The Apple iPhone is definitely going to be taken seriously as a portable gaming platform following an announcement made by Sega of the incredible sales success they’ve had with Super Monkey Ball. In the first 20 days following the July 2nd release of the game, it was reportedly purchased and downloaded a staggering 300,000 times. That may not sound like much when you’re used to hearing about the millions of titles sold with the major consoles, but it amounts to a little more than just pocket change. When you factor in the selling price of $9.99 USD, you’re looking at around the $3 million mark in revenue. Of course Apple takes their 30% off the top, but still that’s not too shabby!
That’s a substantial business,” says Simon Jeffery, president of Sega’s U.S. division. “It gives iPhone a justifiable claim to being a viable gaming platform.
Since it’s launch, the Apple iPhone App Store has recorded downloads upwards of 60 million programs. A lot of the apps are free, with the majority being under the $10 mark. Overall sales for the first month of the store have generated $30 million for Apple and the software developers.
This is fantastic news, considering that it has caught the attention of such big-name game developers as THQ, Gameloft, Electronic Arts and Namco Bandai, who have now committed themselves to creating games for the new platform. That should make for some pretty interesting game releases in the future for the iPhone!
Leave a Reply