New iPod nano, classic ship with three games, no Parachute
Apple just made a whole slew of iPod-related announcements, with just the faintest hint of gamer love. Revealed during Steve Jobs' special iPod event, both the revamped iPod nano and the iPod classic will ship with three games: Vortex, iQuiz, and Klondike.
Klondike is just a fancy name for that Solitaire card game we all know and love, so nothing new there, and iQuiz is a remixed version of the older iPod "guess which song this is" game. Vortex, meanwhile, is a circular, three-dimensional brick-busting game in the style of arcade classics Breakout and Arkanoid. All three titles were developed in-house by Apple, and both Vortex and iQuiz can also currently be purchased on the iTunes store.
Even if the new nano is the Gimli to the old nano's Legolas, it's nice to see both it and the classic getting more into games. Jobs also promises more iPod games coming to the iTunes Store (Hey! You know what would be awesome on the iPod? Peggle!)
Although not addressed during the event, it's assumed that the brand new iPod touch will join the iPhone in being unable to play any games purchased from the iTunes Music Store.
Klondike is just a fancy name for that Solitaire card game we all know and love, so nothing new there, and iQuiz is a remixed version of the older iPod "guess which song this is" game. Vortex, meanwhile, is a circular, three-dimensional brick-busting game in the style of arcade classics Breakout and Arkanoid. All three titles were developed in-house by Apple, and both Vortex and iQuiz can also currently be purchased on the iTunes store.
Even if the new nano is the Gimli to the old nano's Legolas, it's nice to see both it and the classic getting more into games. Jobs also promises more iPod games coming to the iTunes Store (Hey! You know what would be awesome on the iPod? Peggle!)
Although not addressed during the event, it's assumed that the brand new iPod touch will join the iPhone in being unable to play any games purchased from the iTunes Music Store.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ska Oreo @ Sep 5th 2007 4:29PM
BASTARDS!!!
FrankTheCrank @ Sep 5th 2007 4:34PM
iPod Touch only comes in 8GB and 16GB. THAT SUCKS!!
Why should I go from a 30GB 5G to an 8GB Touch?
What a mistake...they should have gone with 1.8 inch drives.
mr nimblewick @ Sep 5th 2007 4:36PM
Actually, Frank, this is not Engadget.
FrankTheCrank @ Sep 5th 2007 4:39PM
Had to post my frustration somewhere. Posts on Engadget get buried real quick. Especially when your talking Apple.
FrankTheCrank @ Sep 5th 2007 4:39PM
Had to post my frustration somewhere. Posts on Engadget get buried real quick. Especially when your talking Apple hardware.
mr nimblewick @ Sep 5th 2007 4:44PM
Yes, I know. I was disappointed too.
rTwelve @ Sep 5th 2007 5:22PM
8GB nano to a 8GB touch is a fine strategy to me. Especially when I'm using a BB replacement plan on the defective headphone port in order to only pay the difference in price ($50) to get a touch. Same thing I did to get an Elite.
Ed @ Sep 5th 2007 8:08PM
or you could be like me and, you know, not own an ipod already.
waves @ Sep 6th 2007 12:52AM
At first I thought they sacrificed storage space for physical size, which would be kind of silly. The thing is so thin they could afford to add a few mm. Now I'm thinking they went with flash memory to conserve battery life. Remember the thing has a huge screen and WiFi, which both suck power. Flash memory is expensive so they went with a gimped size.
mr nimblewick @ Sep 5th 2007 4:35PM
I really didn't like the old Nano. This one looks much better.
Peggle on iPod... Peggle on DS... both are good.
YoRone22 @ Sep 5th 2007 7:29PM
Are you kidding me? The new one looks like a short fat kid. It's ugly.
ark_v2 @ Sep 5th 2007 9:00PM
I didn't like the 2G. I loved the 1G, and this one is O.K. Flow is a mistake IMO, but well...I miss the fingerprint-magnet stylish iPods, the 6G is SO ugly...and the Touch is nice but it's retarded, flash based on that size? and touch screen on a DAP?! come on...
BPM @ Sep 6th 2007 1:36AM
@YoRone22:
Actually, it's more like the Paper Mario of iPods. Yeah, it's wide and short, but it's quite flat.
NaeemTHM @ Sep 5th 2007 4:38PM
What the shiz.
Instead of developing games for the HUGE all touch screen of the iPhone or iPod Touch, they decide to develop for this tiny shit!
What were they thinking? Let's get some games on that iPhone!
