Apple Inc.'s iPhone has shaken up the cellphone business. Its next target: Nintendo Co. and Sony Corp.
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Apple Inc.'s iPhone has shaken up the cellphone business. Its next target: Nintendo Co. and Sony Corp.
The iPhone and its sister device the iPod touch, which feature big screens and powerful graphics, are emerging as serious competitors to Nintendo's DS handheld and Sony's PlayStation Portable.
'It feels to me like there's a real threat to their [Sony's and Nintendo's] business from the iPhone,' said Neil Young, a longtime executive at games publisher Electronic Arts Inc. Mr. Young quit EA this year to form a start-up, Ngmoco Inc., dedicated to publishing iPhone and iPod touch games.
'I think the iPhone and iPod touch may emerge as really viable devices in the mobile games market this holiday season,' said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive and co-founder, in an interview
Of the more than 200 million copies of programs that have been downloaded through the App Store, Mr. Jobs said about a quarter were games.
The iPhone and iPod touch offer more powerful technology for games than standard cellphones and, in some respects, the Sony and Nintendo handhelds, say game makers
The Apple devices have big screens, beefy graphics processors and well-designed software tools for creating games. They also boast a feature called an accelerometer, which senses how a user is holding the device and gives consumers the ability to, say, steer in a racing game like Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D by tilting the gadget.