone and DS have their own time for playing and neither really take up time I would usually spend with the other, sometimes I even forget I have games on the iPhone and I certainly don't see it as a gaming platform, to me its no different than my first nokia having snake.

Not interested in the iPhone, really. I have a nice slider phone that does what it's supposed to do. For gaming, I prefer a dedicated device like the DS. Honestly, though, I would be all over a Nintendo handheld/phone. The GameBoy Micro is exactly the same size as my cell phone. I tell you, if they combined the two...I'd buy it at a high price.

I have an iPhone and I have a couple of games for it. The games get old after a while though. I prefer the tactile feel of a D-Pad and buttons. Some games work extremely well on the iPhone though, like Peggle.

I have an iPhone, and I like it as phone and a multimedia device. More the latter than the former, mostly because I don't use the phone much. I own several games for it, and like them for the most part. You lose something without tactile buttons in something like Zenonia, but it's still a fun game. The point-and-click sort of stuff, like Fieldrunners, work better. It's hit or miss, and sometimes you have to make concessions for the platform, but all-in-all, I think it has plenty of well made time wasters.

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is the best use of the iPhone as a gaming platform in my opinion. My review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XstdPWnaig

I have lol at that video getting ratings from less than 1% of its viewers. Goddamn, I hate the general Youtube audience. Bunch of dumbfucks who can barely string together the insults they hurl in the comments, and can't be arsed to take the 2 seconds to rate the FREE entertainment I've provided. Go fuck yourself, Youtube audience.

I have an iPhone, though for a while I wasn't really hyped on it. Thankfully I ended up with it as a Christmas present.

I have to say, since owning one, I have fallen in love with it. I still have my iPod Touch too, which I use primarily when I'm at home - both have the same games.

I honestly don't see it as a huge deal though. I think there's room for the iPhone's brand of games alongside the more traditional handhelds out there. I think Apple is off their rocker if they think they're going to ever compete directly with the DS and PSP though. They'd need to get some sort of quality control in place first.

As someone who is now studying iPhone development (and... having to learn C... ugh), it still astonishes me how much useless junk ends up in the App Store.

I don'town one and probably never will. Too pricy for me. Plus Im happy with the nice little phone I have. A few cool features and I can download games to play on it while Im bored at work-plus I received it as a Xmas gift, so until this Xmas I never owned a cell phone. Im kindof cheap that way. But at least I get double mins. and I really dont use the phone all that much. But at least its cheaper than my landline phone, which I might get disconnected,but still may keep it since it so inexpensive as well.

I own an iPod Touch and while enjoy the occasional game on it I would never consider it a primary gaming platform. Anytime I am gaming on it it is usually just to kill time.

I have a $20 phone that I bought a prepaid $100 card for back last April or so... and somehow have MORE money on my phone now than when I started (I got bonus minutes here and there). So clearly I'm not much of a cell phone person as far as the actual phone part is concerned. And perhaps because of this, I don't care about all the other nonsense these phones can do. I don't need a fancy phone for phone calls, I'm not interested in "apps", I don't need to browse the Internet when I'm out and about, and nothing I've seen about the iPhone makes me think it is anywhere near as good of a gaming platform as the PSP or DS.

Also they cost way too damn much.

@Zero

...so if I had to venture a wild guess, I'd say you might not care for the iPhone too much?

In all seriousness, if I was paying full price for an iPhone, I wouldn't have one. I just happen to have a family hook-up of sorts.

BUT, you can still do all the other features on the iPod Touch, which IMO is great for its price. I agree the platform isn't going to be as good as the DS or PSP, but they're fun in their own right.

I will say I've gotten a few apps that were pretty convenient, and having the net anywhere has been awesome in particular for job hunts and such.

I don't have an iPhone, but I have a Droid Eris. Similar games I guess (haven't played many iPhone games). While they're fun and quirky, they aren't anything that I would consider a threat to a good experience on the DS (or PSP, which I don't have either).

The lack of a real button takes a way a lot for me. Sure, there can be soft buttons, but then you're taking away part of the screen to dedicate to a button (not to mention my thumbs are in the way). Not to mention most of the games I have played lack real depth.

I have yet to pay for a game (and there are a bunch out there that do cost between $2 and $10), but there are a couple I've considered buying (from developers like Namco and Square-Enix). Still, they're either old, arcade-action-type games or puzzle games for the most part. I guess as the Android platform developes, we'll see more.

