Mac game developers have been shut out of iPod game creation, as described in a Macworld article; none of the new iPod games comes from a third-party Mac developer. In the report, Peter Cohen interviews a variety of Mac developers and publishers -- some anonymously -- about the situation. They tell tales of asking to create iPod games ever since the iPod Photo released, but they've always been ignored or denied. Some even took Apple's dismissal of iPod games seriously and were surprised by the nine releases.The biggest issue is that Apple hasn't released an SDK (software development kit), required by developers to understand and program for the iPod hardware. Most of the third-party software that has been released for the iPod has relied on exploiting the Notes program or other loopholes to create simple text guides. For graphical games, that just won't work.
Look, we didn't want to do this, Apple, but this is an intervention. They have those for relationships, right? You had to balance the secrecy of the iPod game announcement with making the SDK available, we get it. But imagine how those Mac companies -- which have only love for you -- felt on that cold morning when you showed off those internally and EA-developed iPod games. Steve wasn't even wearing his turtle-neck; we thought we saw him in that shirt the day before.
Okay, what's done is done. But remember, with Boot Camp, Cider, and other concerns, your Mac game development relationships are in danger. If it's time to move on and you've outgrown Mac gaming, so be it. But whatever happens on the Mac side, let them into the iPod-games piece of your heart.
