Family Pocket Gamer: The iPod as child-tailored handheld fun

While clearing the office out, ready for its transformation into a bedroom, I discovered a misplaced iPod and some unused iTunes cards – the perfect opportunity to try out some iPod games. I've wanted to give them a spin since I noticed that two developers famous for their family games, Harmonix and PopCap, announced their titles on Apple's popular music player.

As you can see from my flickr stream, I didn't manage to play for very long before the kid's ears pricked up and they came running. How is it that kids have a sixth sense when there is some fun going on? No matter how hard I try and disguise my gaming tells, the pitter-patter of tiny feat is soon heard as they make their way to my side. (Remind me not to play poker with them – they'd see through my poker face in seconds and clean me out!)

As it happened I didn't mind the interruption too much as I was finding the minute click-wheel on my nano just too small to be viable for my clumpy man thumbs. So I was quite happy to switch back to the DS while the kids put the iPod through its paces.

And once they had the music player in hand a transformation took place. In their diminutive mitts the iPod's controls suddenly made sense. Apple has stumbled upon a perfectly sized controller for the smaller members of our family. Some companies have all the luck, eh? (By contrast, it reminded me of Microsoft's super-sized controller for the original Xbox – even the grown-ups struggled to use that one!)

While browsing for some more games the kids might like I was impressed with the number of 'proper' developers and 'proper' games available on iTunes. Not so hot, however, was the discovery that some games I'd brought on my older 4th generation iPod video were not compatible with my newer 3rd generation nano. Regardless, the games I pulled down managed to hit the spot. In addition to Peggle and Phase, the selection ranged from a remake of Sega's classic platformer Sonic The Hedgehog to a pixel-perfect replication of the original Pac-Man.

Some games certainly worked better than others (for me as well as the kids). Those that use the click-wheel as an aiming device (Bubble Bash, The Sims Pool and Peggle) fared much better than those using it for directional control (Sonic and Pac-Man). There were some games that managed a compromise, such as Pole Position, but even these were a poor substitute for a proper D-pad, like those found on the handhelds.

Whatever the case, the kids and I ended up having great fun for a good few hours both at home and out and about. I particularly enjoyed using the iPod to introduce them to a few of the classic titles I enjoyed as a child. The size of the device, the clarity and brightness of the screen, not to mention a solid line-up makes it an often overlooked but very viable mobile gaming option.

What's more, the exciting stuff is still to come. These iPod games are just Apple dipping its toe in the gaming market. The company's real gaming platform is about to be released on the iPhone and iPod touch. As we'll dig into another time, these have the potential to offer great opportunities for some family friendly gaming – not only to they have a touchscreen like the DS but they also incorporate motion controls like the Wii. It could be the perfect match (provided you keep a close eye on proceedings given the high price of the devices aside, obviously).

That won't happen before the next pocket family gaming snippet in a couple of weeks, but I'm bound to have made another discovery by then. Until that time, why not check in on the family in our mini-blog on Twitter?