Dragod @ Sep 5th 2007 4:38PM
God dang... I hate the iPod... Joystiq was my one safe haven to never see them... *sigh*
Atleast you guys don't go around blatantly attacking the Zune.
rTwelve @ Sep 5th 2007 5:12PM
It doesn't need to be attacked...
hvnlysoldr @ Sep 5th 2007 5:27PM
No use in beating a dead horse.
ill trooper @ Sep 5th 2007 6:52PM
Attacking the Zune is like picking on a 3-legged mangy dog... It's just too pathetic and has no purpose.
Vegnagun @ Sep 5th 2007 4:40PM
"Hey! You know what would be awesome on the iPod? Peggle!"
Couldn't have said it better. Harcode peggle fanatics are all about that portable peggle.
finnith @ Sep 5th 2007 4:43PM
DAMMIT
NOW MY RECORD IN PARACHUTE IS WORTH NOTHING!
Maxwell Ash @ Sep 6th 2007 1:32PM
I bet my record is better than your record. On my iPod Mini I got 100 points, at which point the game stops, and no more men come.
Guybrush Threepwood @ Sep 5th 2007 4:44PM
I have a 4GB Nano, so I would be glad to update to an 8GB Touch.
Plus portable internet device = yes.
elmersglue @ Sep 5th 2007 4:44PM
um yeah im definitely getting the 16gb touch. Its exactly what i'm looking for. 16gb is how much space of music i have on my computer, and most of it i don't listen to anyways. I'm not the type that keeps a huge collection of music, i delete old shit that i dont like anymore. Ive always thought 4 and 8 was kind of limiting though. 16 is perfect...no need for an iphone and a stupid AT&T contract anymore...i'm stoked
phattie @ Sep 5th 2007 4:46PM
iPod Touch...
Too big to be an mp3 player .. get any other iPod
Not enough GB for a video player .. get the Classic
Not a phone .. get the iPhone
Gimped communications .. get the iPhone
Buckshot @ Sep 5th 2007 4:50PM
Go buy a Zune for $199, it is hands down the best portable media player, plus no itunes clogging your system. I game my ipod away after getting my doo doo brown zune.
mr nimblewick @ Sep 5th 2007 4:56PM
But does a ZUNE come with Vortex?!?! Huh?!?! Well, DOES IT?!?!?!?!?!
rTwelve @ Sep 5th 2007 5:20PM
How is iTunes clogging your system any different than Zune software clogging it? Especially since Zune is just a rehash of Media Player. I guess I just don't understand.
And Zune for $199 reminds me of 60GB PS3 for $499. No wait, 80GB?
samfish @ Sep 5th 2007 4:55PM
I'll probably buy an iPod Touch. I've been holding out on buying a decent MP3 player for YEARS while waiting for a full screen iPod.
I wish the iPhone wasn't exclusive to AT&T, because I'll be needin' a new phone soon, too...being to the fact that my phone now gets about...oh, say, 90 minutes of battery life at this point.
Dragod @ Sep 5th 2007 6:03PM
Eh. The nice thing about real buttons on a Media player is that you can operate it through your pocket, or in a jacker and such.
And, I've heard the iPhone's screen is waring away. The chemicals kind of just... die.
vinny @ Sep 5th 2007 4:57PM
i would never buy an apple product, overpriced and they usually lack features that other companys provide for less money, guess im not in the hip crowd
mr nimblewick @ Sep 5th 2007 5:00PM
Apple doesn't go for the policy that you have to throw all available technology into a product to make it worth while. People like the iPod because it is simple and elegant.
elmersglue @ Sep 5th 2007 5:06PM
agreed with nimblewick. I wasn't a fan of ipods for the longest time. But you can't argue the beauty of the UI, especially for the iphone/touch. It's streamlined and pretty looking. And with safari and youtube videoing, can't ask for much more than that in the features department...screw the radio.
James @ Sep 5th 2007 5:18PM
Cool, I didn't know I could buy another 160gb MP3 player for £230 and last 30 hours off a single charge.
Don't be a twunt.
ill trooper @ Sep 5th 2007 6:52PM
Spoken like a true "feature-list" purist, buying and deciding without any concern for USABILITY.
TWiNKiE @ Sep 5th 2007 7:26PM
I agree. Nearly every feature the 5G iPod has is somehow flawed in one way or another.
At least they fixed SOME THINGS with the touch. For example, no click wheel. Big screen........ um... I think that's it.
And yet, nearly any other PMP out there has no click wheel, and a big screen.
rTwelve @ Sep 5th 2007 5:16PM
The new nano/shuffle colors are ugly as sin. But I'm looking for my Best Week Ever the week of the 23rd:
Halo 3 and the iPod touch come out.
