The real core of the video game industry has long been Japan, where it enjoys a pop culture status that Western studios can only hope to one day achieve. It stands to reason, then, that a good barometer for the iPhone’s success as a gaming platform would be Japanese industry interest in the device. A recent survey by Japanese middleware developer CRI suggests that interest is very high indeed.
CasualGaming.biz details the report, which found that of 102 game studio representatives surveyed, 87 percent responded in the affirmative when asked if they were interested in developing for the iPhone/iPod touch platform. Nearly 20 percent had, in fact, already done so, and another 16 percent already had games in the works. Thirty-eight percent said there was corporate motive, but that they’d yet to make any concrete moves. Maybe they’re holding out to see what exactly iPhone OS 3.0 is capable of.
Either way, the survey reveals other interesting details about why the iPhone is the most popular smartphone platform for development among Japanese game companies — and also about how far behind its competitors are lagging. Android, the next most appealing platform in the survey, garnered interest from only 47 percent of respondents, while the much-hyped Pre intrigued a dismal 6 percent. I suppose not having really seen the device in action in the real world tends to lessen its appeal to profit-driven businesses.
In case Apple wants to increase its developer base, the survey also asked about what were the biggest impediments to iPhone development, and at least one of the answers suggested that Apple is either very clever, or foolishly stubborn. Half of those surveyed felt that the biggest drawback to iPhone development was that they had to do so on a Mac.
So, Apple could probably add even more apps to its extensive library by opening up development to other platforms but, on the other hand, the respondents said it was a drawback; they didn’t say it deterred them completely. The appeal of iPhone development is probably actually driving Mac sales to game studios, which is likely worth more to Apple financially than the addition of yet more content to the already very healthy App Store.
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