NYT Newsflash and Michael Jackson VIDEO GAMES

This just in: the New York Times has just discovered the iPhone plays video games.

I know it comes as a shocker, what with the iPhone video game billboards and bus stop adverts ALL OVER THE CITY and whatnot, video game app ads popping up in nearly every other form of print media and that whole "New iPhone releases being kind of Media Big Deals" (not that the story isn't sooooo last two weeks). Thanks for the breaking and relevant news, though. The best part, though? Comments from actual gaming companies:

"At the end of the day, you buy the iPhone to make calls and you buy the PSP to play games," a quote from Sony rep Al de Leon. COOL THANKS FOR THE HELP, AL.

In other news, Michael Jackson video games Wiimote PS360. Since Jackson is a popular topic, what with him dying suddenly and all, video gaming talking heads on the internet have started exploring Jackson's inclusions in the world of video gaming. Unfortunately, the above article neglects one of Jackson's easily most memorable and well-received inductions into video gaming: the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 soundtrack. Did you know the man who brought us the Moonwalk ALSO created the music for Ice Cap Zone? Samples of Jackson's voice can be heard in Launch Base Zone!

So, my tribute to Michael Jackson, Prince of Pop, the man responsible for Obama's presidency, a youtube video:

Guy waits in line for DSi for 15 minutes, gets it

The guy in question is me. I got up at 7:30 this morning hoping I'd dodge the PS3 bullet for video game hardware releases. Turns out I was the only one in line this morning, questioned by another guy who was up with his 11 year-old son whether I was there for the PS3 bundle or not.

I would link now to the NYT DSi review, but it's so bland that it may as well be about generic-brand mouth freshener as it just sort of lists DSi peripherals and then says that it's like an iPhone. Yeah, it's the iPhone minus phone you'd hoped it'd be, but the iPhone doesn't have the Nintendo WiFi Store backing it, with an entire history of titles, liscenced or otherwise, going back to gamings glory days. Why download Super Monkey Ball when I can get Dr. Mario and Pokemon Platinum in the same system.

I think the best review of the device is a San Jose Mercury News article highlighting what the DSi is, what it does and what to expect from it, particularly that in addition to all the relevant games and such, the portable system easily emulates the capabilities of the EyeToy from the PS2, as seen in the download launch title WarioWare: Snapped!

Sony didn't take the release lying down. On Wired, we can see a response to some outright crazy statements made by Sony about the PSP's relevance to the non-kids market of gamers (ignoring, of course, that an unholy amount of DS owners are adults that could care less about Rock Band or Hannah Montana and would prefer some Brain Age or Spanish Instructor).

I don't have a lot to add right now because, even if my DSi was opened, charged and ready, I don't have WiFi access at school. So. Hopefully next Sunday I'll have a full review for you!

I didn't hear anything about a recession.

A TMNG projection says the video games industry will hit $40 billion by the year 2012.

The assessment claims that mobile platform gaming will be bringing major money over to the industry, such as through iPhone apps and the like.

In a statement taken from a Boston Globe article on the analysis:

"The expansion of casual games, simpler user interfaces and the proliferation of innovative business models is broadening the gamer demographic. The timing is ripe for service providers to hedge the business cycle."

In short: casual gaming, particularly through mobile phones or anything that can be played quickly via broadband (be it Peggle or Brawl).

So what does this mean for you? Numbers say ~50% of gamers a girls, most are around 33 years-old and, as I reported way back, mobile gaming's stake in the market is growing. Does this mean "more expensive" platforms like the DS and PSP are going to go out of fashion for iPhone apps store downloads? Probably not. But it does mean that gaming is going to cater less towards sitting down for hours and make way for a more on-the-fly experience.

A video from moviebob (THE GAME OVERTHINKER ZOMG) shows a possible third way for gaming to go, though this seems like more of a "full game" experience rather than the portable craze way. The "idea" posits a game that turns into a movie, similar to the failed Alone in the Dark remake, which allowed you to "skip scenes" and go to whichever level you like.

Casuals who can't beat Dante Must Die mode get their full game "experience," while the hardcore set gets the gaming experience. Yeah, you should just watch the video for this one.

Iron Man at the App Store

So upon finishing my reading of this week's issue of Amazing Spiderman, I close the issue to find none other than Iron Man's red-and-gold mug painted across the back of comic. Yeah, nothing special, what with a movie, dvd release, action figure line and video games to the Marvel movie and RD Jr. career inflating box-office hit. Wait. That was all months ago.

I look down and see still shots from a new game. Graphics are a little light, so it's probably for a new DS or PSP title. I mean, it's a little slow, what with Iron Man on the run from the law in his own monthly and the movie being the fading summer memory it is. Then I start paying attention.

This: the words "Only on iPhone." The ad is puntuated by a review from "AppCraver," which doesn't tell me much from an actual video gamer perspective, so I looked to IGN as the first video game reviewer I could find in Google (I don't have an iPhone, so I can't be asked to review the game myself). From the 9/10 AppCraver review, the game plunged to a 6.5 (granted, a mediocre score rather than "bad" one) with the punchy line, "You don't actually control Iron Man; you just control his crosshairs as he flies in a along his set path." While it doesn't sound very super-heroic, it does sound reminiscent of 2-D sidescroller shooters in a more 3-D rendered environment, dressed up by whatever leftover movie budgeting they could find. Or Iron Man in Star Wars: Arcade.
That and the game is only $8 (which the reviewer laments). Compare this to the average $35 DS title punctuated by the additional functionality of the iPhone. Not to provide copious smoke-blowing for a platform I don't even own, but at $8, even if the game is a repetitive mire of mediocrity with Iron Man's repulsor-blasting mug taped over what would be a plane or one-man firing squad, it's only $8. Compare this to the aforementioned $35 (usually lower on less high-end releases; the DS title still costs more than double at $19.99 on GameStop's website). Even if the game's a dud, you didn't blow most of a $20 bill on it.