iPhone 4G - potential for gaming awesomeness?

Apple's iPhone 4G has been leaked. We recently posted a feature about gaming's most bungled announcementsof all time and it looks like this one would have been at the top of it. A prototype device was left in a bar, found by someone who gave it toGizmodoin exchange for thousands of dollars before beingconfirmed as real by Apple when they sent Gizmodo a formal letter asking for it back. D'oh.

Have a look at it and see what you think:

But having been taken apart, prodded from every angle and put in front of the camera, everyone knows more about the device than they did last week. But what's the coolest thing about the new hardware?

You can't see pixels making up the picture

The resolution of the new phone's display is said to be so good, even if you look really closely, you can't see the individual pixels making up the picture. That's very exciting. The current iPhone's screen is gorgeous already, but imagine full HD resolution in the palm of your hand. Could it be true? That should mean games will look magnificent on it. And even if the processor is the same as the 3GS (which it won't be), games will simply look clearer.

But that's not all...

The device has a forward-facing camera, like the DSi. Facial recognition? WarioWare-style motion control? Uploading videos of your best gaming faces while you play? In-game video chat? Admittedly, in-game video chat hasn't ever been done in a major game on Xbox Live, so quite how a phone could beat Microsoft and Sony to it remains to be seen. Unless there's a separate processor for a chat window to enable cross-app video calling... If anyone can do it, Apple can.

We're still waiting for the 3D display to be announced...

20 Apr, 2010

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.