Apple's fall event came and went this week with the usual torrent of sales figures, product revamps, and unveiling of new devices and services.
To be honest, I'm of the mindset that none of this stuff is really for me; I got my cell phone for ten bucks to make calls and send texts, and I have a laptop to do pretty much everything else, so I'm not particularly interested in coughing up the cash for an iPhone (and the bigger phone bill to go with it).
After losing two Shuffles and a Nano (which I'm pretty sure my nephew actually hid from me), I'm almost scared to buy a new iPod. The new Nanos look interesting, but I kinda prefer the current style. I didn't like the piece-of-gum-sized Shuffle, so it's nice to see that going back to the older postage-stamp look. If I do purchase any of 'em though, it'd probably be the Touch--but with Nintendo's 3DS rumored to be launching this holiday season, I may just have to wait until next year's inevitable revamps, for my wallet's sake.
Speaking of gaming, though, it was interesting to see Jobs claim that the iPod Touch is now "the number one portable game player in the world". While it's true that the Touch, iPhone, and iPad are portable and do, in fact, play games of a sort, I think he may have gotten a little ahead of himself with that claim. It'd be like him standing up there and saying the iPod Touch is now the number one timepiece in the world because it has a clock in it.
Traditional videogame consumers don't buy an iPod for its game-playing capibilities. That being said, the platform is definitely picking up steam, with big name titles like Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Civilization Revolution coming soon (or already released). In fact Satoru Iwata, president and CEO of Nintendo--the long-undisputed king of portable gaming--considers Apple the "enemy of the future" and the only true threat to their handheld gaming dominance.
Competition breeds innovation, so as a gamer I'm eager to see what Apple's got in store in the coming years and how companies like Nintendo and Sony will react. They're already rocking the boat with the iPhone Game Center, which looks to be kind of a portable equivalent to Xbox Live. Offering matchmaking services, leaderboards, achievements, and friends lists, it absolutely destroys the laughably terrible system Nintendo's got in place for the DS and Wii.
To be honest, I'm of the mindset that none of this stuff is really for me; I got my cell phone for ten bucks to make calls and send texts, and I have a laptop to do pretty much everything else, so I'm not particularly interested in coughing up the cash for an iPhone (and the bigger phone bill to go with it).
After losing two Shuffles and a Nano (which I'm pretty sure my nephew actually hid from me), I'm almost scared to buy a new iPod. The new Nanos look interesting, but I kinda prefer the current style. I didn't like the piece-of-gum-sized Shuffle, so it's nice to see that going back to the older postage-stamp look. If I do purchase any of 'em though, it'd probably be the Touch--but with Nintendo's 3DS rumored to be launching this holiday season, I may just have to wait until next year's inevitable revamps, for my wallet's sake.
Speaking of gaming, though, it was interesting to see Jobs claim that the iPod Touch is now "the number one portable game player in the world". While it's true that the Touch, iPhone, and iPad are portable and do, in fact, play games of a sort, I think he may have gotten a little ahead of himself with that claim. It'd be like him standing up there and saying the iPod Touch is now the number one timepiece in the world because it has a clock in it.
Traditional videogame consumers don't buy an iPod for its game-playing capibilities. That being said, the platform is definitely picking up steam, with big name titles like Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Civilization Revolution coming soon (or already released). In fact Satoru Iwata, president and CEO of Nintendo--the long-undisputed king of portable gaming--considers Apple the "enemy of the future" and the only true threat to their handheld gaming dominance.
Competition breeds innovation, so as a gamer I'm eager to see what Apple's got in store in the coming years and how companies like Nintendo and Sony will react. They're already rocking the boat with the iPhone Game Center, which looks to be kind of a portable equivalent to Xbox Live. Offering matchmaking services, leaderboards, achievements, and friends lists, it absolutely destroys the laughably terrible system Nintendo's got in place for the DS and Wii.
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