Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Having dinner with a couple of iPhone users on Saturday I ask, “so how many of your apps are game vs. utilities or other work/useful stuff?”  I get laughed at.  “It is all games and crap” says the husband as he hands his iPhone to his son while his wife hands hers to their other son to occupy their kids while the adults speak.  “Games for the kids rules.”  As all eyes turn to the Palm Pre this week, I have to wonder if Palm anticipated Mr. and Mrs. Joe User?

I am just over half games/half utilities like Facebook, Where, Navionics nautical chart app, Tide and more.  However, if you gauged my usage, games and email would be very close to 50/50.  How different is that for you?  I am willing to bet most users rely and expect a never-ending supply of cheap gaming. 

In the already announced apps for the Pre, Palm laid out some interesting cards.  Facebook is there.  GPS Navigation is there (Telenav through Sprint Navigation).  Google Maps and Pandora also make a showing.  There is even a classic Palm OS emulator that allows old apps to run on the Pre (however, I suspect these many of these apps experience is akin to non-HD content on an HDTV).

We’ve been told by Palm that games are in development and that the Pre team gets defensive when wonders if the hardware is up to serious gaming. 

Is the Pre up to serious games?

According to a webinar Palm held, Matt Crowley, Palm’s Product Line Manager commented on the Pre’s gaming ability and shortcomings.  Brighthand summed it up best:

Gaming has emerged as a weak spot for the webOS and the first device to run it, the Palm Pre. This platform is heavily focused on the Web, and third-party applications created for it are written in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. This is going to limit the types of games that can be created, as developers need more powerful tools to create high-performance games.

It looks like we can expect simple web-based games like Sodoku and gaming on the iPhone before the OS was opened up a bit.  While the development certainly matches Apple’s plan but is the mature audience ready to wait for Palm to get gaming kick started or will a lack of engaging games stall the launch?

So my question is this: iPhone owners - would you say you use your iPhone most for gaming?