San Francisco (CA) – A recently published report confirms that the iPhone has had a “significant” impact on the mobile games industry. According to Research & Markets, the popular device boosted demand for mobile content and “opened the market” to smaller publishers.
The report also notes that the iPhone, along with Nokia’s N-Gage and Google’s Android mobile operating system, are expected to be “key drivers” of industry growth in 2009.
The Mobile Market Monitor report could help convince industry skeptics such as Jack Tretton that the iPhone is indeed a genuine gaming platform. The president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America dismissed the notion in June, when he told CNBC that the “iPhone was just a phone.”
“At the end of the day, we’re a game system,” claimed Tretton. “If the iPhone gets you interested in gaming, that’s good for me, because it gives me a chance to sell you a PSP.”
However, other personalities – including Id Software’s John Carmack – have acknowledged the iPhone’s relevance as a mobile gaming device.
Indeed, Carmack told Mac World that he was “super-excited for the iPhone as a platform for Id to be involved in.” Carmack also noted that he hoped to bring the entire “classic” Id Software game line, including Quake 3 and Orcs & Elves, to the iPhone and iPod touch.
