The iPhone Not-Quite-5

By now, you're probably aware that the Big Apple Announcement was not an iPhone 5, but an iPhone 4S. That "S" stands for, "So ... that's all you got for me?"

What's this mean for gamers? It means an A5 chip, same as the iPad 2, which adds up to a significant performance bump for games. 

The bigger news was the central role played by Siri (click this link to watch the video of it in action) in the presentation. Siri is voice recognition software, and it isn't new at all. Apple bought Siri and is integrating an improved version of it right into the OS. You can already use voice commands to do searches and the like, but the new Siri integration seems to take that the next logical step, with almost complete voice automation. It can read your emails aloud in that creepy GlaDOS voice, and then let you dictate a reply. If I asked it to open the pod bay doors, do you think it would?

It's certainly a more robust integration of voice recognition, but hardly the stuff of Apple's legendary press conferences. On the other hand, it was probably a smart move not to call it an iPhone 5, because if they did people would say, "Well, really, this doesn't feel like a generational upgrade, more like an iPhone 4 with a random letter after it."

Skynet goes online in 5...4...3...2...

Consoles Now Only 40% Of the Videogame Market Says ...

... the CEO of Electronic Arts, John Riccitiello. It used to be 80%. In an interview with Industry Gamers, the big boss of the biggest game company on the planet says that iPad is their fastest growing market, the Wii U is just fine, and people need to basically get a grip on the seismic changes in the electronic entertainment industry:

We have a new hardware platform and we’re putting out software every 90 days. Our fastest growing platform is the iPad right now and that didn’t exist 18 months ago. So the idea that we’re categorizing the industry as being [cyclical]... Nintendo is off cycle with what? I mean, the point of reference is gone. And so Nintendo is bringing out a new platform that brings together some of what we’re learning from new media and new platforms like the iPad and then integrating that with a console. It’s the perfect time for that in the industry."

As I've been saying. Somehow videogame analysts got locked into this idea of cyclical hardware updates (PSX, PS2, PS3, etc..., every 6 years) driven by a demand for more processing power. Nintendo blew the second half of that equation out of the water with the under-powered Wii, and they're about to blow the first half out of the water with the "off-cycle" Wii U.

I'll say it again: the old patterns are dying. The next dinosaur to get a comet upside the head is the militaristic FPS genre. If Activision thinks they can spin Call of Duty sequels out to infinity, they're in for a rude awakening. I'm in the process of surveying the entire electronic industry for the Games 100, and I can tell you without hesitation that the only consistently creative and innovative platform is mobile gaming.

The Amazon App Store

The Amazon App Store for Android is open for business, at least for now. Apple is objecting to Amazon's use of the name "App Store," and is suing to make them stop.

The suit claims that “Amazon has begun improperly using Apple’s App Store mark in connection with Amazon’s mobile software developer program.... Customers of mobile software downloads are likely to be confused as to whether Amazon’s mobile software download service is sponsored or approved by Apple.”

On the other hand, Angry Birds Rio for Android is free for a limited time! (Perhaps more limited than Amazon realizes.)

iPad 2

You knew it was coming. Here's the news from today's Apple press event:

The iPad 2 will ship March 11 in the US.

It's lighter and 33% thinner.

It has a new dual-core processor that runs twice as fast as the old one, and a new graphics processor that's 9-times as fast.

It also finally has cameras front and back, a nifty flexible magnetic cover, and HDMI video output. They're calling it a complete redesign.

The prices will all remain the same: $500 to $850.

There will certainly be more information available as the day goes on.

The Mac App Store: Coming 1/6/11

TouchArcade has the news: the Mac App Store launches on January 6th, 2011. Apple knows a winning idea when they spot one, so they're rolling out direct delivery for computer software using the same model that drove iTunes and the App Store to success.

This is the future, people. I'm not pretending to be Criswell, but since my days on the US edition of T3 I've been saying that all hard storage media will die. Every bit of storage technology we've seen for the past 30 years was merely leading up to digital delivery. Floppy discs, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-Ray: they will all fall. One day soon, they will seem as novel as 8-track tapes, just like the idea of going to a store to buy a game or any other piece of software.

PC gaming already has a proven model in Steam, but it's not the most intuitive system for buying and installing software. Apple has a particular genius for creating smooth edges and a consumer-friendly experience. Could they even attempt a PC App Store some day?

If you're a Mac user (and I'm not) watch this space. This is the future, and remember: the future is "where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives!"