Epsilon

How Big Will iPhone Gaming Be?

iPhone can't be a gaming platform on the level of DS or even the PSP without two things:
1) Developers- Nintendo's success comes from their massive in-house development teams. Since Apple hasn't really shown the inclination to make their own games, they'll need to get other third-party developers onto their system. Super Monkey Ball is a good start, but what about more "hardcore" games (I use this term as loosely as it can possibly be used) that go beyond the "pick-up-and-play distraction" level?

2) Physical buttons. There's only so much you can do with tilting, and a touch screen can't compare to the response of a real button in time-dependent situations, like a video game jump button. Of course, this compromises the entire design aesthetic of the iPhone. I'll throw in that a stylus reactive touch-screen can be more exact than a capacitive screen that uses fingers- and exactness is good in the video-game sphere. I can't imagine playing something like The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass without a stylus, unless you enlarged everything and wasted tons of screen space.