Users are playing games on the iPhone for the same amount of time as on traditional handheld devices such as Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP.

That's according to the findings of ng:moco, the specialist iPhone publisher carving out a niche on Apple's handset, and proof for CEO Neil Young that the iPhone is a serious new-generation console.

While traditional mobile games are played for around six minutes at a time, ng:moco's own analytics show that titles such as the recently released Rolando are engaging consumers for far longer.

"You look at the other end of the spectrum with Rolando and the average play session is 22 minutes. The average player is playing the game ten times. That's a very different type of behaviour," said Young in an interview published today.

"That's the type of behaviour you'd expect to see from a DS or PSP or a traditional console gameplay experience. Why do I believe this is different? Because I believe people are playing the games differently. And that's enabled by what the device is able to do."

The iPhone is also a format that enables developers to approach game design differently, with those working with ng:moco able to assess user experience and tweak gameplay accordingly.

"We can see that people are stuck in Topple on world four, for example, and so we can change the level so players get to see world's five, six and seven," detailed Young. "We make little tweaks and tunes when we see people get stuck or a drop off in usage."

Before founding ng:moco, Young had been with Electronic Arts for 11 years, but has found that himself and other more traditional videogame makers are adapting to the iPhone format quickly.

"The biggest thing with the device is that it's got a unique set of functionalities and interface. The first place people go to is 'let's put some buttons on the screen.' We're always trying to encourage ourselves and others we work with to not think that way," said Young.

"I don't think Nintendo would go that way. They would think about making a Zelda game that entirely uses touch. We have to think the same way if we want the games to truly take advantage of the iPhone."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-to-ds-and-psp ...

Users are playing games on the iPhone for the same amount of time as on traditional handheld devices such as Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP.

That's according to the findings of ng:moco, the specialist iPhone publisher carving out a niche on Apple's handset, and proof for CEO Neil Young that the iPhone is a serious new-generation console.

While traditional mobile games are played for around six minutes at a time, ng:moco's own analytics show that titles such as the recently released Rolando are engaging consumers for far longer.

"You look at the other end of the spectrum with Rolando and the average play session is 22 minutes. The average player is playing the game ten times. That's a very different type of behaviour," said Young in an interview published today.

"That's the type of behaviour you'd expect to see from a DS or PSP or a traditional console gameplay experience. Why do I believe this is different? Because I believe people are playing the games differently. And that's enabled by what the device is able to do."

The iPhone is also a format that enables developers to approach game design differently, with those working with ng:moco able to assess user experience and tweak gameplay accordingly.

"We can see that people are stuck in Topple on world four, for example, and so we can change the level so players get to see world's five, six and seven," detailed Young. "We make little tweaks and tunes when we see people get stuck or a drop off in usage."

Before founding ng:moco, Young had been with Electronic Arts for 11 years, but has found that himself and other more traditional videogame makers are adapting to the iPhone format quickly.

"The biggest thing with the device is that it's got a unique set of functionalities and interface. The first place people go to is 'let's put some buttons on the screen.' We're always trying to encourage ourselves and others we work with to not think that way," said Young.

"I don't think Nintendo would go that way. They would think about making a Zelda game that entirely uses touch. We have to think the same way if we want the games to truly take advantage of the iPhone."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-to-ds-and-psp ...

Consumer demand for the new Nintendo DSi is being hampered by a lack of unique software for the handheld, according Don McCabe, managing director of the UK independent retailer Chips.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, McCabe explained that the retailer sold out of DSi stock, mostly through pre-orders, however, free units were more difficult to sell than expected.

"We did get a couple of cancellations where people moved from deal to deal," he said, adding: "There's a few [retailers] that obviously didn't sell everything that they needed to and so consequently started doing a few deals, which was a bit irksome

"The ones that were cancelled, we weren't getting much interest in. It's a bit of a strange one really... because the feeling we get from customers is that they don't know exactly why they should buy it. It feels a bit PSPish - its got these capabilities, but you just don't see an app for it as such at the moment."

He continued: "I think it has sold because people love Nintendo, they think that anything that Nintendo does is good, I think people bought it but not knowing why they bought it.

"As far as the independent sector goes we were very tightly allocated, there wasn't a shed load of stock out there. But in some respects I think that wasn't too bad a thing, because had we been in a situation where we could buy freely I think I'd be sat on stock now."

McCabe said he had no doubt that the handheld would sell out for the immediate future, but it was the long term success that he was interested in. However, he also expressed his concerns that the Nintendo DSi Shop would impact on retailers.

"One of the things you've got to be very careful of is the applications store. If you flog a DSi and nobody ever comes back to buy a game but just buys them through the DSi applications store then you've effectively given your customers away.

"I thought it was quite cunning that Nintendo didn't actually roll out their DSi store until after the launch," he said, concluding: "It's a cautious approach on the DSi at the moment."

