Games have long been included on the iPod , but they ’ve been pretty introductory : Solitaire , Brick , Parachute and Music Quiz . Now that premium games are here — available for all 5th - genesis iPods from the iTunes Store — the big question is , are they worth the $ 4.99 Apple is asking you to devote ? The response may surprise you .
Apple ’s young game for the iPod are sold fromthe iTunes Storethe same way you could buy euphony and — if you live in the United States — TV shows and movies . But unlike those last two genres , iPod game have been publish around the human beings — everywhere there ’s an iTunes Store , there ’s a way to purchase games . Evidently Apple was able to strike a more favourable licensing arrangement with biz companies than it ’s been able to reach with studio executives .
The starting lineup
Of the nine game that debuted with Tuesday ’s release ofiTunes 7 , two of them are Apple original — a Texas Hold’em stove poker biz , and a brickbashing title called Vortex . The others include three games made by gaming giantElectronic art , two games made by casual game makerPopCap Games , one classic colonnade game fromNamco , and one from an independent game maker calledFresh Games . Interestingly , there ’s no theatrical from “ traditional ” Macintosh plot developer , many of whom have petition Apple in the past times to start the iPod to third - party biz growing .
The starting lineup of iPod games is bound to deflate the expectations of “ hardcore ” gamers , but it ’s a robust collection of casual games , puzzle statute title , and tried - and - true classic that should appeal to a wide swath of iPod users :
Downloading and installing
Individual music tracks purchased from the iTunes Store only measure a few megabytes ; typically a full record album may be 50 MB or 60 MB in size , depend on length . If you ’re familiar with how long it takes to grab a music data file from the iTunes store on your estimator , you ’ll have a good gauge for game downloads too .
iPod game range in size pretty dramatically — at the low conclusion , Pac - Man is about 8.6 MB , while Texas Hold’em , which use digitize image of existent mass and a sightly degree of animation , tops the chart at 47.5 MB . The size does n’t touch on the price — all plot cost $ 4.99 at the U.S. iTunes Store .
The iTunes Store ’s Preview button is put to good consumption here — it yields a television showing you the secret plan in advance , complete with sound . Users can reexamine games the same mode they do with music and TV show , too .
Bear in mind that any 5th - generation iPod ( also called the video iPod ) is open of playing games — you do n’t needone of the novel ones Steve Jobs introducedat Tuesday ’s “ It ’s Showtime ” issue . Original 5th - generation iPods will need a microcode update , however , which is usable from within iTunes 7 — join the iPod will found iTunes , and you ’ll be able-bodied to update from there ( I needed to “ Restore ” my iPod , which wiped out the contents of its hard drive , in decree to apply the firmware update , for some ground ) . iPod nanos , elderly iPod photos and other systems ca n’t run games .
Apple has boost bombardment charge mental ability in the new 30 GB and 80 GB iPods , and it ’s a good thing — in my brief testing on Tuesday nighttime and Wednesday dayspring , I was able to melt the iPod ’s shelling hazardously downcast , which advise that the screenland and cluck wheel action meld with the processing and saucer access require to keep up with the secret plan is probably pretty taxing on the iPod ’s battery . I heartily prognosticate that brand new iPods have better results .
Once local on your simple machine , the secret plan appear list in iTunes in a raw library called “ iPod Games ; ” fall into place on the games listed there will yield descriptions , elaborated instructions , and even screenshots . The games are n’t playable within iTunes , though — they need to be transplant to the iPod .
Games downloaded from the iTunes Store are copy - protected using the same DRM technology that protects music and telecasting , with the same limitation . you could have the games on multiple authorized calculator — in fact , the fresh iPod sync technology in iTunes 7 work with game , as well — they’re copied and installed along with any other iTunes Store purchases .
Gameplay
The iPod screen is pocket-size than what I ’m habituate to , playing games on a Sony PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS , but the iPod ’s screenland is super bright and sharp , perfectly desirable for game . Some of the games strain my heart a bit — Pac - Man , for example , renders the total labyrinth on the iPod screen with some other senseless graphics , and the snarl is really midget . Others , like Vortex and Mini Golf , make salutary use of the uncommitted screen door space .
Playing with the click bicycle accept some getting used to , and it ’s dissimilar for each biz . Each biz is uncomplicated enough in its control scheme that the limited stimulant the click rack permit works well enough , and some , like Vortex and Bejeweled , have done a honest occupation of picture out way to employ the click steering wheel ’s rotation potentiality . While some games require lots of tapping , others , like Pac - Man , but require you to employ a bit of thumb imperativeness to the spot on the click wheel you want Pac - Man to move . Some games take longer than others to cipher out ; others get frustrating when you circumstantially hit the click wheel in the incorrect pip . ( I ’ve already folded a few winning hands at Texas Hold’em that path . )
Sound timber in each of the games is splendid , with full stereo phone and rich sound effect . Each of the game has a canonic anatomical structure that you ’ll get to know passably quickly — showing you sentence and barrage level in upper corner of the sieve , asking for your name ( to record gamy score ) and ask you to economize when you exit ( presuming you ’d like to go along a secret plan in progress later ) .
But other than that , each game has a pretty unique looking at and feel , and the developers have done a fine job getting their claim working on the iPod . I very much doubt that most people did what I did — dive down a wad of cash to buy every game available for the iPod immediately — but I do have it away a few that have buy several , and many more that purchase one or two . So it ’s clear that Apple has really concerned iPod exploiter with this new feature of speech .
Time will tell whether iPod game are enough of a success to merit further expansion and development of the platform for play — I’m willing to bet that other games are on the means , for sure . But it ’s a bit disheartening to see such small original maturation for the iPod — does anyone really needanotherplatform to play Bejeweled or Tetris on ? Those games are already available on everything from Macs to personal digital assistant to cell phones .
I trust Apple will ultimately let the developers that have supported the Mac for so long in on the secret plan , because they have some heavy ideas on how to make iPod gaming fun . And more importantly , I go for Apple will actively nurture the ontogenesis of original gaming form of address that aid the iPod shine in its own right as a secret plan system . At this distributor point , it ’s Apple ’s game to lose .
