Gears of War 'possible on iPhone in two years'

Games developer Epic believes that the iPhone could run games the size of Gears of War in two years time.

Having just announced the stunning Infinity Blade (the frankly jaw-dropping game formerly codenamed Project Sword), the game’s creative director Donald Mustard confessed his excitement with iPhone, to gaming website Eurogamer.

"We've just been blown away by the amount of graphical power that we can be pushing through these tiny little devices that are in all our pockets," said Mustard.

"That's one of the reasons why Epic are so interested in getting their engine onto these devices.

"Projecting out three or four years into the future, if the current trends stay true, these devices are going to be just as powerful as the Xbox 360.

"We'll have a truly powerful console just sitting in all of our pockets."

Judging by the Infinity Blade screens, it's hard to argue. The game's graphics already look on par with last-generation home consoles.

This will be blow for Nintendo, whose vice-like grip on the handheld market is already loosening.

Epic’s VP Mark Rein recently went on record saying that the 3DS couldn’t handle the Unreal engine, which lends strength to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime's claim that Apple is Nintendo’s biggest rival.

Someone has to lose out in the end, but as this ever- escalating struggle over handheld gaming continues, it’s us, the gamers, who are truly going to benefit.

As Donald Mustard says: "There's such a cool future there."