Is the iPhone a Nintendo DS Killer?

Early last month, Steve Jobs and the rest of team Apple announced the release of the iPhone 2.0 software beta. This update enables Apple to fully leverage the SDK that it released earlier this year, which enables third-party developers to more easily create applications for the iPhone, by creating the “App Store.”

The App Store “lets users browse, search, purchase and wirelessly download third party applications directly onto their iPhone or iPod touch.” Importantly, Apple gives 70% of software sales revenues to developers and even lets development parties give their applications away for free.

So, why should this matter to Nintendo? Well, game publishers are already hailing the fact that this development may make the iPhone the handheld gaming platform of choice.

According to John Riccitiello, the CEO of Electronic Arts, “The animation technology in the iPhone OS enables us to build awesome games… I think iPhone consumers are going to be blown away by the games we create for this platform.”

For example, one of the iPhone games that Apple presented at its developer’s conference was Sega’s Super Monkey Ball. Combining a touch screen that is similar in many ways to its DS equivalent and the ability to tilt the iPhone to control game actions (like the Nintendo Wiimote), many gaming analysts think that many iPhone games could be competitive or even superior to their DS equivalents.

Other promising iPhone game demos that we have seen include Spore and Touch Fighter.

While the iPhone offers some innovative gaming possibilities, the DS won’t go quietly into the night. Nintendo has an established base of high-powered game developers that will keep turning out franchise titles, which will help to bolster the console’s popularity. For instance, Guitar Hero: On Tour and Age of Empires were just released.