iPod Games

So this is it? In the forth quarter alone of this year, Apple sold 8,729,000 iPods. That’s 35% more iPods than the same quarter a year ago. Impressive numbers, yes? I think so. And the big news for iPods, outside movie downloads, was iPod games. Apple released nine iPod games on September 12th, and almost three months later, there are… still nine games.

But they are cool games, no? Well, no, they are not. Pac-Mac, Vortex, Tetris, Cubis 2, Zuma, Texas Hold’em, Mini Golf, Majong, and Bejeweled. Not all duds. At the best, they are Cell Phone quality games.

The iPod is not really a good gaming system. The scroll wheel makes for a crappy interface for playing games. Some people think the iPod screen itself is simply too small for serious gaming. (I disagree, just look at the Game Boy.) So what is the problem?

If Apple is serious about making the iPod a serious gaming platform, they need to release a control unit that the iPod can plug into for better game control. Just something that has a docking station for the iPod. It has to secure the iPod in it safely, and make the controls intuitive.

Nine games in almost three months is pathetic. Apple needs to either get serious about gaming on the iPod, or dump it all together.