Speaking with id Software's John Carmack earlier today, we got the sense that the man has a hunk of burnin' love for Apple's iPhone. Aside from bringing a metric ton of classic id titles to the device, the legendary developer let us know that the Wii game once being talked about around the hallowed halls at the company is what eventually became Doom Resurrection.

"We like to think of it as a more guided experience than an on-rails game," Carmack told Joystiq this morning, referring to the game's character control system. "Originally, I was pitched the title as a Wii game -- I dropped some hints about this earlier in the year but nothing substantial, in case the game didn't work out or it wasn't fun or something like that," he continued. Considering the $9.99 asking price of Resurrection versus the $50 a Wii title could have cost, we (and our wallets) are more than happy with Mr. Carmack's choice.

Undeniably, Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch have become major players in the mobile gaming market. It seems like every developer under the sun is working on iPhone / iPod game of some kind. There are lots of games out there, and a rising number of them are pretty good, but the iPhone / iPod has thus far been devoid of another major aspect of the game industry: Third-party peripherals. Until now, that is. With the release of iPhone 3.0 firmware, Apple now mentions "Third-party Game Accessories" on the iPod Touch software update page.

The iPod and iPhone already have a huge accessories market, and we're sure that there are plenty of companies looking to carve a new niche with gaming accessories. There are no details regarding what sorts of accessories are on the way, but we'd say some more traditional input devices are a pretty safe bet.

We'll tell you one thing, we can't wait to see what Nyko has cooking.

[Via Touch Arcade]

Weighed against the more than 50,000 other apps in the App Store, Gameloft's 40 iPhone games might seem minuscule, but there's no doubt the mobile publisher has taken a prolific approach to striking gold in the mad rush to mine Apple's virtual territory. Putting top spin on his words, Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot insists to Pocket Gamer, "We're not in the volume business. We're in the experience business." And my, what variety of experience there is!

Gameloft has ported every manner of popular genre into an iPhone game and, despite mixed results, has managed to maintain a presence in both the top 100 paid games and paid (overall) apps lists -- with two bargain-bin sales currently in effect, Gameloft has four games among the top 100 paid apps right now. Key to this success, Guillemot claims, is staggering releases: "You can't take care of your titles when you're releasing them shotgun." So, do we just ignore that DJ Mix Tour, Real Tennis 2009 and Rise of Lost Empires were all released on June 3? Clearly, Gameloft is in the volume business, and it's working. But what are the drawbacks?

Guillemot suggests that the speedy Terminator Salvation: The official game price slash (from $9.99 to $4.99) is an example of Gameloft quickly responding to "consumer expectations," as if it is some breakthrough in seller-buyer relations. That's a crafty way of covering up the fact that Gameloft wasn't taking care and, in turn, diluted the market and damaged the integrity of iPhone games that might be worth $9.99. A more lasting effect could be the discouraging of developers that would have otherwise set out to create content worth that ceiling price, but instead turn to those half-baked, $0.99 efforts that are piling up -- almost literally -- a dime a dozen. But hey, at least there's no shortage of experience.

When Ensemble Studios closed its doors earlier this year many of its staff landed behind a desk at either Robot Entertainment or Bonfire Studios, a pair of outfits that rose up from the Age of Empires and Halo Wars dev's splintered remains. Not Graeme Devine, however -- he's far too trendy for that business.

Instead, the Halo Wars lead designer revealed to Kotaku's @crecenteb via Twitter that he opted for a job at Apple, working for the company's iPhone group. It's unclear exactly what he's working on at the popular fruit company, though given his experience perhaps Apple is looking to bring game development in-house. We've reached out to Devine for more, though whatever he's up to we're sure there's an app for that.

[Via Develop]

Revealed via leaked survey just over a month ago, Mass Effect for the iPhone seeks to fill in the story of a couple characters appearing in upcoming sequel, Mass Effect 2. So far, the little we know from the BioWare Blog paints the picture of a game that fills in the gaps between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, following the story of Jacob Taylor.

Citing the "limitations" of Apple's handheld, Mass Effect Galaxy is comprised of "a very defined beginning, a middle with three branches, and an end sequence that takes the player to the final showdown with the game's antagonist." BioWare is staying mum on more info to do with the game but hopefully we'll see more on the game this week at E3.

The signs are so clear that Apple wants a bigger slice of the gaming pie, you probably don't need us offering our own cockamamie theories (iPhun!). But maybe Yves Guillemot will be enough to convince you. During an earnings call yesterday, the Ubisoft boss said "There's also a new entrant in the business. [That entrant is] Apple, with the iPhone. And we don't think they will stop there."

Reading the rest of the context on Kotaku, it certainly sounds like Guillemot is thinking that Apple's working on new hardware. So, we've gotta ask: Do you have room in your heart for another box?

Metaversal Studios Inc. thinks its suggestive iPhone game, Hot Dog Down a Hallway, is being unfairly treated by Apple. According to the Boston Globe, Apple has banned the sale of the game's latest version because it does not meet the company's standards -- which state Apple reserves the right to reject "content or material" it feels "may be found objectionable by...users."

In the game, players launch a hot dog down a corridor attempting to avoid various obstacles, gaining achievements in the process, each with sexually suggestive names. A previous version of the game remains for sale on the store and while it's probably better than those stupid Fart applications, you'd probably be better off spending your money on something else.

[Via GamePolitics]

In a continued attempt to put its classic, excavatory arcade game Dig Dug on every piece of consumer electronics known to man, Namco recently tossed the title into the infinite expanse known as the iPhone/iPod Touch App Store. This particular version, titled Dig Dug REMIX, features 256 levels, as well as the titular Remix mode, which adds a few power-ups and some high octane Trance beats to the standard game (probably). It's on the App Store right now for $5.99 -- perhaps that seems a tad costly, but hey, that's inflation for you.