Figures provided by Chart-Track show that the DSi sold 92,000 units in its first two days on sale.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ck-of-software ...

With all the doom and gloom stories we've seen about PlayStation 3 getting beat by Nintendo Wii, it's refreshing to have some good news for a change. For the first time in 16 months, Sony's console managed to best its motion-controlled competitor, 146,948 to 99,335 this past March in Japan, according to gaming research group / Famitsu publisher Enterbrain. The sales are undoubtedly helped by PS3 heavy-hitters Yakuza 3 and Resident Evil 5 debuting last month, and at this point we don't expect the trend to continue, but for now Sony, enjoy your victory and bask in the knowledge that you're still totally kicking Xbox 360's rear in your home country.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/p...ice-in-a-blue/ ...

When we first caught a whiff of the virtual aerosol action promised by Martin Lihs' thesis at Bauhaus University, dubbed WiiSpray, we were intrigued, but we never figured the end product would be this impressive. Lihs has since posted up a short teaser trailer showing the wall in action, controlled by a modified Wiimote controller, with results that should make even the most law-abiding artist smile. The video below shows an extensive color picker tool, interactive stencils, and what looks to be a perfectly accurate spray pattern -- and it should be, as the whole is getup is sponsored by Montana Cans. We're not sure what's next for this technology, but hopefully Lihs and his creation will be bombing a more public location soon.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/v...fear-of-the-m/ ...

Not that we needed much more evidence that 2009 would be the year 'o PSP rumors, but Pocket Gamer is now reporting that it has heard from an "insider source" who says that the PSP2 will indeed be released before Christmas of this year. That source, who's supposedly a "developer working on the new hardware," also backs up some of the earlier rumors about the design of the device itself, saying that it will be more like the iPhone than the current PSP, and that it will boast a sliding touchscreen that conceals the buttons and dual analog controls when it's closed. Not much more than that, unfortunately, but who know's what next week's rumor will bring? We're personally hoping for a surprise Atari Lynx rebirth to really shake things up.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/l...mas-release-d/ ...

If you've been losing sleep in eager anticipation of the new Gmail for mobile, rest assured that you'll sleep soundly tonight. With support for both Android phones and iPhone / iPod Touch OS 2.2.1, the gang over at the Google mobile blog are justifiably proud of the new app. Expect nothing less than a more robust cache that utilizes Gears (for Android) and SQLite databases (for iPhones / touches) to allow you to compose messages and access recently read messages without a network connection, an improved look and feel, and the all new "floaty bar" (their name, not ours) that keeps popular menu commands from scrolling off screen, as this bad boy rolls out progressively over the course of the day. Most interestingly, using the new Gmail on your devices doesn't require any tweaks or installs -- it's utilizing HTML5 (and its offline storage APIs) already present in the browser. Google is just turning on the juice behind the scenes. And for those of you who are resistant to change, fear not -- the previous version is still available

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/g...ing-lots-of-f/ ...

If you've been losing sleep in eager anticipation of the new Gmail for mobile, rest assured that you'll sleep soundly tonight. With support for both Android phones and iPhone / iPod Touch OS 2.2.1, the gang over at the Google mobile blog are justifiably proud of the new app. Expect nothing less than a more robust cache that utilizes Gears (for Android) and SQLite databases (for iPhones / touches) to allow you to compose messages and access recently read messages without a network connection, an improved look and feel, and the all new "floaty bar" (their name, not ours) that keeps popular menu commands from scrolling off screen, as this bad boy rolls out progressively over the course of the day. Most interestingly, using the new Gmail on your devices doesn't require any tweaks or installs -- it's utilizing HTML5 (and its offline storage APIs) already present in the browser. Google is just turning on the juice behind the scenes. And for those of you who are resistant to change, fear not -- the previous version is still available

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/g...ing-lots-of-f/ ...

If you've been losing sleep in eager anticipation of the new Gmail for mobile, rest assured that you'll sleep soundly tonight. With support for both Android phones and iPhone / iPod Touch OS 2.2.1, the gang over at the Google mobile blog are justifiably proud of the new app. Expect nothing less than a more robust cache that utilizes Gears (for Android) and SQLite databases (for iPhones / touches) to allow you to compose messages and access recently read messages without a network connection, an improved look and feel, and the all new "floaty bar" (their name, not ours) that keeps popular menu commands from scrolling off screen, as this bad boy rolls out progressively over the course of the day. Most interestingly, using the new Gmail on your devices doesn't require any tweaks or installs -- it's utilizing HTML5 (and its offline storage APIs) already present in the browser. Google is just turning on the juice behind the scenes. And for those of you who are resistant to change, fear not -- the previous version is still available

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/g...ing-lots-of-f/ ...