iPhone Dominates 2009 Mobile Game Developers Conference
Last week, game developers descended on San Francisco to take part in the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC was broken up into different segments with the first two days dedicated to Mobile gaming. The mobile keynote speech was given by Ngmoco's CEO Neil Young and was appropriately titled Why the iPhone just changed everything. Young's keynote described the dramatic change the iPhone brought to the mobile gaming industry which was previously focused on carrier negotiations and porting to all the different handheld variants.
Perhaps most telling was the fact that the iPhone dominated the Independent Games Festival awards in Mobile at GDC winning 6 out of 7 categories, including Best Mobile Game. iPhone winners included (app names link directly to app store):
- Mobile Audio Achievement Award: Zen Bound (Secret Exit)
- Technical Achievement: Real Racing (Firemint) - Preview
- Art: Fieldrunners (Subatomic Studios)
- Design: Galcon (Hassey Enterprises)
- Best iPhone Game: Zen Bound (Secret Exit)
- IGF Mobile Best Game: Fieldrunners (Subatomic Studios)
All iPhone finalists have also been listed by Apple on a special page in the iTunes App Store.
GDC also served to be the launching/demo ground for a number of notable future iPhone gaming titles including 14 new titles from EA, Paramount's Top Gun, Showtime's Dexter, and Ngmoco's Star Defense, Touch Pet Dogs, and LiveFire. Id software even recently released their classic Wolfenstein 3D to the App Store, with plans to port Doom in the near future.
Most notable is the fact that the App Store is less than a year old, so the iPhone had no presence at GDC last year.
Popular Stories
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products.
Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released.
iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way.
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027.
Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia.
Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production.
Apple supplier Foxconn has...
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season.
Note: MacRumors is...
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition.
The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
