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iPhone fragmentation guide: The best games for your iDevice (2010)

Don't let it be an App Snore

iPhone fragmentation guide: The best games for your iDevice (2010)
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It wasn’t Apple’s intention to make the App Store fragmented or confusing for its hip, jiving userbase of iPhone and iPod touch customers. But the introduction of new super powered devices with more memory than NASA super computers and higher resolutions than Hubble Telescopes has made the App Store a little less straight forward.

When it comes to iPhone and iPod touch devices, there are pretty much three categories your wonder gadget can fall into. This guide will let you know exactly which category your device fits snugly into, and some top games that are either exclusive to that particular device, or just work best on that gadget.

The iPhone 4

The latest and greatest, the iPhone 4 is special because it has a super high quality display (mixing a 960x640 resolution with a 326 pixel per inch density for gorgeous graphics), a gyroscope (giving you even more accurate movement), 512MB of memory, and an iPad styled A4 processor.

That’s one seriously beefy smartphone, and it’s, according some early benchmarks carried out by Geekbench, 31 per cent faster than the 3GS. You can’t blame enterprising developers for wanting to siphon some of that extra processing juice, even if it locks out 3GS users.

Apple will hold a ‘music’ focused press conference later in the year, which is the best chance of seeing an iPod touch with a retina screen, more beefy processing power and gyroscope.

All App Store games work on the iPhone 4, but they’ll need to be kitted out with new visuals or features to make use of the 4’s powerful innards. Here are five games that are perfect candidates for iPhone 4 owners:

Real Racing (Firemint)
Compatibility: All iPhone and iPod touches

One of the first games off the starting grid to make use of the iPhone 4’s spiffy new visuals, Real Racing packs in super high resolution graphics for more detailed car interiors, lush new tracks, sharp menus and even anti-aliasing, to kick jaggies.

The game also makes use the iPhone 4’s increased horse power to push out faster, smoother graphical perfomance. No slowdown here. If that wasn’t enough, Firemint makes use of the three-axis gyro for even more responsive and accurate controls.

Eliminate:GunRange (ng:moco)
Compatibility: iPhone 4 only

The first game to be utterly exclusive to the iPhone 4, this pocket money tech demo shows off just how precise the gyroscope controls are as you unload bullets in a 3D gun range.

The game, which features 144 challenges and 12 real weapons culled from the arsenals of today’s soldiers, also packs HD iPhone 4 styled visuals, resulting in a true powerhouse showcase for your new £500 baby.

NCAA Football HD (EA)
Compatibility: iPhone 4 only

It's only available in the US, but this confusing App Store addition inspired our “iPhone fragmentation confuses customers - the App Store needs a rethink” opinion piece. Don’t be fooled by the ‘HD’ moniker, which normally signifies iPad, this game is for iPhone 4.

Embracing all the iPhone 4’s technical brilliance, NCAA pumps out top graphics and faster performance, all at a $1 premium. You can download a version of the game for pre-iPhone 4 devices, but as a separate app, the fragmentation is already causing confusion on the App Store.

The iPhone 3GS / iPod touch 3G (32/64GB editions)

This elite class of devices, only just knocked from the top spot by the iPhone 4, feature a number of advantages over their older progenitors. Thanks to a more sexy graphics chip, a faster processor and double the memory, these devices are considerably more powerful than the iPhone 3G and second gen iPod touches.

There aren’t many games that are exclusive to the 3GS, because cutting off millions of users from playing your game isn’t very nice (or financially sensible), but there are plenty of games that will run a darn sight smoother on these new devices. Check ‘em out:

Espgaluda II (CAVE)
Compatibility: iPhone 4 / iPhone 3GS / iPod touch 3G only

This Japanese developed bullet-hell shooter features a whole bunch of bullets on screen at once. Waves, carpets, tendrils, oceans, and sprawling walls of bullets. Whichever visual metaphor suits the current spray of firepower.

To make sure the game doesn’t crawl to a halt, it will only sync over to the latest and greatest iDevices, meaning those of your with ancient iPhones and antiquated iPod touchs are out of luck. Too bad.

Plants vs Zombies (Popcap Games)
Compatibility: All devices

Plants vs Zombies might be compatible with all mobiles and MP3 machines christened by Steve Jobs, but those on older devices will notice some slowdown when the screen is filled with shuffling undead corpses and peas.

And iced beans and butter blobs and corn kernels and fiery peas and cactus spikes and belchy mushroom gas and rays of sunshine and cherry bombs. That game can get pretty hectic, so it's best left to phones with the horsepower to handle it.

Worms (Team17)
Compatibility: All devices

One of many games to feature super special extra treats for gadget fans running the latest hardware, Team17 rewarded technological decadence with some special visuals for 3GS users.

If you’re running Worms on the most up to date devices, you’ll get animated 3D backgrounds, slightly more spiffy water, and several more juicy graphical effects that’ll make the hefty price hike less painful.

The iPhone / iPhone 3G / iPod touch / iPod touch 2G

These bog standard devices are positively ancient in the eyes of Apple, and despite only being a scant three years old, they’re already getting phased out, discontinued and being treated to sub-standard updates, or no new operating systems at all.

But just because these devices pack lower memory and slower processors than their third-generation counterparts, doesn’t mean there aren’t some top games to show off the power of your itty bitty device.

N.O.V.A. (Gameloft)
Compatibility: All devices

While N.O.V.A. is probably the creme of the crop, this goes for all Gameloft games. Despite kicking out swell 3D graphics, super smooth gameplay, and even online play, French mobile publisher Gameloft is an expert in getting these games to run flawlessly on any handset, regardless of age.

So that means everything from Zombie Invasion to Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X will show off your iPhone’s graphic chip without heating it to boiling point, making the GPU burst out the screen in a fiery explosion. That’s a good thing.

Real Racing GTI (Firemint)
Compatibility: All devices

Another beauty of a 3D game that will run on any device, as long you’re rocking iOS 2.2 or later, so you can show off your iPhone or iPod touch’s venerable visual power without the graphics stuttering or the cars looking like they’re driving through treacle.

I just tried the game out on my second-generation iPod touch, which has less memory than a goldfish, and the game runs like silkily smooth icy butter. It's free, too, so you can brag about your iPod’s superior visuals without paying a penny.

Angry Birds (Rovio)
Compatibility: All devices

This is pretty much the catch-all entry for all 2D games. If you’re still stuck with the older devices in Apple’s fleet of devices, and you want to know if a game is going to work on your gadget, your best bet is to stick with flat graphics.

You need a far less beefy phone to pump out 2D visuals than sexy polygonal models with all them vectors and planes and textures and things. Angry Birds is a good place to start, with the physics-puzzler letting you chuck birds in style on any old phone.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer