Could EA dominate iPhone game market?
Electronic Arts is the name you see on every shelf at the game store. New games, used games — whatever. The $4.2 billion company probably has its name on your shelf, too.
Now, it’s poised to power up on your iPhone or iPod touch. A new development studio at EA, charmingly named 8 lb Gorilla, intends to churn out 99-cent apps for sale on iTunes at the rate of one per month. The first micro-title from this fun trust is called “Zombies & Me,” about a guy trying to herd zombies away from his grandmother’s house into strike zones for inbound government missiles.
EA has made its mint off such console-based hits as “The Sims” series, “Rock Band,” “Mass Effect,” “Mirror’s Edge” and a bundle of sports titles that include “Madden NFL” and “FIFA.”
Apple’s minty fresh, too, for having a gaggle of innovative gadgets. But now, the commander of Cupertino, Calif., has shown a software side. A year after Apple opened its App Store, iPhone and iPod touch are nibbling at the gaming market; nearly 20 percent of the App Store’s inventory of 10,000 titles consists of games.
Maybe nibbling is an understatement. The Business Insider leaps out to say the App Store has become “the hottest gaming platform on Earth.”
Smart move then for EA to start mining that vein. At 99 cents a pop, the apps wouldn’t rake in the bucks EA’s used to seeing per title. They could be a hedge against market swings, however, particularly the one expected when downloads replace DVDs as the main gaming media.
And with EA’s extensive resources, the hedge could grow huge.
When it comes to portable gaming console, I still go for PSP. Probably because I’m not used to with the iPhone controls or I haven’t purchased the best game yet. Do you think EA could change my mind?
Frankly, with regard to portable games I used to be a Nintendo DS fan and actually have a DS Lite. However, I discovered a love for iPod Gaming first with the click wheel based 5th generation video iPod (actually bought some games from the iPod Games section of iTunes Store for my 5th gen video iPod that I have played including Sonic The Hedgehog, Monopoly Here & Now World Edition, Asphalt 4 Elite Racing, Pole Position Remix, PacMan, Ms. PacMan, etc) and then when I got an iPod Touch repurchased Sonic The Hedgehog and Monopoly Here & Now World Edition from Apple’s App Store, along with Pole Position Remix and Asphalt 4 Elite Racing in addition to buying other games never before released for click wheel iPods like Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D Racing, Cro Mag Rally etc in addition to downloading Internet radio based apps like Pandora Radio, NuTsie’s iTunes Top 100 app etc so I use my iPod Touch which I upgraded to iPhone OS 3.0 for the $10.00 fee for listening to free Internet radio streams and playing games, I can also access my email on it, access YouTube via the YouTube channel or browse the web via Safari.
The iPhone & iPod Touch have a lot of features unavailable to me from my 5th gen video iPod or my Nintendo DS. Even my 5th gen video iPod has more games than I got for DS. I have over 15 iPod Games on my 5th gen video iPod and plenty also for iPod Touch. For Nintendo DS I only have 3-4 games one of which I bought used.
As far as home consoles go I have a Nintendo 64 which I only had 2 games for Super Mario 64, and Star Wars Shadows of the Empire; however, my Nintendo Wii has between 5-7 games including the free bundled Wii Sports, out of which only one though has Nintendo Wifi Connection with that game being Mario Kart Wii.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Susan
http://onlinemariogames.net