Forbes: App Store the DS killer

Before the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable launched in 2004, many industry watchers believed that Sony's flashy handheld would dominate its less-powerful competitor in terms of sales and importance. As history and monthly NPD reports have shown, however, the DS's unique touch screen, deep...

Before the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable launched in 2004, many industry watchers believed that Sony's flashy handheld would dominate its less-powerful competitor in terms of sales and importance. As history and monthly NPD reports have shown, however, the DS's unique touch screen, deep library, and mainstream price point have given it the clear edge in the current generation of handheld games. As of each company's most recent accountings, the DS is outselling the PSP worldwide 77.5 million to 41 million.

So what is it going to take to oust the Nintendo DS from its throne? Apple's recently launched App Store, if Forbes is to be believed. In an editorial today, the financial magazine noted that the App Store--which launched in July and sells downloadable applications for Apple's mobile devices, the iPhone and iPod Touch--is bringing in $1 million a day in sales as of August. According to Forbes, Apple's domineering CEO, Steve Jobs, has said that the store could turn into a $1 billion-a-year market for the electronics company.

Forbes quotes Jobs as saying, "Now you could make the argument that it's the best portable device for playing games--and a whole class of new games." Indeed, of the 3,528 applications currently available on the App Store, a full 26 percent fall into the games category, the article notes. That's far from surprising news to gamers, who have seen such diverse companies as Electronic Arts, id Software, Capcom, and Sega freely express intent to create games for the service.

Conceding the point that the DS has a substantial installed base, Forbes goes on to argue that the DS is "looking a little weary" and cites analysts as expecting Apple to manufacture 17 million iPhones this year. "Not only does the thing rely on cartridges," mused the columnist, "it uses a stylus--kind of like, say, the Palm Pilot (another gizmo with a big installed base)."

Another advantage is the App Store's digital distribution model. "The App Store allows gamers to buy a game with the touch of a button, turning shopping for the latest game into an exercise in instant gratification," reads the editorial. "Rather than trekking to the store to shell out $35 for a game cartridge, Apple can lure in gamers with the promise of hundreds of free games and hundreds more for less than $10."

137 Comments

  • R0FLCH0PPA

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 9:09 am PT

    its lonely here >

  • R0FLCH0PPA

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 9:06 am PT

    @Nina if you ever look back at this,check out BIA (brothers in arms) or assasins creed or terminator salvation,they are all epic

  • R0FLCH0PPA

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 9:05 am PT

    awwwwww this is old

  • R0FLCH0PPA

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 9:05 am PT

    Good lord you morons.
    Do any of you idiots having bad comments about the iphone/itouch actually own one?This console is a huge sucess.Updates come to it every month.And the idiot wanting the 160-360gb itouch,your spoiled silly you poor little kid..48gb isn't good enough is it?? 48gb is huge man and you dont deserve any more than that.
    I am happy with an 8gb itouch and you cant be happy with an 48???
    The only 2 bad things about the itouch is the addictive click and buy feature and the battery drain.It drains in like 3 hours or less!

  • NecromancerDave

    Posted Feb 18, 2009 9:32 am PT

    necronaux - You don't have to play the games on an Iphone, they run on an iPod Touch as well, which requires no service, and the games take up no space on the things memory so the cheapest iPod is under $200 I believe, so that's your minimum cost. Still more than the DS, I know, but just saying it's not as much as an iPhone with service or anything.

  • HugoMattos

    Posted Sep 30, 2008 1:20 pm PT

    App store will never win, DS has already won.

  • Krusnikzero2

    Posted Sep 30, 2008 9:24 am PT

    I hardly see this and the DS as substitute goods. The App Store seems more like a novelty than an actual gaming platform.

  • Proman84

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 8:19 pm PT

    I am getting tired of Apple, it's advertising and it's products.

  • siLVURcross

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 3:11 pm PT

    I never did like the App store, the fact that I had to pay to upgrade to 2.1 firmware and pay again for the apps. A little unfair.

  • sieg6529

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 10:59 am PT

    Comparing apples to oranges, much? A much too much.

  • Get_Shorty

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 10:20 am PT

    Hmm this sounds like a job for a New and Improved DS due to come out before the end of this year!

  • cajunstrike

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 10:16 am PT

    Agreed. Prediction is somewhat premature.

