"Originally," Jobs tells The New York Times, "we weren't exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine.

"We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it's the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that's the big draw," Jobs adds. "So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to $199. We don't need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it."

It's a game machine with no buttons and no directional pad. Good thing the DSi doesn't have a camera — it has two. This comes as Apple takes a swipe at the DS and PSP in the portable game war.

Steve Jobs on Amazon and Ice Cream - Bits Blog [NYTimes.com via The Dallas Morning News]

"Now you can make a pretty good argument that it is the best portable device for playing games on - and a whole new class of games"

You could make that argument, sure. I'd daresay Nintendo, Sony, and sales figures might have something to say about it as well, but feel free to make that argument all you want. Me? I'm still waiting for my Zune to blossom into a powerful gaming machine. *pokes Zune with stick and sighs*

iPod Touch is 'best portable device for games' says Jobs [Develop]

The truth is Steve Jobs doesn’t care about games. This is going to be one of those things that I say something in an interview and it gets fed back to him and I’m on his shithead list for a while on that, until he needs me to do something else there. But I think that that’s my general opinion. He’s not a gamer... It’s difficult to ask somebody to get behind something they don’t really believe in. I mean obviously he believes in the music and the iTunes and that whole side of things, and the media side of things, and he gets it and he pushes it and they do wonderful things with that, but he’s not a gamer. That’s just the bottom line about it.

That doesn't mean that Carmack is down on the iPhone or anything as a gaming platform, he just doesn't think gaming is priority numero uno for Jobs. So there you have it. John Carmack thinks Steve Jobs isn't a gamer. Who doesn't agree with that?

"Steve Jobs doesn't care about games" [Eurogamer via VG247] [Pic]

The game was originally unveiled in March with four complete stages, but the finished game contains 110 stages across five worlds, featuring all four classic monkeys, said the spokesperson. The first world, Monkey Island, was unveiled at the game's debut in March, and the fifth world, Space Case, was unveiled today.

Users can accelerate, decelerate and turn using the iPhone's accelerometer and tilt control, and Einhorn demonstrated; our neighbors at Gizmodo snapped this pic.

"For Sega, the App Store represents an amazing opportunity, because we can now be in the same place where people are buying music and movies, and they can take that content with them wherever they go," said Einhorn.

"We can't wait to see what's possible with our other market characters."

[Image Credit: Gizmodo's Liveblog]

[via Engadget]

Steve Jobs just announced during his keynote that Electronic Arts is "returning" to the Apple.

What's that mean? It means that Apple gamers will finally get some games meant for their system. Starting in July Electronic Arts will be brining Command & Conquer 3, Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed Carbon and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to OS X.

Also EA Sports Games, like Madden 08, Tiger Woods 08 will also be brought to the OS X in the Fall-ish. Brian Crecente

Live blogging Jobs [Gizmodo]

EA BRINGS HIT PORTFOLIO TO APPLE MAC OS X

New Releases Demonstrate EA's Commitment to Deliver
Key Titles on Apple's Mac OS X

Redwood Shores, Calif., - June 11, 2007 - Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced a commitment to bring its portfolio of hit games to Mac OS X. The first EA Mac titles slated to ship this summer include the wizarding adventure Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™, racing sensation Need for Speed™ Carbon, military action thriller Battlefield 2142 and the real-time strategy hit Command &Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™. Being the first Mac OS X games published by EA, these blockbuster titles are being ported to take advantage of the Mac's performance to run with stunning visuals and signature gameplay at blistering speeds. Later this year, EA will ship Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08 in sync with their worldwide launches.

Frank Gibeau, EA's Executive Vice President of Publishing commented, "These four games are just the beginning. We're excited to deliver key EA franchises such as Harry Potter, Madden Football and Need for Speed to Mac gamers."

"We're thrilled that the world's number one games company is making this major commitment to the Mac," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Game fans are going to love playing these new EA titles on a Mac."

The four Mac games set for release this summer include:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, licensed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts only to discover that much of the wizarding community has been led to believe that the story of the teenager's recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort is a lie, putting Harry's integrity in question. Worse, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has appointed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, the duplicitous Professor Dolores Umbridge. But Professor Umbridge's "Ministry-approved" course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the Dark Forces threatening them, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry is convinced to take matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves "Dumbledore's Army," Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead. With the ability to play multiple characters, including Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Sirius Black, the videogame of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix offers fans the opportunity to wield a wand, explore all around Hogwarts, and experience one of the most exciting and dangerous years in the life of the Boy Who Lived.

Need for Speed Carbon - The battle for the city is won in the canyon as Need for Speed Carbon immerses you in the world's most dangerous and adrenaline-filled form of street racing. As the police turn up the heat and force the races to the outskirts of the city, the battle ultimately shifts to Carbon Canyon, where territories and reputations can be lost on every perilous curve. Racing has never felt so dangerous where every turn is a matter of life or death. For the first time in a Need for Speed game, build a crew and race in an all-out war for your city against rival crews and opposing car classes. You'll risk everything to take over rival neighborhoods one street at a time. With online racing and the most advanced graphics and car customization tools ever, Need for Speed Carbon is the ultimate Mac racing game.

