iPod Touch; gaming device of the near future?

With just short of 22.000 games available on its App Store, the position of the iPod Touch as a gaming device is really taking off. With the two major competitors only having 3680 (Nintendo DS) and 607 (Sony’s PSP) Apple is taking the lead as one of the biggest mobile gaming platforms. The recent iPod Touch price cut only reinforces Apple’s position by allowing for more people to own their entry-level device.

“Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch,” Jobs told the New York Times. “Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine.

“We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to USD 199. We don’t need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it.”

There you have it, huge sales numbers; iPhone sold 30 million units, Touch sold 20 million; both in the past 2 years, combined with its enormous amount of games looks to be Apple’s ticket in the big league of gaming. The new technology; iPhone 3GS and new iPod Touch, allows for even more impressive graphics and gameplay allowing designers to push the envelope even furthur.

Next stage? More processing power, augmented reality, and fully integrated social networking features. I believe the future has no monthly play in terms of call time in it, we just lease the phone of our choice and pay a flat fee for data.