EA betting big on iPods for portable gaming

by Blake Snow { Jan 8th 2007 at 11:25PM }

Apple has sold more than 70 million iPods since their inception back in 2001 making up 70% of the market share pie of portable music players. Since the launch iPod Games for video-enabled iPods last September, EA -- the world's largest video game maker -- has released 11 titles at $4.99 a piece with no signs of slowing. Note: mobile gaming accounted for 14% of EA's total revenue last fiscal year (including PSP, DS, GBA?), and programming for iPods is a breeze compared to mobile phones which each use unique OSs thus increasing development costs.

But having downloaded EA's well produced version of Sudoku with its slick presentation for my iPod video, I gotta say the controls keep me from playing. The scroll wheel is just to clunky for fast navigation, significantly slowing down the experience. Still, Reuters reports on EA's optimism despite the limiting controls: "The iPod may not be the best device for playing games, but it already is carried around by millions of people, giving it a certain edge, said Forrester analyst Paul Jackson. It is the one 'you are most likely to be carrying when you end up waiting for a flight, sitting in a dentist's waiting room, etc.'"

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sony Sucks @ Jan 8th 2007 11:34PM

iPod > PSP

scmacdaddy @ Jan 9th 2007 12:07AM

70 million ipods definitely cannot play those games, as my G1 is out of the loop. i believe its only the video enabled ones, and there may be around 20 million of those sold. still very big, but not 70 million.

NotAnElitistPrick @ Jan 9th 2007 12:13AM

This is the exact same rationale we keep hearing for mobile phone games. "Oh look, you already have a phone, all we need to do is convince you to buy a game for it..."

Glad to see EA's the one diving headfirst into the Kool-Aid, though. Maybe the $600M purchase of Jamdat combined with their insistence on dumping cash on these platforms will start them towards unprofitability.

BklynKid @ Jan 9th 2007 12:18AM

Translation:
"We know the click-wheel blows for gaming but with an install base as large as the iPods we can't help but shovel shit and hope that someone buys it."

(that's probably EA's mission statement, just replace iPod with X)

Wickedneoq @ Jan 9th 2007 12:37AM

Good move by EA, in a financial stand point. Look at how popular the casual gaming site Pogo.com is for them. Unless you release games that consumers will play, and for the cheap, you've found yourself a massive cash cow.

I'm not really a big fan of EA, but I can see that they really like the idea. Almost everyone in the continent of North America has either a cell phone or an iPod. Games for iPod is just another market to exploit.

Logic Bus @ Jan 9th 2007 12:23AM

The 11 games available for iPod aren't all from EA, are they?

James Smith @ Jan 9th 2007 12:40AM

Instead of making good, original games, EA would rather take one game, make tons of sequels and port them all to every possible console device possible. Now that's corporate gaming at it's finest. Can't wait to get my hands on Need for Speed: Oxygen for my American Express Card! I mean the controls suck and there's no screen, but hey, I never leave home without it!

sedemon @ Jan 9th 2007 2:46AM

Logic Bus, no, only Tetris, Mini Golf, Mahjong, Sudoku and one other... I forgot which one. But only Tetris comes fresh from the hawaii office. ;-)

Will W @ Jan 9th 2007 3:34AM

I have to disagree with your view on Sudoku, I love it Ive been addicted to it since I bought it and I really love the controls, which control scheme are you using? Anyway I have to say I own quite a few iPod games (Mini Golf, Sudoku, Tetris, Vortex, and Zuma) and they really amaze me how well they are made, some better then others (I can't stand mini golf) but with the constant feature of custom soundtracks, and in many of the games you can control the music without pausing, it is just a pleasureful experience. And sadly I have to agree with the first poster here, I own a PSP and the iPod games own PSP games in terms of enjoyment.

tom @ Jan 9th 2007 5:45AM

The DS/GBA may not be the best device for playing music, but it already is carried around by millions of people, giving it a certain edge.

If only nintendo would realise it and take advantage of it before sony and ms complete the transformation of PS3/PSP and 360/Zune into full portable media centres.

All it would take would be some form of DECENT GBA sd/memory cart that would allow your DS to wirelessly download media from your wii channels.