Battlefield 2142 - The year is 2142, and the dawn of a new Ice age has thrown the world into a panic. The math is simple and brutal: The soil not covered by ice can only feed a fraction of the Earth's population. Some will live, most will die. In Battlefield 2142, players will choose to fight for one of two military superpowers in an epic battle for survival, the European Union or the newly formed Pan Asian Coalition. Armed with a devastating arsenal of hi-tech assault rifles, cloaking devices and sentry guns, players will also do battle using some of the most imposing vehicles known to man. Massive battle Mechs wage fierce combat on the ground, while futuristic aircraft rule the skies. When facing one of these new behemoths, players will need to use their wits and an arsenal of new countermeasures like EMP grenades to level the playing field. Team play features allow up to 64 players to enter the action on the front lines as part of a formal squad, or work behind the scenes in Commander Mode to direct the strategic assaults of their teammates.

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars - The critically-acclaimed Command & Conquer™ series returns with Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. This highly-anticipated next chapter takes the popular series back to its roots in the Tiberium Universe and features the fast, fluid gameplay that Command & Conquer is known for and an epic story that will redefine storytelling and set the standard for the single player experience for Real-time Strategy games. It is 2047 and the stakes could not be higher. Tiberium-a self-replicating alien substance that has infected the Earth-is spreading like a radioactive ice age. The Global Defense Initiative, a high-tech alliance of the world's most advanced nations, is fighting to contain Tiberium, but Kane, the megalomaniacal leader of the Brotherhood of Nod has other plans for Earth. Kane's secret society turned superpower is bent on using Tiberium to take control and transform humanity into his twisted vision of the future. All-out

Last week, when Microsoft's Bill Gates and Apple's Steve Jobs got together at conference All Things D, Gates further hinted at what direction Microsoft was going, game-wise. And that direction is? Gates explains:

Software is doing vision and so, you know, imagine a game machine where you're just going to pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it.

Um, kinda like the Wii?

No, that's not it. You can't pick up your tennis racket. And swing it.

Picking up my actual tennis racket and swinging it? We have a name for that Bill, and it's called "tennis." Brian Ashcraft

All Things Digital [D5 Thanks Boone!]

So, the iPhone is coming. If you are American, soon. For those living in other countries (like me), you'll have to wait longer (like me). The phone's portable game possibilities once again stir up talk of Apple expanding further into the market. Apple honcho Steve Jobs seems to be adding his two cents as well. From Time:

All technologists believe their products are better than other people's, or at least they say they do, but Jobs believes it a little more than most. In the hours we spent talking about the iPhone, Jobs trash-talked the Treo, the BlackJack, the Sony PSP and the Sony Mylo ("just garbage compared to this"), Windows Vista ("It's just a copy of an old version of Mac OSX") and of course Microsoft's would-be iPod killer, Zune.

Trash-talking the PSP certainly points to Apple's interest in gaming. But, what does that statement really mean? And more importantly, when will Steve Jobs start wearing something besides black sweaters? I mean, come on. Brian Ashcraft

Jobs Talks iPhone [Time, Thanks Brent!]

Hey kids! It's time for everyone's favorite program: Wondering when Apple's game console will hit. Blog Cathode Tan and game site Next-Gen chime in and ponder if the code named iTV, an upcoming device that streams digital media from TV to computer, will include gaming capabilities. We don't know much at this point, but perhaps it could power those new iPod games. The Apple Remote could then be used as a game controller. But, honestly, what the hell's the point? Apple, we're sick of waiting around, speculating and rumor-mongering. Get to cracking on a new game machine. And, for goodness sake, make it good. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Cathode Tan]

Ever since Nintendo pulled its products out of the design gutter and making everything white and clean, there have been rumors about Nintendo and Apple becoming bed buddies. What form this fantasy relationship would take (casual or hardcore) has always been speculation. A wet dream, if you will.

CNET.co.uk rumormongers that this union is could happen as buying Nintendo is not out of the question. The article, which reads like a Neo-GAF post, says:

Cisco was rumoured to be looking at a purchase of Nintendo earlier in the year, so the idea of Nintendo being bought is not outlandish in itself. Apple's market cap is $51.7bn (Nintendo's is $23.1bn), so it's got a fair bit of financial clout. If Apple wanted to buy Nintendo it could theoretically raise debt to cover the cost because it has a good credit rating, not to mention $6.34bn in cash reserves. However, a city analyst told Crave that agressive takeovers of Japanese companies can be difficult and expensive. Japanese companies use the keiretsu system of interlocking holdings and partnerships, which makes conventional takeovers exceptionally hard.

If there was an acquisition, CNET believes it would be a friendly one with Steve Jobs giving Nintendo Prez. Satoru Iwata nuggies and purple nurples. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [CNET] Thanks, Rog!