"Come see our latest creation" Gaming Oriented?
Multiple sources are posting that many gaming related media outlets as well as game developers have been invited to Apple's January 27th media event. The overwhelming majority of news sites and analysts expect Apple to be introducing their tablet device and recent reports from Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN have brought up the possibility of iPhone OS, iLife, and iWork updates.
Game developers have often been included in Apple's product announces from Bungie's introduction of Halo in 1999 to more recent presentations by Sega at the announcement of the iPhone and the demo of LiveFire to show in-game chat and in-app purchases. However, typically gaming-related media outlets (such as Kotaku, Joystiq, and IGN) were not invited to the event. With the surprise invitations to these outlets it becomes obvious that whatever announcement Apple is making on January 27th will have an impact on gamers.
If we see a tablet device it isn't difficult to see how game developers would be able to take advantage of the device. Current complaints about the iPhone / iPod Touch as a gaming platform focus around the smaller screen. An enlarged screen not only adds details to the games but also makes on-screen controls easier to use. If you've ever played an RPG on your iPhone such as Zenonia, you have no doubt noticed the occasional unintentional movement directly into an enemy or the not uncommon missing of the sword swing resulting in a pitiful suicide attack where you character simply charges into battle like a moron. Emulation on jailbroken iPhones have suffered from difficult control systems. While playable, they leave a great significant room for improvement.
The upgrade to the iPhone OS could also be news for gamers. Specific rumors currently focus around the introduction of multitasking and interface design. With the last iteration of iPhone OS we saw an improvement in graphical capabilities as well as improved access to many libraries game developers utilize.
No matter what happens next week, check MacScene for our live coverage of the news as well as discussion about how the announcements will affect gamers.
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