No longer is the smartphone the domain of stuffy business people. It’s a living, breathing thing, alive with possibilities, and yes…fun. Regular everyday people are using and developing for the smartphone, which has opened all kinds of possibilities.
With the advent of the iPhone and the App Store, the masses were intrigued with the prospect of cool games being developed for the platform, pushing into markets formerly only occupied by the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. “Real” games for the iPhone platform are already being released, such as the ultra-slick Super Monkey Ball. But with Apple, you have to be “approved” to gain entry to the App Store, meaning red tape and (sometimes) a lack of innovation from those “garage” developers out there who don’t wish to jump through Apple’s sometimes cryptic approval process. Android could change that.
Google Android, an open-source platform, could prop open the door for a seemingly endless array of possibilities presented to the everyday joes out there to step up and develop something groundbreaking. But…Will it be able to compete with the iPhone and the App Store, and the Apple hype machine?
iPhone has the upper hand in having been out for awhile, so devs know the intricacies of the OS and the platform. With Android being unregulated, things like platform/console emulators become a possibility, opening new doors for everyday developers to reach a wide, new audience. Can the graphics be sophisticated enough for the avid gamer? It could be a viable gaming platform.
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