IPod games
Encyclopedia
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
. The original iPod had the game Brick (originally invented by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak
Steve Wozniak
Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
) included as an easter egg hidden feature; later firmware
Firmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
versions added it as a menu option. Later revisions of the iPod added three more games in addition to Brick: Parachute
Parachute (iPod game)
Parachute is an iPod game released by Apple Inc. for various iPod models. The game is installed in the firmware. It is very similar to the Apple II game Sabotage.-Gameplay:...
, Solitaire
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
, and Music Quiz. These games should not be confused with games for the iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
, which require iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
and are only available on Apple's App Store on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
History
In September 2006, the iTunes StoreITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
began to offer nine additional games for purchase with the launch of iTunes 7
ITunes version history
The version history of iTunes spans from 2001 to the present and covers the application's evolution and refinement from a simple music player to a control center for many types of media. Support for the iPod and iTunes Store were added in the subsequent versions...
, compatible with the fifth generation iPod with iPod software 1.2 or later. Those games were: Bejeweled
Bejeweled
Bejeweled is a puzzle game by PopCap Games, first developed for browsers in 2001. Three follow-ups to this game have been released. More than 75 million copies of Bejeweled have been sold, and the game has been downloaded more than 500 million times....
, Cubis 2, Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
, Mini Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
, Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
, Texas Hold 'Em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
, Vortex
Vortex (iPod game)
Vortex is an iPod game created by Apple Inc. It is a Breakout clone that has a "looking down perspective" and has bricks arranged in a circular layout.-History:...
, and Zuma
Zuma (computer game)
Zuma is a fast-paced puzzle game developed by PopCap Games. It can be played for free online at several Web sites, and can be purchased for a number of platforms, including PDAs, mobile phones, and the iPod...
. These games were made available for purchase from the iTunes Store for US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
4.99 each. In December 2006 two more games were released by EA Mobile at the same price: Royal Solitaire
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
and Sudoku
Sudoku
is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9...
. In February 2007, Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licensor Namco as an official title...
was released followed in April 2007 by iQuiz. Until this time, all the available games could be purchased in a package, with no discount.
In May 2007 Apple released Lost: The Video Game
Lost: The Video Game
Lost: Via Domus is a video game based on the ABC television series Lost that was released for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 26, 2008...
based on the television show, which is made by Gameloft
Gameloft
Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world....
. In June 2007 "SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
Prep 2008" by Kaplan
Kaplan, Inc.
Kaplan, Inc. is a for-profit corporation headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan. Kaplan provides higher education programs, professional training courses, test preparation materials and other services for various levels of education...
. This was introduced as 3 separate educational games based on the subjects writing, reading, and mathematics. In December 2007, Apple released Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's classic game; Sonic the Hedgehog, which was originally packaged with the Sega Genesis system in the early 1990s.
With third parties like Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
, Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
, EA
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, and Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
all making games for the iPod, Apple's MP3 player has taken great steps towards entering the video game handheld console market. Even video game magazines like GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
& EGM
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
have reviewed and rated most of their games as of late.
The games are in the form of .ipg files (iPod game), which are actually .zip archives in disguise. When unzipped, they reveal executable files along with common audio and image files, leading to the possibility of third party games. Currently, Apple has no publicly available software development kit
Software development kit
A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
(SDK) for iPod-specific development. The iOS SDK covers only iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
on the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
, not traditional iPods.
As of October 2011, Apple has removed all the click-wheel operated games from its store.
