Gaming Big Guns Take Notice Of iPhone
More than a year into the iPhone‘s life cycle, there is not one official timewaster for the owners of the non-hacked edition of Apple’s new baby. All that is soon to change with the introduction of the App Store, the home for games and applications to allow people to pump their iPhones up over the air with new content.
These developments have not gone unnoticed by some of the movers and shakers in the video game biz, some expressing interest whilst others making the leap altogether.
Neil Young, one of EA’s brightest stars and head of their LA studio, has left to embark on the exciting world of touchscreen gaming on the iPhone. An 11 year veteran of Electronic Arts, he had a hand in the development of some of their most influential titles, including the birth of the Sims as well as executive producer on cult hit Majestic. The latter was the first great game to break down the fourth wall of gaming, sending players phone calls and e-mails in the real world as they are immersed in a tale of espionage and intrigue.
Visionary titles like these make the potential for Young’s startup company ng: moco (Next-Gen Mobile Co.) all the more exciting.
His plans for the format follow…
Neil is very optimistic of where gaming can go, maximising the unique featureset of the iPhone. Speaking to Kotaku, he said: “The device itself is, from a performance standpoint, somewhere between a DS and a PSP, but unlike the PSP, it’s got touch, the accelerometer, the camera, the microphone… it’s location-aware, and from a usage standpoint it’s always on, always with you and always connected to the network. My sense is, the types of experiences that we’re going to be able to build on that device and the devices that follow… are going to be really interesting and blow the doors off the business.”
Exciting times ahead for the gaming pioneer, and Young’s decision to go it alone as opposed to staying sheltered under the safety of the EA umbrella speaks volumes for the potential he sees in the iPhone.
He isn’t the only one, with legendary role playing game developer Bioware staking a small claim on all that 
iPhone loot. CEOs of Bioware Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk spoke to MTV Multiplayer blog, stating: ““We look at every platform that comes along. Obviously, something that’s as big a cultural and technical success as the iPhone is something you really got to take a close look at. Certainly, there’s nothing written in stone yet but we’ve got a lot of folks looking at it. It’s intriguing. I think one of the things that we’ll have to see how it shakes out is what type of consumer buys games on it and what type of experience they’re looking for. You want to always mesh the consumer experience with what you’re building. We want to understand what people are going to do with it. Who knows? We’re definitely looking at every platform.”
So don’t hold your breath for the likes of Mass Effect on your mobile, but with iPhone the potential of portable gaming is far further reaching than we’ve been used to, and some huge names in the industry agree.
What would you like to see on the App Store come July 11th? Some fun games, or useful applications to make life easier? Let us know in the forums what you think!
[...] is the latest title from start-up ng:moco founded by former EA guy Neil Young. They are one of the new developers that have sprung up to make [...]