At the moment there are currently millions of people who own Iphones and most of which have purchased at least one game application. Developer's are making good profits and relatively well known franchises are making their way to the platform. BUT I do not think that this increase in popularity of the Iphone will take away marketshare or sales from the ds or psp. This is because whilst the Iphone does have games. It is primarily a phone and multimedia device. Most people interested in buying game will allready own or buy a ds or psp if they guy an iphone. I also believe that the iphone could help spark gaming interest in non gamers who go. Oh hey this monkey ball game is actually pretty awesome. Because whilst people buy games for the Iphone they probably wont be spending hours upon hours on them like they would other handheld games. So I think that this may acctually increase sales of nintendo and sony's platforms and that the Iphone just wont ever be a real competitor with these hand-held GAMING systems.

So there you have it. Just a note to say this is almost all purely opinion based and I am very interested in seeing what other people think about this theory

I tend to agree with you, to a degree. Nintendo has positioned DS in such a way that it doesn't compete head to head with either the PSP or iPhone/iTouch. Sure, iPods are everywhere, and Apple has stated that iTouches are selling well, but I have yet to see any hard numbers on the iTouch. Whatever it is, the DS has a huge lead in installed base, and even the PSP most probably has a good lead. So, given that the target decmographic for DS and iPhone/iTouch are quite different, I don't see any danger to the DS. In certain areas there is overlap, and there Apple has a chance, but overall I don't think the iPhone/iTouch sales will have any impact on the DS sales.

Now, regarding your other point about non-gamers, that's a valid argument and I suspect Apple will gain traction there, bringing people who normally game very little into handheld gaming. However, I don't think those people will change their iPhone/iTouch for a DS/PSP because of the convenience factor, and the price of games. Remember that you can buy games for a fraction of the cost on the iPhone/iTouch, and whenever you want just as long as you have a network connection. Why would a person who is used to games costing a few dollars, max 10, switch to another device and pay manyfold for the games that often have to be purchased from a retailer?

I see the iPhone like a handheld PC.
I think that because of that DS and iPhone aren't really competing directly cause they have different goals ( althought everyone n the entertainment business is competing with others because the consumer money is finite ).
It is the same difference between computer gaming and videogames.

I agree, Iphone offers better "cell phone" games, but they cannot compete with real handheld games! A real gamer will never make the Iphone its main portable gaming device.

Yeah, I'm yet to meet someone who purchases a iTouch/iPhone *purely* for gaming - and more so, over existing gaming devices.

Its going to kill the 'traditional' mobile gaming market though - and current figures have already shown this (a marked drop in downloaded/purchased games on non-smartphones).

I tend to agree. The iphone is a device with lots of functionality, all competing over the same resources(and that includes price, in a way). So for instance, it's battery will be used by all the standard phone things, as well as gaming, leaving less overall for both. Additionally, they wouldn't make buttons that you can feel, because it would take away from the phone's needs (ie. it would make it larger, more of a brick), even though they're useful for games.

Then think of the purpose behind the DS's dual screens. The idea is that you have a screen that your hand doesn't cover while you're using the touch-screen for input. The iPhone is never going to be able to follow that kind of philosophy. In other words it has values that limit it from adopting values necessary for gaming. On the other hand there's nothing preventing Nintendo from using the developments the iPhone has made in their next handheld, we could easily see a multi-touch screen, accelerometer, and wireless network functionality (which, rather than always being on only turns on when it needs to). And unlike the Wii, I expect Nintendo will release a successor for the DS in the next couple of years.

The all-in-one device may be the future, but I think it's the end-game, not something that will work out now.

whoever thought that the iphone could even 'enter' the handheld gaming market is living in lala land.

It's true that the iPhone itself is far from an ideal gaming platform, and the biggest reason for that is that it is a phone. The iTouch, however, is a completely different matter, and IMO far better suited to become a gaming device. Most games don't need GPS and even 3G network is unsuable for any real-time gaming such as first-person shooters, and the camera is utterly unnecessary for gaming (apart maybe for some eccentric photo-games). So, the iTouch has everything the iPhone has that's needed for gaming, and it isn't a phone. Apple themselves have also realized this, and are pushing the iTouch for gaming.

Regarding the gaming controls, it's true that no physical buttons and only one touch screen is a limiting factor, and it means that certain game genres simply can't be made well. On the other hand, there are a plenty of genres that are well suited for the UI paradigm, it's mostly a matter of really designing games for it rather than trying to fit old ideas into the new paradigm. To give you some examples, any turn-based games can be done beautifully with single multitouch screen, and racing games are easy to control with the tilt. Even some RTS can be made (for example GalCon is terrific). I myself have certain ideas on how to implement the controls for a platformer, but in the meantime you can check out Rolando which, again, works really well and is a puzzle-platformer. Also, regarding Nintendo and multitouch, it's not quite as simple as the technologies for implementing multi-touch are heavily patented and I doubt Apple or MS would be willing to license them to Nintendo. There are other alternatives, of course, I'm just saying that it's not so simple. Just look how long it's taken for cell phone companies to come up with multi-touch to compete with Apple.

im not trying to convey that the iphone (or Itouch) won't become viable for games. I just think that it will not ever never ever affect sales or marketshare of proper gaming systems just as mobile games never affected sales. It's more gimmicky or just a hey thats 1 dollar purchases for Iphone games.

It certainly has it's place, it's just not a disruptor. Well, it'll disrupt other things like Laptops perhaps, but it's not a disruptor of Nintendo's handheld market.