Games
This is a list of games available for the newest iPods, excluding the iPod Touch. Each game (other than Reversi and Chinese Checkers) costs US$United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
7.49 to buy.
| Title | Publisher | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Hold'Em | Apple Inc. | 2006-09-12 |
| Zuma Zuma (computer game) Zuma is a fast-paced puzzle game developed by PopCap Games. It can be played for free online at several Web sites, and can be purchased for a number of platforms, including PDAs, mobile phones, and the iPod... |
Astraware Astraware Astraware creates software for Apple iPhone, Android OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones. It is based in Knutton, Staffordshire.... |
2006-09-12 |
| Pac-Man Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,... |
Namco Namco is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of... |
2006-09-12 |
| Tetris Tetris Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic... |
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers... |
2006-09-12 |
| Mini Golf | Electronic Arts | 2006-09-12 |
| Cubis 2 | Fresh Games Fresh Games Fresh Games is a game developing label belonging to Eidos Interactive. It was created to allow gamers in Europe and the United States to experience more obscure Japanese titles, that were previously only playable by import. It was created to "shine a spotlight" on quirky, niche titles... |
2006-09-12 |
| Sudoku Sudoku is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9... |
Electronic Arts | 2006-12-19 |
| Ms. Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licensor Namco as an official title... |
Namco | 2007-02-27 |
| SAT Prep 2008 (Math) | Kaplan | 2007-06-22 |
| SAT Prep 2008 (Reading) | Kaplan | 2007-06-22 |
| SAT Prep 2008 (Writing) | Kaplan | 2007-06-22 |
| The Sims Bowling The Sims (series) The Sims is a video game series developed by Maxis and later by The Sims Studio, and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the most successful video games series of all time... |
Electronic Arts | 2007-07-17 |
| The Sims Pool The Sims (series) The Sims is a video game series developed by Maxis and later by The Sims Studio, and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the most successful video games series of all time... |
Electronic Arts | 2007-07-31 |
| Brain Challenge Brain Challenge Brain Challenge is a mental exercise video game similar to Big Brain Academy, featuring "brain exercise puzzles". The game was developed by GameLoft for mobile phones and iPods and released on September 5, 2007. It was followed by a Nintendo DS version on January 8, 2008, an Xbox Live Arcade... |
Gameloft Gameloft Gameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world.... /Apple Inc. |
2007-09-05 |
| Phase Phase (game) Phase is a music-themed iPod game created by Harmonix exclusively for the iPod click wheel interface. It is similar to other Harmonix games Amplitude and FreQuency.- Gameplay :... |
Harmonix | 2007-11-06 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Sega Sega , usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world... |
2007-12-18 |
| Peggle Peggle Peggle is a casual puzzle video game developed by Sukhbir Sidhu and Brian Rothstein of PopCap Games. Initially released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X systems in 2007, it has since had versions released for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, the Nintendo DS , Windows Mobile, the iPod, the... |
PopCap Games PopCap Games PopCap Games is an American video game developer and publisher, based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka, and currently employs about 400 people... |
2007-12-18 |
| Bomberman Bomberman Bomberman is a strategic, maze-based computer and video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft. The original game was published in 1983 and new games in the series are still being published to this day. Today, the commercially successful Bomberman is featured in over 70 different games... |
Hudson Soft Hudson Soft , formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973... |
2007-12-18 |
| Block Breaker Deluxe Block Breaker Deluxe Block Breaker Deluxe is a video game developed by Gameloft for mobile phones. It was also released for iPod, Windows PCs, the N-Gage platform and the Wii as a WiiWare game... |
Gameloft/Apple Inc. | 2008-01-15 |
| Pole Position Pole Position Pole Position is a racing video game released in 1982 by Namco. It was published by Namco in Japan and by Atari, Inc. in the United States... Remix |
Namco | 2008-01-21 |
| Naval Battle Battleship (game) The game Battleship is a guessing game played by two people. It is known throughout the world as a pencil and paper game which predates World War I. It was published by Milton Bradley Company in 1931 as the pad-and-pencil game "Broadsides, the Game of Naval Strategy".-Description:The game is... |
Gameloft | 2008-02-04 |
