The head of Apple’s iPod and iPhone marketing has said his firm is now actively encouraging consumers to buy iPod purely "to play games".

Greg Joswiak, speaking to MCV, said he believes Apple’s devices are superior to the competition: “It’s not just the screens that are superior to DS – it’s the graphics capability, the computing power and the App Store distribution model.

“I had an analyst tell me in September – and he was right – that the DS is the past of gaming devices, and iPod Touch is the future of gaming devices. It certainly has our competitors scrambling in what they’re going to do in reaction to this. This product is capable of so much more, and there’s a tremendous synergy we have with the iPod Touch and game developers.”
 

Joswiak also said the iPod Touch is the future of gaming, stating: "iPod Touch represents a more future-looking view of gaming, so maybe it’s in a category of its own. There’s nothing else that does what it does. It’s a very interesting new entrant."

iPod users can already download 1,500 games via Apple’s App Store – and the platform holder is doing its best to persuade traditional publishers to add a huge number over the next year. 

WORLDWIDE SALES FIGURES


DS
Sales so far: 84.33 million
Projected for FY08/09: 30.5 million (by April 2009)
Best-selling titles: Brain Training, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, New Super Mario Brothers, Pokémon Diamond Software distribution: Physical media (but DSi service launches soon)

PSP
Sales so far: 30.32 million (not including Q3 2008)
Projected for FY08/09: 15 million (but 16 million expected)
Best-selling titles: Crisis Core: FFVII, Monster Hunter, God of War, Lumines, GTA: Liberty City Stories
Software distribution: Physical media and selected titles through PlayStation Store

IPHONE/IPOD TOUCH
Sales so far: Over 10 million iPhones sold
Projected: 30 million iPhones sold by 2010
(iPod Touch figures unavailable)
Best-selling titles: Super Monkey Ball, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart Racing, Tap Tap Revenge, Labyrinth, Asterope
Software distribution: iTunes