We are really sorry about that one.

Let's take this one super slow, okay? There is analyst talk that Apple -- that iPhone company -- may be considering a takeover of Electronic Arts. Investor Guy Adami notes there is "chatter" about the move, according to The Street. Meanwhile, TechNewsWorld reports Parks Associates VP Kurt Scherf sees Apple looking for "low-hanging revenue" in the game space. It appears that much of this talk is related to Apple hiring some game-related folks, like ex-Xbox strategy honcho, Richard Teversham, and a few tech-related guys.

Gamasutra spoke to Michael Pachter, the pope of game industry analysts, who finds the whole conversation "retarded." He points out that Apple could buy Warner Music for $3 billion -- thereby controlling 20 percent of the recording industry for its iTunes service -- instead of purchasing EA for twice that (EA's market cap is currently about $6.9 billion). He also notes that Apple owns no entertainment content, meaning that the company would be entering a brave new world if it got into EA's jammies.

For our part, we are staying way the hell away from this highly flammable situation until someone slaps some evidence down on the table.

[Via Edge]

Source -- 'Fast Money' Recap: Does the Rally Have Legs? [The Street]
Source -- Apple Beefs Up Gaming Presence With New Execs [Gamasutra]
Source -- Is It 'Game On' for Apple? [TechNewsWorld]

Microsoft's Xbox strategy executive in Europe, Richard Teversham, has joined Apple. MCV reports that Teversham's core job is an "education-related role" at the corporation of iThings. The executive had been with Microsoft for 15 years and played a major role in the life of the Xbox, which may assist him in dealing with the iPhone/iPod Touch portable gaming devices. The company is currently seeking a replacement.

We'd love to tell you more about Teversham and what he did, but apparently his strategy work was deep cover. We haven't really written about the guy since 2006.

The classic brain bender Myst has arrived for iPhone and iPod Touch, notes WhatTheyPlay. The $6 app is a hefty 700MB, so the developers at Cyan Worlds probably aren't kidding when they state the "original Myst sights and sounds have been meticulously re-assembled ... in a format where a simple touch or swipe moves you through the world."

The game features the full Myst experience -- allegedly "better than original Myst" -- with auto-save, bookmarking and (most importantly) quick access to the hint guide. We haven't had a chance to check it out, so let us know how Cyan Worlds did porting the game for portable play.

iTunes - Download Myst at the iTunes App Store

Simon Oliver has been a game developer for more than a few years now, so we're going to trust him when he says, "The barriers to publishing, compared to developing for the Wii, or PlayStation Portable, or Nintendo DS, [are] incredibly low," regarding Apple's iPhone. The Rolando developer recently spoke with GamesIndustry.biz and had some interesting things to say regarding the development and publishing processes involved in his massively successful game.

"There were a lot of aspects in my own skillset that I felt needed work - my C++ was okay, but it was quite seat-of-the-pants stuff initially," he says, regarding development of Rolando. He believes that while "there's not the same level of quality control that you get on XBLA or WiiWare" the games released for Apple's platform are more interesting as "the barrier to entry is so unbelievably low." We've certainly heard this tune before and it looks as though some major players are jumping on the iPhone bandwagon. We're hopeful that the future for the iPhone's developmental wild west can withstand the pressure of big money publishers wrangling up all the mindshare.

The founder of EA and mobile developer Digital Chocolate, Trip Hawkins, thinks iPhone is the best thing since sliced bread Sega Genesis. In an interview with VentureBeat, the exec said, "We make as much money with these [iPhone] games on one device as we do putting a game on 100 different cell phone platforms." In fact, mobile developers are making so much money with games for iPhone, at such a low overhead, that Hawkins believes the iPhone is "freaking out" Sony and Nintendo.

And though Hawkins' company publishes games on the web and Facebook as well as for Apple's devices, he believes competitors (including Blackberry) to be stuck in the past. "Everybody else is a couple of years behind Apple" -- a notion that he credits to the iTunes Store's relative ubiquity among consumers even before the iPhone existed. "They've spent years building up those iTunes accounts and it's much easier for the money to flow." And not forcing consumers to convert to a ridiculous points currency probably doesn't hurt that flow either.

Apple has released some data regarding the most downloaded applications from its App Store, which is celebrating its imminent one billionth download, reports GI.biz. Topping the list of most downloaded paid apps is none other than fallen console idol Crash Bandicoot's Nitro Kart 3D racing game. Other popular paid apps include classic time wasters like Bejeweled 2 and Tetris, as well as Enigmo, Moto Chaser and Flick Fishing.

Heading up the most downloaded free games is Tap Tap Revenge. Curiously, Apple lists Tap Tap Revenge as the fourth most downloaded free app, behind Google Earth, Facebook and Pandora Radio. This is contrary to a report released by comScore last week claiming that Tap Tap Revenge was the most downloaded free app overall.

Now, if you'll excuse us, we have start designing an iPhone game, like now.

Many gamers were underwhelmed by the replica Pip-Boy 3000 digital clock that was included in the Amazon-exclusive Fallout 3 Survival Edition. Fortunately, a clever modder by the name of Otaku Joe had the presence of mind to rip out the gadget's chronometric guts and replace them with an iPod Touch, bringing us one step closer to a fully realized wrist-mounted health tracker, inventory manager, quest chronicler and, of course, old-timey radio. You can check it out in a hilariously awkward video preview after the break.

[Via Kotaku]