  • raahsnavj

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 9:27 am PT

    I think it will take over all the 'extra' trash Nintendo keeps trying to expand to do. Like tour guides, GPS systems and other useless crap like that.

    But when it comes to cames. No, a phone won't ever be the 'solution'. Phones come with too much overhead (contract, carriers, cost, etc) to be applied as a serious gaming device.

  • necronaux

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 9:22 am PT

    Maybe $10 a game, but ya gotta buy the iPhone, and pay for the 2 year contract / monthly service fee. I won't be switching any time soon.

  • RavenousEnemy

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 9:21 am PT

    I recently bought a 32gb iPod Touch (2nd generation) and its an amazing piece of technology. I mainly use it for music and all the other features are of secondary importance to me but really awesome too! I find myself playing a lot of free games and they're fun and addictive. Some of these games are demos and I'm really considering buying them. Watch out Nintendo DS!!!! Apple may be taking over portable gaming lol. I love Nintendo though. I'm glad the Wii is doing great. Go Nintendo! Go Apple! Boo hoo@Microsoft and Sony!

  • Zerosumgame

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 8:43 am PT

    iphone a gaming device? give me a fing break.

  • FallenOneX

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 8:18 am PT

    I just oredered a new phone this weekend, and it wasn't an iphone. I'lll be sticking to my DS as well. But I do have a cool Onda PMP that I love.

  • jjdomo

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 8:16 am PT

    in order for the iphone to dethrone the DS, people would have to actually decide to buy an iphone--just to play games--like they do with the DS. i sure as hell ain't buying an iphone and switching my cell service just to play games. i'll stick with my DS, thanks.

  • Viralmessiah666

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 5:33 am PT

    haha...seriously? playing wicked rad games of "snake" on your iphone is going to dethrone DS? my ass...iphone can't dethrone the PSP...or even the nokia razor...with damned near nothing for games...i think forbes does an excellent job showing how badly the 50+ world is out of touch with the real world

  • shamarke

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 1:23 am PT

    iphone is a expensive bi**h!

  • ebonyflame

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 1:10 am PT

    Are you effing kidding me? The DS moves more DS units and software in a month than Apple moves in a year. Forbes is one of those financial reporting institutions that is a part of the problem with our current financial situation in America, reporting things like this.

  • thestickman

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 12:34 am PT

    Not with the DS redesign coming out now that features camera and music playback XD

    Nice try Forbes, but better luck next time

  • neonblueshadow

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 10:25 pm PT

    so...ya...the iphone..... too expensive.

  • tawagivercetti

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 9:35 pm PT

    Just wait until Sony releases a PSP/CYBERSHOT/WALKMAN/PHONE its coming...

  • zombey1333

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 6:15 pm PT

    Yeah, but...the DS is an affordable system. Your touch thingy is a little out of reach for the average person price wise, and to most will just be seen as an over-glorified mp3 player.

  • the_real_luigi

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 6:06 pm PT

    Nokia N-Gage anyone?

  • keyser27

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 5:10 pm PT

    Yeah right.

    If the next iPhone has a dpad and buttons and triggers, then maybe. Otherwise it's going to require a game that doesnt require good controls. I hardly use the touch screen functionality of the DS, and won't play games on an iPhone. I'm sure they will have a bunch of cool apps, buuuut to say an iPhone will kill DS is just stupid. Nintendo will kill DS when they release the next handheld, nobody else will touch it. I do like my PSP also, but the iPhone won't have Metroid-vania style castlevanias, NSMB, Advance Wars, Zelda, FFT, Disgaea, or Mario Kart franchises. PSP is a far more capable machine for controls than the iPhone is and has GREAT games and hasn't been able to touch the DS. This article is asinine and obviously not written by gamers. Some reporter downloaded Bejeweled without ever having played either NSMB for DS or Disgaea for PSP and thinks its top-notch and decided to write an ignorant article about it. Foolish.

  • djdna514

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 3:05 pm PT

    Megavideogamer the iphone/touch runs some pretty pimp 3d, that looks better imho than a ds does. i have both, so its not like i favor either. The games have just STARTED to be made, and even private devs are making some REALLY GOOD stuff! i.e. Super Monkey Ball, Crash Nitro Cart, X-Plane, SW:FU, Funky punch.

