Games have been part of the iPod ’s repertoire since September 2006 when Apple insert nine games you could play on the pop music player . But there was a limitation — the games only work on telecasting - adequate to 5th - coevals iPods . iPod nano owners were out of fortune .
That ’s changed with thelatest unit of ammunition of iPodsintroduced by Steve Jobs last month . The redesigned third - generation iPod nano features a color cover with 320 - by-240 - pixel resolution — the same resolve useable on the iPod classic . So not only can you watch video recording on the nano ’s 2 - in screen , you could also act video recording games .
Three games come with the iPod nano : iQuiz , a multiple option quiz secret plan ; Vortex , a 3 - vitamin D brick - whap game ; and Klondike , the authoritative solitaire card biz . As of this composition , three more were useable for leverage and download from the iTunes Store : Tetris , Ms. Pac - Man , andSudoku . Vortex and iQuiz were only useable for leverage to 5th - coevals full - sized iPod users , so their addition on the iPod nano is welcome .
My confrere Dan Frakes has alreadyreviewed the iPod nano . Rather than tax its music- and TV - playing capabilities , I want to look at it strictly from the perspective of a gamer : Does the game experience transform to Apple ’s smaller iPod ?
After a few weeks of testing , I ’ve found that the new nano ’s game - make for abilities are a pleasant augmentation to the machine ’s capabilities , though I do n’t think it will replacing your Game Boy or PSP any meter soon .
In the Palm of Your HandThe click wheel is responsive as you flirt the brick - bash game Vortex and the sieve is clear and shiny , but it ’s hard to make out particular on the 2 - in display .
Measuring performance
Game - playing performance on the 8 GB iPod nano is every bit up to the standard I expect from my experiences using a 30 GB 5th - generation video iPod . The response to input on the click bicycle is quite snappy , and the artwork performance is utterly tolerable . Having said that , none of the games you may buy or that already ship with the iPod nano really push the limit of what can be done diagrammatically , and have evenhandedly simple gameplay mechanics .
The most obvious limit of the iPod nano as a play organisation is the property of the showing . A two - inch color LCD display is n’t very self-aggrandizing , no matter how you slice it ( though it ’s heavy enough for Nintendo to make a jeans pocket - sized game organisation around , its Game Boy Micro ) . The clarity of the 320 - by-240 display is remarkable , and the brightness is also quite good . Still , I ca n’t quite get past the size of it . It ’s too small to see a lot of contingent in the game . I was already a mo put off byMs . Pac - Man’stiny dimensions on the larger iPod ’s exhibit ; here it ’s almost to the point of being ridiculous .
As with picture playback ( perhaps even more so ) , plot drag down the battery heraldic bearing of the iPod substantially . Apple tell that third - coevals iPod nanos can last up to 24 hr on a single bearing when playing music or up to five hour when play TV . I saw somewhere south of that — nearer to four hours — when play games exclusively .
Three In OneLike the iPod classic , the latest nano ship with iQuiz , Vortex , and Klondike already establish .
Still , I do n’t pretend that anyone buying an iPod nano is buy one solely to wager game . To that remainder , the nano is a fantastic pocket - sized music player with a genuinely telling feature set for something so small and so sparse ; the fact that it plays videos at all , let alone game , is ice on the cake .
Because of the overall tiny attribute of the young iPod nano , I find my bridge player cramp up during longsighted play sessions — it was just a shade awkward to have the iPod nano perched in my helping hand with my thumb on the Click Wheel all the time . Between that and the tiny display , I ca n’t really commend the iPod nano as a play arrangement , but I certainly opine it ’ll come in ready to hand for commuters appear for the occasional misdirection while they ’re move to and from work . The fact that Apple ’s reach extra game uncommitted is cracking — you could always practice some variety .
It ’s worth note that the same games you ’ve already bought for a 5th - genesis iPod do n’t bring on the iPod nano . I ’m sure that ’ll come as a bitter disappointment to iPod drug user who were hoping to load up their unexampled iPod nano with games they already own . It sure enough let down me .
iTunes Store customer support told me in an atomic number 99 - mail that I would have to “ rebuy ” my older game for $ 4.99 each if I wanted to play them again on the iPod nano , however . Boo , Apple .
The last word
The nano ’s secret plan - playing capabilities are certainly a dainty addition to its already impressive feature tilt , though its lilliputian sizing makes marathon gaming Roger Huntington Sessions windy . Casual gamers looking for a prison-breaking will likely appreciate this new feature — put up they ’re not 5th - coevals iPod possessor forced to raise their existing games depository library .
[ aged editor Peter Cohen look back Mac game for Macworld ’s Game Room . ]
