According to Apple, there are currently more than 130 million Game Center accounts, which means iOS devices are already more popular than home consoles like the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Wii. In fact, it’s currently the world’s third-largest gaming platform.

But Asymco expects Game Center to surpass 200 million users by the end of 2012, putting Apple’s platform way out in front, ahead of the Nintendo DS — the best-selling console to date. “No gaming device has ever reached the 200 million mark,” Asymco says.

If you look at OpenFeint figures, a third-party gaming platform on iOS, there are already more than 180 million people gaming on iOS devices.

Of course, it wouldn’t be accurate to look at sales figures alone, because not everyone who purchases an iOS device uses it for gaming. So Game Center and OpenFeint accounts are the most accurate way of determining the figures. Even then, you need to bear in mind that some users could have more than just one Game Center or OpenFeint account.

http://www.cultofmac.com/183374/appl...d-of-the-year/

Sure this is pure bs as we all know Call of Duty Mw3 or Black Ops or Black Ops 2 Alone makes more money than the entire app store has done to date since it was launched. Just one Game from that Saga.

Sure it has alot of players, even i played on Iphone and Ipad once and never touched it again such a horrible Experience with GTA 3.

Iphone sells because it is a phone not because it plays games i think Apple doesnt get it haha if it only played games it would be dead against 3DS and Vita wich are far far far far superior to the bs that Iphone is for gaming.

I'm not sure how to approach this...

Yeah, me too...

That should be the end of the story, nope we love to fight u_u

sure but just because 80% of phone owners downloaded maybe 2-3 games for 1€ doesn't mean that it's comparable with a wii lol.

people who buy a gaming device buy it to play games. people who buy a smartphone buy it for many reasons and most buy a few games (or download the free version) but not because they really see it as gaming platform, because they have it as included function. and then they buy the next iphone just because it's the new model, eve nif they don't use the new functions.

i believe almost everyone who bought his first smartphone bough some games and i believe most of them don't buy games anymore or just very few if they are really good. i bought some shit as well the first months but i didn't buy a single game for over a year now because those i bought in the past are still enough on toiltet or in the car on the way to mcdonalds with a friend^^

my iphone has three primary purposes (in order): music, games, google maps.

phone, lol. if anything iphone is for texting. the phone feature is what makes an iphone a "required" purchase compared to a gaming consoles "luxury" purchase.

saying iphone sells because it is a phone not because it plays games is completely missing the point. if that is all people were wanting an iphone for people wouldn't be paying the incredibly high premium in phone price. $200 for the phone and a $30 dollar data plan with a 2 year contract = $920 more than a standard phone. you damn well better believe people are buying it for the games, music, internet, gps, and other great (non-phone) features.

:/ I admit that iOS and Android WILL BE big players this coming generation... but by the end of this year is just stupid.

3DS will be this year's leader (well maybe PS3 or 360 solely due to CoD in terms of software sales).

What...? This article isnt written by Apple.

...

Apple isnt trying to create a gaming experience similar to PS vita and 3DS, they are creating a platform through which many forms of entertainment and media can be viewed/experienced, and the gamecentre/app store does just that. iOS is for simple, fun games such as temple run and angry birds, not in-depth games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Kid Icarus...they are 2 completely separate gaming experiences, and just because you dont like one of them doesnt mean you can say that gaming on an Apple device 'doesnt count as gaming' or whatever. It is a fact that by the end of 2012 iOS will be the worlds biggest gaming platform, so stop trying to denounce gamecentre as a legitimate gaming platform because you dont like it.

i would bet with you that 90% of people who went from iphone 3 or 4 to iphone 4s didn't do that for gaming. and even if it wouldn't have gaming at all 90% would have bought the iphone 4s like they did. most people i know, do you know what they do with their iphone? they do nothing with it, same with people owning other smartphones. sounds crazy but it's the truth, they really do not a lot with it, using a little bit twitter app, texting few friends and surf maybe an hour per weeks on the internet.

most who buy one iphone after the next just do it because it's the new model and they feel bad if they don't have the actual model. people could then say to them that it's not the new model and that would be horrible for them.

maybe not people who are around 20 years old but people with my age or above, i don't really know many who use the phone for more than something they could do with a 100€ phone (without contract). as if they would really run in the apple store the first day of release of the new device to have better music/games/internet which they couldn#t wait for a few weeks.

The problem is how to compare markets against each other.

Sure, console games likely generate more revenue than comparable iOS titles. However, you have a lot of other monetization methods that iOS/Android use which console titles do not have.

If you compared revenues of iOS vs. handhelds, I am certain that iOS gaming revenue would be close to trumping 3DS, Vita, DS, and the PSP so far in 2012. Of course, getting a full, robust comparison of all markets is hard to come by, currently.