  • Megavideogamer

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 12:02 pm PT

    playing Bejeweled Legends on the Iphone Doesn't count. The Iphone is not a portable gaming machine.

  • hawaiiinsomniac

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 11:46 am PT

    No way.. the installed base of DS is too big... granted I have both and I've been playing casual games on my iPhone, but until you have a decent RPG on the iPhone, I'll never be a full convert...

  • V-Nine

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 9:01 am PT

    This article is a real bad joke. Are they thinking straight? When the DS starts to "get weary", Nintendo just releases its successor then rolls in the dough. They think people will buy Apple for its gaming prowess(or lack there of)? LOL!

  • Lord_Regnier

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 2:37 am PT

    not going to happen!

  • GANGSTASAN

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 1:15 am PT

    HAHA...NO. No way would the DS be kicked off the handheld throne

  • parrot_of_adun

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 12:37 am PT

    Now, I really don't like the DS (mostly for what it doesn't offer), but I'd buy 500 just to stick it to apple.

    Don't get me started on apple...

  • ketsuatama

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 10:29 pm PT

    Although I love my iTouch, it certainly is no DS or PSP in terms of desirable and competent gameplay!

  • lew_0911

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 10:01 pm PT

    By "looking a little weary", meaning I'm on my fourth stylus from scratching/swiping/pointing on the touch screen like hell? Yes, my DS (and my PSP too) looks like crap from all the playing it gets.

  • capitalthoughts

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 9:15 pm PT

    Besides, Nintendo has been the unquestioned hand-held game ruler since game and watch. I remember the Game Gear, Lynx, like the Psp to the DS at this time, both were techinically superior machines.....both ended in the grave long before the original gameboy became colorized...years after their demise.

  • capitalthoughts

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 9:10 pm PT

    Ummm...the Iphone is a phone right? Will it have games, yes, but saying it will dominate the DS or even the PSP for that matter, I mean, that doesn't even make any sense. Tell you what, apple releases a device that is strictly for games, and then takes the thrown away from Nintendo, then I will applaud them, but if they sell 20 million phones and one game is installed on every phone, a claim to victory will be dubious because no one buys a phone for games...no one.

  • TAEnemy

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 7:49 pm PT

    Ridiculous. This will never happen. The DS user base and the iPhone user base have nothing in common.

  • Gamerzone23

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 2:13 pm PT

    The DS dosen't have any of my type of games, but it's still a great handheld consoles...and I know the IJunk won't out sell it.

  • KoruKinshi

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 1:00 pm PT

    Right...which means I would 'want' to buy an iTrash in the first place... It's a shame the phone is a pile of garbage. It'd be nice if it could at least NOT DROP CALLS...

  • BloodMist

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 11:22 am PT

    Forbes are idiots.The DS has great games, far more than the PSP, so, oh guess what?It will continue to do so, outsell the PSP, and continue to be the fastest selling gaming platform in history.Doesn't take a chump with a college degree to figure that out

  • norabbitnofun

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 9:40 am PT

    Well right now games on the iPhone app store are... not good...

  • smbius

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 7:36 am PT

    Forbes does not really understand the gaming industry. If IPhone truly wants to compete, Apple should make that phone availble for all carriers.

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 6:33 am PT

    uummm okay... how about NO!

  • Mac8457

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 5:49 am PT

    What about all the people who don't have or don't want AT&T as a carrier???

  • sergioalb64

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 2:53 am PT

    ...Hm? Oh wait, what?

    Oh yeah; no. Just no.

  • yboucher

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 10:08 pm PT

    Right, and Forbes is an authority on gaming since when again ? And we'll believe the usual Apple hype becaaauuuuuse... ?

  • thesaxmaniac

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 9:58 pm PT

    I have the 3g and I'd have to day that the games on the iphone do not compete with any psp or ds games. As much as I'd like to hope that companies will start pumping out awesome full-featured games for the iphone, it hasn't happened yet and I don't think it will. The iphone may graphically excel versus the ds and have a better touch screen, but it doesn't even come close in terms of how fleshed out it's games are. Most of them are essentially puzzle games and nothing more. The same goes for the psp but we all know that the iphone can't compete with it on a graphical level either.

  • JC_Fiasco

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 9:05 pm PT

    rofl its N-gage round two!

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!