The iPhone will win the handheld wars... just like PCs dominate the console market. Oh wait.
(An intentionally paraphrased and maliciously edited conversation from IGN editors:)
:"The iPhone has a massive user base and it can totally pull of any game you'll find on the DS and PSP!"
:"And the new graphics are amazing!"
<3DS/PSP>:"Yes, but the 3DS will have, you know, 3D"
:"Yeah, but you can turn off the 3D. It was nice but it wasn't a big deal."
<3DS/PSP>:"...so what you're saying is, a new handheld that boasts amazing new innovation is going to lose because a phone can do what the last generation did?"
:"Yeah! Exactly. And, a bunch of people already own iPhones."
<3DS/PSP>:"...because... playing catchup with the last generation of games is more than enough to keep the hardcore gaming crowd...?"
:"Well, obviously. Have you seen the new Retina display? It's AMAZING!"
<3DS/PSP>:"Actually, I have, and I also noticed that they weren't outputting dedicated 3D graphics, which is standard on the PSP and going to be standard on the 3DS."
:"BUT THE RESOLUTION!!!! And there's this game that's almost like an FPS! And it has online!!"
:"Clearly a game that looks like Quake2 is the wave of the future."
Sure, the iPhone has cool games, and the iPhone 4 will have even cooler games. But until Nintendo starts offering the ability to call other handhelds, or the iPhone includes physical buttons that don't consume precious screen space, the two will compete about as directly as two ships passing in the night.
In other words, do you know *anyone* that was going to get a 3DS/DS/PSP that, after playing with their iPhone, decided they no longer needed one? Or were these editors just thinking about all the non-gamers which the iPhone will rightfully convince that handhelds may not be necessary, much like that new graphics card they were meaning to get or that new version of Windows. I don't believe any gamers will be dissuaded by the allure of a phone, and I don't expect any phone-users to have wanted a handheld to start with.
:"The iPhone has a massive user base and it can totally pull of any game you'll find on the DS and PSP!"
:"And the new graphics are amazing!"
<3DS/PSP>:"Yes, but the 3DS will have, you know, 3D"
:"Yeah, but you can turn off the 3D. It was nice but it wasn't a big deal."
<3DS/PSP>:"...so what you're saying is, a new handheld that boasts amazing new innovation is going to lose because a phone can do what the last generation did?"
:"Yeah! Exactly. And, a bunch of people already own iPhones."
<3DS/PSP>:"...because... playing catchup with the last generation of games is more than enough to keep the hardcore gaming crowd...?"
:"Well, obviously. Have you seen the new Retina display? It's AMAZING!"
<3DS/PSP>:"Actually, I have, and I also noticed that they weren't outputting dedicated 3D graphics, which is standard on the PSP and going to be standard on the 3DS."
:"BUT THE RESOLUTION!!!! And there's this game that's almost like an FPS! And it has online!!"
:"Clearly a game that looks like Quake2 is the wave of the future."
Sure, the iPhone has cool games, and the iPhone 4 will have even cooler games. But until Nintendo starts offering the ability to call other handhelds, or the iPhone includes physical buttons that don't consume precious screen space, the two will compete about as directly as two ships passing in the night.
In other words, do you know *anyone* that was going to get a 3DS/DS/PSP that, after playing with their iPhone, decided they no longer needed one? Or were these editors just thinking about all the non-gamers which the iPhone will rightfully convince that handhelds may not be necessary, much like that new graphics card they were meaning to get or that new version of Windows. I don't believe any gamers will be dissuaded by the allure of a phone, and I don't expect any phone-users to have wanted a handheld to start with.