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| While Ubisoft seems to be stalling its iPhone development, one publisher that's determined to throw its weight behind the App Store is Disney Interactive, the house that Mickey built. In fact, during a recent conference call, CEO Bob Iger proclaimed the iPad a “game changer.” "We find that iPad has a lot of potential," Iger stated. "We think it’s a really compelling device. We think it could be a game changer in terms of enabling us to create essentially new forms of content. Obviously it will be a great device to play games on and to watch videos because of the clarity of the screen. "But the interactivity that it will allow on a portable device with such a high quality screen is going to enable us to really start developing products that are different than the product that you typically see on an internet-connected computer, or on a television set." Iger claims Disney is already working on iPad games as well as Marvel comic releases. He said that the format provides a “robust technological platform” that makes interactivity “come to life”. Disney's App Store focus is hardly surprising. The media giant is closely tied to Apple, given that Steve Jobs is its single largest shareholder. But its determination to support the iPad does coincide with the publisher's overall repositioning as a mainstream, casual games publisher. Igor also revealed that projects on Xbox 360 and PS3 are to be restricted, due in part to the rise of Apple. “It is pretty clear that the higher end console games are a little bit more challenged in the world where not only they are more costly to produce and market,” he added. “But there is just much more competition from casual games and games on platforms like the iPhone and iPod Touch platform.” |