The problem with the iphone...

...ONE problem with the iphone...

...is that with no actual buttons, and nothing but a sub-par touch screen (which you can only use a finger on, which makes it slightly inconvenient.) and tilt technology, it would be near impossible to make any games that have actual complexity. Many types of games, like platformers, or anything that requires precision (like meteos, even though it's touch based) would be difficult to make. The games on it are more for entertaining yourself when you're out and bored, than they are as actual things you would play whenever.

I don't have an iPhone. I don't care much either way about the iPhone.

So far it hasn't really impacted the handheld market, but if it does, so be it.

Meh.

I have an iPhone, and I was initially interested it in as a gadget (mp3 player and phone) merger. I actually like it a lot more than I figured I would.

Anyway, to the topic at hand... I have a few games on it. I don't think I would ever consider it a gaming device, but if I'm waiting somewhere, it's fun to bust out Peggle or Bookworm, stuff like that.

I desperately want an iPhone, but not because of the functionality so much as the brainwashing I've undergone. Apple is an amazing marketer. I want one so, so much. Yet I do not in any way need one. They are incredible, that ad team. I absolutely have no reason to pay that much money for a cell phone.

But I must have it.

Someday, anyway... Someday...

As for the games, I would get it strictly for lightweight stuff like Peggle or word games. I really dislike most of the "for gamer" games on it, because the controls are so terrible most of the time.

@Bunker Man Did Brendan steal your account or something? You managed to post about the iPhone without a huge anti-Apple rant...

I've got an iPhone. In fact my contract is almost up. I must say I love the device overall. The merger of a cell phone and great media player is genius. I can only hope the next iteration has a better camera and video recorder so I can be down to one single device to handle everything.

As far as games go, every game really needs to be judged independently unfortunately. It really depends on whether or not the developer understands how to use the touch screen well. I understand why people don't like the lack of physical buttons, but with enough careful consideration everything can work out well.

Games I like:
Everything by ngMoco is great. They're one of the few developers that works for the iPhone exclusively as far as I know.

PopCap games have all been ported very faithfully so far. I'm really anticipating plants vs zombies.

Crayon Physics deluxe is one again a great port that uses the touch screen intuitively for interaction.

Eliss is a pretty cool game that really requires multitouch. Quite challenging later on.

iFighter is a great game in the style of 1942. Very good tilt controls.

TapTap: All games in this series have been pretty great. I don't necessarily like the direction they took 3 but it's still a great game. I guess I just got spoiled getting all my songs for free.

Radiant: I just picked this up yesterday, but it's great so far. Very simple space invaders type game, but works exceptionally well. It's got great style as well.

Games I don't like:
I'm sure there are a bunch of janky games I tried and just deleted. The only one I have sitting on here right now is Dragon's Lair. It's a direct port of the arcade version from the 80s. The animation looks amazing but the controls are horrendous. The buttons are so small and your timing needs to be so precise that I end up stuck in the same area for days at a time. Also there is a bug that hasn't been fixed for the last month where if you get a push notification it can delete your progress.

Overall the iPhone is a still developing platform. I won't say that I enjoy spending as much time with this as I do my PSP or DS, but when I need something to tide me over for a couple of minutes randomly, the iPhone is the way to go

@Akisaka

Agreed, really.

I've been playing the hell out of Meteor Blitz on breaks and such. Same with Occurro. Twin-stick shooters seem to work well on the device, IMO.

Galaga Remix works okay. I'll have to try that Dragon's Lair though, lol.

-JKR- said:

I desperately want an iPhone, but not because of the functionality so much as the brainwashing I've undergone. Apple is an amazing marketer. I want one so, so much. Yet I do not in any way need one. They are incredible, that ad team. I absolutely have no reason to pay that much money for a cell phone.

But I must have it.

Someday, anyway... Someday...

As for the games, I would get it strictly for lightweight stuff like Peggle or word games. I really dislike most of the "for gamer" games on it, because the controls are so terrible most of the time.

I mean this only in playful jest, but this is why I despise Apple products so much. :p

Don't get me wrong, I will give Apple credit where credit it due, but when I hear people raving about the iPhone I just look at them like, "OK? ...So...what?" I don't have an iPhone and will never get one...my current cellphone works perfectly fine for me. As for games...don't have any phone games even for the phone I have and don't plan on getting them. Gaming consoles and the PC and the DS will be plenty fine for me, thanks. :)