| Chess Chess Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player... & Backgammon Backgammon Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and players win by removing all of their pieces from the board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits... |
Gameloft | 2008-02-04 |
| Yahtzee Yahtzee Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley , which was first marketed by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlier dice games, such as Yacht and Generala. The object of the game is to score the most points by rolling five dice to make certain combinations... |
Hasbro Hasbro Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States... |
2008-02-11 |
| Pirates of the Caribbean: Aegir's Fire Pirates of the Caribbean Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in... |
Disney | 2008-02-20 |
| Bubble Bash | Gameloft | 2008-02-25 |
| Scrabble Scrabble Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list... |
Electronic Arts/Hasbro | 2008-03-03 |
| Bejeweled Bejeweled Bejeweled is a puzzle game by PopCap Games, first developed for browsers in 2001. Three follow-ups to this game have been released. More than 75 million copies of Bejeweled have been sold, and the game has been downloaded more than 500 million times.... |
PopCap Games | 2008-04-15 |
| Mahjong Mahjong Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players... |
Electronic Arts | 2008-04-22 |
| Monopoly Monopoly (game) Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker... |
Electronic Arts/Hasbro | 2008-06-03 |
| The Sims DJ The Sims (series) The Sims is a video game series developed by Maxis and later by The Sims Studio, and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of the most successful video games series of all time... |
Electronic Arts | 2008-06-09 |
| Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes is an iPod tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix worldwide.A new version entitled Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes - Encore was announced for the iOS at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show . This game expands on the original game with new Tune Troopers and a reworked storyline... |
Square Enix Square Enix is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series... |
2008-07-08 |
| Spore Origins Spore Origins Spore Origins is the mobile device spin-off of Spore, and focuses on a single phase of the larger game's gameplay - the cell phase.-Gameplay:... |
Electronic Arts | 2008-06 |
| Uno | Gameloft | 2008-07 |
| Mystery Mansion Pinball | Gameloft | 2008-08 |
| Chalkboard Sports Baseball | D2C | 2008-08 |
| Spore Origins Spore Origins Spore Origins is the mobile device spin-off of Spore, and focuses on a single phase of the larger game's gameplay - the cell phase.-Gameplay:... |
Electronic Arts | 2008-09 |
| Star Trigon | Namco | 2008-09 |
| CSI: Miami CSI: Miami CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.... |
Gameloft | 2008-09 |
| Tamagotchi Tamagotchi The is a handheld digital pet, created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was first sold by Bandai in 1996 in Japan. As of 2010, over 76 million Tamagotchis have been sold world-wide... : 'Round the World |
Namco | 2008-11 |
| Asphalt 4: Elite Racing Asphalt 4: Elite Racing Asphalt 4: Elite Racing is a racing game published and developed by Gameloft. It was released on iOS and iPod on August 28, 2008, N-Gage on January 20, 2009, mobile phones in mid July 2008 and DSiWare on July 6, 2009... |
Gameloft | 2008-12 |
| Tiger Woods PGA Tour Tiger Woods PGA Tour Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a series of video games developed and published by Electronic Arts featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among other pros on the PGA Tour.... |
Electronic Arts | 2008-12 |
| Real Soccer '09 | Gameloft | 2008-12 |
| Slyder Adventures | Sandlot Games Sandlot Games Sandlot Games is a casual and family-friendly games developer and publisher based in Bothell, Washington, United States. It was founded in 2002 by Daniel Bernstein, a veteran of the casual gaming industry, whose experience spans from game development to content strategy at WildTangent, Monolith,... |
2008-12 |
| Reversi Reversi Reversi is a board game involving abstract strategy and played by two players on a board with 8 rows and 8 columns and a set of distinct pieces for each side. Pieces typically are disks with a light and a dark face, each face belonging to one player... |
Apple Inc. | 2008-12 |
| Wonder Blocks | Gameloft | 2008-12 |
| Lode Runner Lode Runner Lode Runner is a 1983 platform game, first published by Brøderbund. It is one of the first games to include a level editor, a feature that allows players to create their own levels for the game. This feature bolstered the game's popularity, as magazines such as Computer Gaming World held contests... |
Hudson Soft | 2008-12 |
