The App Store has been a monster success for Apple. Earlier this month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs touted that over 100 million games and applications had been downloaded for iPhone and iPod Touch -- and the majority of the downloads were games. Developers have also benefited from the heat, too. Reports stating the developer of Trism has bagged $250,000 since debuting the game on the App Store this summer were met with both praise and a hint of jealousy. There's money to be made in iPhone gaming, even after handing over 30-percent of revenue to Apple, and this exactly the shot in the arm mobile gaming needed in America after a very flat 2007.
But does the App Store have to be such a mess?
I think the major problem with the iPhone/iTouch platform in general is lack of information. With the exception of major publishers like Gameloft, Ubisoft, EA, release dates aren't known ahead of time.
Even sites like N4G and Games Press lump things into the Mobile category. We need to see informational sites start devoting sections specifically to iPhone coverage, and developers need to get to work on their marketing and PR skills.
This won't necessarily help consumers sort through the mess IMMEDIATELY, but it will help gaming journalists like myself have more knowledge in order to cover as much content as possible - and that WILL help the casual App Store browser eventually.
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