There are reportedly already approximately 1,700 games for the iPhone platform. Some would suggest Apple needs to take measures to make sure you can easily find what you want in the iTunes App Store. I think it’s already too late and there’s already too much garbage. And though I admit there’s plenty of room for truly innovative games, like something that we didn’t think was possible on the iPhone. I also admit I might be forced to play a long RPG or adventure game if it were of good enough quality. But what I don’t need is a better solitaire or hangman game. What I have right now is good enough, thank you very much.

So why do people keep pumping out game after game after game? I bet it’s because they can. Human beings want to be creative. We want to show others that we can create something of value and so we do it. Problem is, iTunes is such an awful showcase of what is on offer that no one can differentiate between what’s great, good, or horrid very easily. We then rely on web sites like Touch Arcade, 148 Apps, and others, and they help, but no one can truly keep up with the phenomenal pace of the people writing the games.

So maybe what is going on here is no one has truly found a great way to showcase and search for something when there are 1,700 occurrences. Shareware sites have done a decent job of letting you find applications, utiltiies, and games for Windows and other platforms, but too often the categories they use have too much overlap and you end up only seeing the top downloaded titles, which also happen to be the ones whose authors paid the site to showcase them! Clearly we have a problem here, and I somehow doubt Apple is working very hard to solve it.

So what do we do? How do we as iPhone/iPod Touch owners begin to care again? I for one now treat the platform with a certain amount of derision, mostly because it’s just awful to see Apple make the same mistakes Microsoft and Nintendo and others have made: They now have a platform that is overcrowded with crap and only becoming messier with each passing day. This may not stop the iPhone from selling, but in the long run it will turn off dedicated programmers and designers who can’t sell their apps because no one can find, much less buy them.

Very cool analysis and after reading this one, I believe more in what I always believed – iPhone games are definitely not for casual gamers. It has the best of games under its belt and can be compared with PSP or Nitendo games for sure. We got to just wait for another 3-6 months and PSP and Nitendo gamers are going to latch onto iPhone platform based games. The biggest factor being, the iPhone OS is as powerful as PSP or Nitendo and also the price factor. Where else can you get the best of car games and shooting games for as less as $0.99?

Let me now get back to this article on Business Week. iPhone for hardcore gamers is surely nothing less than magic. You can even make calls when you get tired of playing these games

Over to BusinessWeek’s analysis:

iPhone games are immersive, addictive fun. And it’s now readily apparent to me that the iPhone and iPod Touch are well on their way to becoming an important force in handheld gaming. When you consider the ease and reach of Apple’s online method for distributing games, Apple could do in this category what it did in online music, causing big headaches for the genre’s established players, Sony and Nintendo.

• Apple’s Gaming Advantages – The iPhone maker is also holding its own when it comes to units sold. Based on sales data and analysts’ projections, Apple is on track to sell an easy 40 million devices or more a year that are capable of playing games
• Apple’s Impact on the Gaming Industry – A survey by iSuppli’s ConsumerTrak found that U.S. cell-phone users report spending less than 3% of phone-use time on games. But that average shoots up considerably to more than 9% on the first iPhone and 6% on the iPhone 3G.

Diner Dash publisher PlayFirst says the market is finally moving to favour games developers – and says its Apple and the iPhone App Store that has generated the sea change in attitude.

Speaking on the release of Diner Dash for the iPhone, PlayFirst co-founder and CEO, John Welch, said: “Apple has effected profound market change with the App Store, enabling developers to unleash their creativity directly to a global market for the first time without ‘permission’ from the mobile carriers.”

Describing the moment as the opportunity all mobile application developers have been hoping for, Welch promised to deliver more titles to the Apple platform. Company co-founder, Brad Edelman, remarked, “The iPhone and iPod touch are breakthrough devices with advanced capabilities that enable us to create truly compelling gaming experiences.”

Apple’s iPhone as a gaming platform seems to be a fait accompli now, with games developers across the board moving to embrace the Apple platform (which also includes the iPod touch)… Microsoft yesterday confirmed it had some interest in developing for the platform, while the Chinese developers  of MMORPG game, Anrufen Online, have also confirmed themselves to be developing for the device.

There’s a lot to struggle for – as we reported early last month, there’s a good income to be had from iPhone application development. We reported on one part time developer who – at peak moments following launch of their application – saw downloads generating almost $2,000 per day…gold rush territory, we think.