In defense of what I don't own.

I wrote a response to my friend and future brother-in-law's blog. He wrote about gaming and Apple products.

Since it took me a long time to formulate a response, I decided it would be good to also turn my response into a blog post. Enjoy!

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I'm not sure we're being entirely fair to Apple brand of handhelds. I agree the iPod Touch isn't a conventional gaming system, and I don't believe that Apple saw the gaming potential when they released the iPhone and iPod Touch. Although, in 2010 we are seeing data of just how successful it is.

The touch-friendly Apple products offer a main function that is different then the DS and PSP, but when Konami, Capcom, EA, Rockstar, and many indie developers jump on board to create quick $.99 cent games that make a profit it is unfair to try and say the iPhone/iPod isn't a video game system.

* Besides PC, iPhones (and I suspect Android) are the cheapest system for an indie developer to jump into gaming development and to feel their success in the form of cash.

* While parents may not buy their children an iPod Touch for games, they do buy them for their kids for music. My point is that these handhelds are already in everyone's hands include kids. So I agree people probably don't buy an iPod just for gaming, but since everyone has one a market for games is already in place.

* While we could debate the value of Dragon Quest IX vs Metal Gear Solid Touch, we can't ignore the pricing difference between DS/PSP games and iPod games. $20-$40 range for DS/PSP while $5.99 is the highest iPod game price I've seen. This makes me think that a good number of iPod games are impulse buys. This is conjecture, but I believe it is the main reason that the Apple brand became a "gaming system" in the first place. Users were buying lots of games.

* I read an article (http://bit.ly/ce85Ab) which wrote that between 2008 and 2009 the iPhone/iPod Touch games rose from 1% of all US game sales to 5%. While still a small percentage, it is an impressive growth for one year. While Steve Jobs' statements might have exaggerated Apple’s place in handheld gaming, I'm not surprised Apple is using this information as a selling point in 2010.

I love playing games, but I don't play sports games. I know there are gamers who only buy the yearly editions of Madden, NBA, NHL, and whatever other sports games there may be. It wouldn't be fair for me to ignore those as video games. Farmville is another point of contention for most gamers, but it has 70 million players. While it doesn't fit the mold of Gears of War, Call of Duty, or World of Warcraft that doesn't make it any less impactful as game.

As gamers, we should play what we want to play on whatever system we like. One of the best perks in this era of video gaming is choice of hardware. We didn't always have so many options. Huzzah! Although, with variety comes bits and pieces we personally may not like entering our arena. While we don't need to play them, it wouldn't be right to try and strip these games or systems of a title they honestly deserve.

On the bright side, just because Wii gaming is a successful business practice, that didn't make hardcore FPS or RPGs go away. Farmville hasn't killed RTS games. So, I feel confident in saying that while most iPhone games will be casual experience, it won't kill the games I love on other systems. Heck, Chaos Ring by Square Enix is getting wonderful reviews. As IGN said, "... an all -new adventure created specifically for the iPhone (I hesitate to say exclusively because I could see this eventually getting ported over to DS or PSP), offers the thoughtful, engaging play you expect from Square's other big-name RPG franchises." (http://bit.ly/cMjU1z)

That makes me excited to see where portable gaming goes from here.

Overheard #1

My first bus ride is with college students, professors, and people whose status is somewhere in-between. Below is what I listened to this morning:

Guy on bus #1: I tried to read Don Quixote.

Guy on bus #2: Ahhhh...

GOB#1: I got about halfway and had to stop. It was just the same thing over and over. He goes from one situation to another, but the character never changes. He is always the same person.

GOB#2: I believe that is the point. It is about how unchanged he is.

GOB#1: I got that. It was funny the first 5 times, but then it just got old. I was just done with it. Move on already.

I wanted to turn to GOB#1 and say, "I know what you mean! Michael Myers, from the Halloween movies, is exactly the same as Don Q. He moves from one scene to the next and never changes. He is always the same serial killer. I mean, I get it, Mike. You hate your family."

I love horror movies, especially the Halloween movies. I'm just aware of how people view them. I've never read Don Quixote. The could-be-student/professor's discussion was probably legit. I just smile anytime I can compare criticisms on classic literature to "trashy" horror movies.