This little tidbit came to me along the grapevine. I have it on very good authority that Bungie is handing out free iPhones to all its employees. Why would the company behind Halo be giving them away to their staff?
I’ll bet there are all sorts of excellent freebies to be had working for Bungie. However, I’m sure that this move is more than just generosity on the part of the company, and that they are going to develop titles for the iPhone.
Let’s consider:
- the iPhone platform is set to grow and grow
- within a few years, it may well become Apple’s mainstream operating system - the device hardware easily has the gaming chops to mix it up with the PSP and DS
- other big name games houses (SEGA, EA, THQ Wireless) have already released games or have them in production
- Bungie’s no longer tied to Microsoft and the Xbox 360
The only reason I can think that they wouldn’t want to develop for this massively expanding and popular platform, is that they are sticking solely to more powerful static gaming hardware. Yet for me, inventiveness and playability trump powerful graphics every time. I think the iPhone’s capabilities will be enough to tempt Bungie into a new, additional direction.
Let’s remember – Bungie did start off as a Mac developer, so another platform shift isn’t out of the question. But this is more than a platform change – it’s a new focus on games designed for a smaller screen, more connectivity options, and a very different input interface.
So what can we expect from Bungie?
As I wrote before, awesome and innovative games are coming. The iPhone is always connected, but there hasn’t been much use of that feature in games released to date. Playing against your friends and others is already a killer feature of games such as Halo. Bungie could develop a mobile MMOG.
They could take their existing hit – Halo – and create an iPhone version. But would a first-person shooter translate directly to a button-less interface? Naturally, there’s already a port of Doom to the device, although I’m not sure how playable it is. But that’s thinking narrowly. There are the options of the accelerometer, gestures on the touchscreen, even voice to control your player.
Whatever games Bungie come up with, and however you interface with it, could we see them bring Halo-style hype to iPhone gaming? I wouldn’t bet against it.
No, Bungie wouldn’t make a Halo iPhone game. They still have a contract with Microsoft, and I don’t think Microsoft would like Bungie using Halo (Microsoft’s IP since Bungie left Microsoft) on Apple’s hardware.
Bungie has basically always been a fan of technology, and Apple products. Though, yes, they do use PC’s for making Halo (Because I don’t think you could develop for the Xbox by using Macs), but they’ve always been dedicated to the Apple fanbase. Hell, if I had the money Bungie has, I would by my employees iPhones and Mac Pros.
Bungie is just giving stuff away to the guys that work there. It’s nothing more than “here’s something that is fuck awesome, have fun”.
Though, Marathon on the iPhone would give me a nerdgasm.
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