| Crystal Defenders Crystal Defenders is a series of turn-based strategy video games developed by MSF/Winds and published by Square Enix. It comprises several iterations released for mobile phones and through online video game delivery services... |
Square Enix Square Enix is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series... |
2008-12 |
| Chinese Checkers Chinese checkers Chinese checkers is a board game that can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners... |
Apple Inc. | 2008-12 |
| Trivial Pursuit Trivial Pursuit Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports... |
Electronic Arts/Hasbro | 2008-12 |
| Cake Mania 3 | Sandlot Games Sandlot Games Sandlot Games is a casual and family-friendly games developer and publisher based in Bothell, Washington, United States. It was founded in 2002 by Daniel Bernstein, a veteran of the casual gaming industry, whose experience spans from game development to content strategy at WildTangent, Monolith,... |
2009-02 |
| Project: Fun with Children | Happy Funsoft | TBA |
Default games
These are the games that originally came with an iPod.| iPod version | Titles | Publishers |
|---|---|---|
| iPod 1G, 2G | Brick (also called Game) | Apple Inc. |
| iPod 3G, 4G, 5G, and 5.5G; iPod Nano 1G and 2G; iPod Mini 1G and 2G | Brick, Music Quiz, Parachute, Solitaire | Apple Inc. |
| iPod Nano 3G; iPod Classic 6G | iQuiz, Klondike, Vortex | Apple Inc. |
| iPod Nano 4G; iPod Nano 5G | Maze, Klondike, Vortex | Apple Inc. |
Criticism
iTunes has come under much criticism due to the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
price of iPod games, GB£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
3.99 (about US$7.40). Many people from the UK have given the games 1* ratings, stating that Apple is "ripping off" Britain
Rip-Off Britain
Rip-off Britain is when some products and services cost significantly more in the United Kingdom than in other places, especially the United States and other member states of the European Union....
.
A similar situation occurred in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where the price is A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
7.49, while the regular exchange rate ranges between A$5.00 and A$6.00.
Developers have criticized Apple for not creating a software development kit
Software development kit
A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
(SDK) for software developers to create new iPod games. This is likely to keep the digital rights management
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
of iPod games closed. Although technically speaking this does not prevent the running an alternative OS on the iPod such as Linux, whereby for example there are ports of Doom that will run on fifth-generation iPods. Interestingly, running Linux on an iPod retains the music playing functionality of the device, while adding features such as the ability to create voice memos through the headphones.
When the iPod Classic and iPod Nano third generation were released, games which were bought formerly could not be synced to the new iPods. This made many consumers angry due to losing their investment.
It is also notable that after a download has been made for a game, it cannot be downloaded again unless a separate purchase is made for the same item. This is different behavior than applications downloaded on the App Store, which can be downloaded multiple times.
Unofficial games
Some older iPod units are capable of using replacement firmwareFirmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
such as iPod Linux and Rockbox
Rockbox
Rockbox is a replacement for the standard firmware in various forms of digital audio players . It offers an alternative to the player's operating system, in many cases without removing the original firmware, which provides a plug-in architecture for adding various enhancements and functions...
. These firmware projects can play many other games including a native port of Doom, and via a native port of the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
Gnuboy many other games including Super Mario
Super Mario
Super Mario may refer to:*Mario , a video game series by Nintendo- Video games :*Mario, the star character of Nintendo's Mario series...
, Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter...
, Mega Man
Mega Man (video game)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the first game in the original Mega Man series and the entire Mega Man franchise...
, Kirby
Kirby (series)
The series is a fantasy video game series developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo, and produced by Nintendo. The gameplay of a majority of the games in the series consists mainly of action, platform and puzzle-solving elements...
, Metroid
Metroid
is an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
, The Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
, and hundreds more.
External links
- iPod game page at Apple.com