I think it may be better for small developers but thats about it. I'm surprised to keep reading how many large devs and publishers hyped for the iphone over the ds, psp or even the wii.
These are the same folks who are angry at nintendo for its "casual" focus but they're going to develop for the super casual iphone?

No, not a fucking chance. iPhone as a phone/mp3 player is great, but as a gaming machine it sucks shit out of a cow's ass. I have an iTouch and I love it for music but the games suck. My most played game is fucking paper toss.

The graphics suck, the controls suck (physical buttons >>>>>>>>>>> touch screen) and the screen is small.

Traditional handheld gaming isn't dying anytime soon.

No chance of that happening. I love my iPhone 3GS but not to play games with it. My PSP 3000 and future DS will cover my handheld gaming needs. The only games I play on my iPhone is Trivial Pursuit and Akinator.

My only issue with the iphone is the input mechanism. Id much rather play with buttons...

well when the iphone was developed it wasn't looked at as a gaming device but has suddenly changed it's marketing to focus on it. So, maybe a new version of iphone with a focus on gaming as much as any other entertainment focus will certainly dent the ds or psp cuz the iphone really isn't a gaming device rather than gaming as an extra add on to a device originally meant to be a phone or ipod.

Absolutely not. iPhone is directed to phoning and Internet access and iPod Touch is directed to music storing. The reason for their existence isn't gaming, so there no way we can count them as handeld consoles. Apple is trying to change that with iPad, but, still, it can't be considered a console. I think they're risking too much trying to say they're better than PSP or DS, and they'll get screwed some day for this. I really can't stand them saying DS and PSP are the past of video gaming, it's just so arrogant of theirs, like they already dominate the world (unfortunately, they're not Google).

iPhne is not able to play Zelda, Mario, Metroid and the other Nintendo games, not to mention all the great third parties games, which are on handhelds and not on iPhone...so no, people will buy new consoles but not a new iPhone for games!

I know quite a few people who are working at small companies making iPhone apps and games, and even with the massive userbase of the iPhone most of these companies are bleeding money; and will go bankrupt the second venture capitalists no longer see "massive potential" in the iPhone. Even the simplest iPhone games can take development teams of 3 to 5 people 9 months to a year to complete, which means that these games have a development cost of $250,000 to $500,000. Most of these same games are selling for $1 per unit, and after Apple takes their cut the companies are luck to get $0.50 for every copy sold. This means that many of these games require 1,000,000 sales before they break even, and off of such low revenues they can’t even afford marketing to make this likely.

I hate to be blunt, but the entire iPhone-app market is heading for a massive crash because of how unsustainable of a market it is.

Yeah, I mean, Ubisoft is going for it, isn't it? I just can't see why they treat the "iP" series as gaming consoles...

I think most of you guys are severely underestimating the iPhone/iTouch/iPad. Right now there are over 60 million devices worldwide that can access the AppStore. Not everyone buying these devices will want to play games (and some never will), but a lot do play games.

I see some comments saying the AppStore doesn't have developer support. Ubisoft, Sega, Namco-Bandai, PopCap, Electronic Arts, Rockstar Games, Activision, Capcom, TAITO, Freeverse, Gameloft, Konami, Disney, etc all have games on the platform. According to the Game Developers Report, 25% of all game developers are developing for smartphones.

About those saying it doesn't have buttons. Who said a gaming device needs buttons? To be clear, the games all have virtual buttons in the form of touch technology. So you are pressing inputs.

As for graphics, it clearly passes the DS and rivals the PSP. A lot of the games do not push the boundaries of the device, but some developers have and as a result created beautiful games.

So will it kill the competition? Not exactly, but I can assure you it's on Sony and Nintendo's radar. With the iPad coming out in a couple months, the iPhone and iTouch still going strong, the Apple AppStore isn't letting up any time soon. There have already been multiple games to sell millions of copies on the platform. Gameloft just announced over $25 million in profit just from the AppStore.

I'm very surprised to see how many of you don't think it's a factor at all.