iPhone Gaming Review ’12 (Part 1): Reflections on the state of iPhone gaming in early 2012

Some background, for perspective

My all-time favorite video games (Atari era: Yars’ Revenge, H.E.R.O.; Metroid Prime, Zelda Minish Cap, New Super Mario Bros., Portal, Burnout series, Age of Empires series)

The good

Inexpensive games
Always in your pocket
All games are directly on the system; no cartridges, cards or discs
Touch controls are getting much better and lead to some inventive gameplay
Good technical capabilities
Huge selection

The bad

Most of the games are crap (but that’s the case with any system)
Low average price means most games are targeted at that price
In-app purchase and social gaming models lead to bad gameplay
A lot of games lack polish, even from the “big” game companies
Hard to find good games

My almost essential iPhone games

The most disappointing games (just to end on a down note)