Continuing in our series of original feature columns on video games and gaming culture for CNN.com, we recently took a look at how Apple’s iPhone 4 and its new gyroscope and accelerometer combo promise to reinvent mobile games. The first of many new motion control systems to arrive (and potentially one of the most important), this hardware advancement adds entirely new dimensions to the smartphone gaming experience.
Granted, melodramatic headlines aside, it’s not like introducing six-axis motion sensing to a cellular phone will completely redefine the category overnight, or even supplant the tactile controls found on current portable gaming systems like the PlayStation Portable (PSP) or Nintendo DSi and DS. Nor will titles in traditional genres such as shooter, strategy and role-playing games (RPG) found on the iPhone necessarily offer the same depth or scope as those offered on dedicated handheld console devices. But we do foresee a positive future for how the ability to detect motion on multiple axes – i.e. up, down, left, right, forward and backward – as well as orientation and velocity can impact the shape of casual and mobile titles to come in all genres.
As suggested in the story, a variety of examples might include puzzle games that require the dexterity of a surgeon, action-adventures through which you explore vast surroundings by rotating your wrists, or racing and air combat simulations powered just by tilting and tipping your handset. We’re also certain that sports game makers and first-person shooter creators are presently eyeing this new technology with glee – physical gesture-powered game of table tennis, anyone? But just how well it’ll truly integrate into these types of titles, let alone sci-fi and fantasy epics, or add extra atmosphere and storytelling depth to survival horror outings and dramatic thrillers remains to be seen. Happily, thousands of studios are undoubtedly considering these possibilities and more (e.g. augmented reality applications, geolocation-based quests, etc.) as we speak.
Feel like pondering the possibilities, or just desperately in need of an excuse to help justify the cost of upgrading from your now ‘hopelessly outdated’ iPhone 3G S to the wife? Simply hit the link below.
iPhone 4′s Gyroscope May Redefine Mobile Gaming – CNN.com
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Scott Steinberg is the CEO of video game consulting firm TechSavvy Global, and founder of GameExec magazine and Game Industry TV. Hailed as a top technology and video game expert by dozens of publications from USA Today to Forbes and NPR, he’s covered the field for 400+ outlets from Playboy to Rolling Stone. A frequent on-air analyst for networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, he’s also the author of Video Game Marketing and PR.