A hybrid MS/Apple fanboy? That's impossible!
rTwelve @ Sep 5th 2007 5:17PM
*forward. Sorry, too excited.
Kevlar @ Sep 5th 2007 6:25PM
You're a hybrid Apple/MS fanboy? If MS is matter (normal, functional) to Apple's antimatter (much cooler sounding), then I wouldn't touch yourself if I were you. You might rip a hole in the fabric of spacetime and bring about the end of the universe.
Wait a minute... I use a mac... and I own an XBox360!? Oh, SHI-%^&[NO CARRIER]
Donald @ Sep 6th 2007 8:16AM
Error: Divide by zero
James @ Sep 5th 2007 5:16PM
I've owned a 3G, still have a 2G mini, 2G shuffle, 80gb 5.5G iPod and to me this new Nano is fugly. I can't believe designers as good as Apple made this.
I have that iQuiz. It's not bad. I don't want to play DS or phone wannabe games on the go. But something that uses my iPod library? awesome.
they messed up big time with the HDD-less iPod Touch. 160gb drive in that and I would have bought one NOW.
elmersglue @ Sep 5th 2007 5:22PM
how much would that cost? like seriously...be realistic. Oh and it's not a freaking portable HDD, it's an mp3 player, 160 gigs? is that seriously necessary?
James @ Sep 5th 2007 6:13PM
Yes. Audiophiles who encode in lossless, people who buy and/or rip films and TV shows (in my case I'm up to 81gb of TV shows and 46gb of films. 22gb music. 4gb photos). If Video on iPods never came along I wouldn't bother. But it did and takes up a lot of room. I want to carry my library since I travel away from a computer.
And useful as a portable HDD...
ill trooper @ Sep 5th 2007 7:30PM
I think it's a trade-off for battery life... The large screen ipods/iphone all use flash memory, while the smaller-screened iPod Classic has a hard-drive. Maybe combining the hard-drive with the large screen would have dipped the battery life far below the 24 hours of audio they claim.
As for the looks, I don't mind the new nano - except for those weak new colors. I'm guessing when people see it in person the bad attitudes will melt away and the haters will fall in love again. I would have to opt for the black one. That looks like a good iPod. I have the 8gig nano and a 30gig iPod video and the 8gig is amazing, excellent battery life, light as a feather, and by stepping down to a smaller iPod, I put more thought into what I'm putting on it, versus dragging everything I own on to a larger iPod, which for me has translated to hearing more music that I like, more often (when I put it on shuffle).
Elliot @ Sep 5th 2007 5:25PM
Apple is doing the gaming thing all wrong. Truth is, the games are overpriced. If they opened the gaming up to everyone so that everyone can create games for ipods they would sell more. People would consider the ipod to also be a gaming device. Imagine hundreds of games, all free. Apple would recommend ones that work well so you know what to choose.
LAZoftheTamarinds @ Sep 5th 2007 5:50PM
Hmmm... been holding out on buying an Ipod, might get the new Nano though.
Benny @ Sep 5th 2007 5:52PM
It's just a shame the new Nano is so fugly. May have to upgrade to a touch from my 4GB Nano though. (Will really miss the beautiful electric blue of my Nano though)
Slaziman @ Sep 5th 2007 5:59PM
That fattie is ugly as sin, what the hell were they thinking?!!!! I was holding out for the 3G Nano so I didn't feel screwed when it came out, but looking at this hideous piece of shit I'll be getting a 2G Nano...
And why an iPod over the other brands that offer better value? The design just kicks ass!
AoE @ Sep 5th 2007 6:51PM
Admit it, you really like them for the DRM ;)
Diskoboy @ Sep 5th 2007 6:20PM
Oh, I'm pissed....
I just bought my dad an Ipod 30GB a week ago, and I've barely had mine a year, then they release a new one.
Screw you, Apple.
ill trooper @ Sep 5th 2007 6:52PM
And did yours stop working or become any less effective than it was when you bought it? No? Then really, you can't blame a company for adding more features, changing prices, etc.
Sure it's a bummer (I mean, I bought the iPhone on launch day and it dropped $200 in price today!) but I can't say I'd want to wait and wait until 'the next thing' comes out... I'd be waiting forever! You need to learn to see the value in your usage for the last year. As for buying your dad a new iPod last week, well... It's been all over the internet for TWO weeks or more that Apple was having a big music-related event today. You might have waited if it was really going to bother you so much after the fact.