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Pour one out for each child who one-banded in a bag in middle school as they mourn today. With Apple discontinuing the 7th generation iPod touch, which was announced yesterday, it’s official: the iPod is dead.
Clearly, the iPod was a musical device intended to digitize song libraries and move listeners away from the limitations of physical media and galactically superior sound quality. (Whether such a change was good for the music industry, of course, is another story.) But in its many iterations, the iPod ushered in another revolution: that of mobile gaming.
Once upon a time, mobile gaming included playing Brick either snake On your parents’ dusty Nokia. And of course, after its 2001 launch, the iPodwhich featured a really lousy port Brick Such was the scenario for some timeafter the device’s 2001 launch. Over the next few years, the offerings increased, but not by much. In 2006, EA released iPod versions of Minted classics such as Sudoku And solitaire, For-profit educational giant Kaplan released a series of SAT prep study courses (that’s all I can say about: worthy). Compared to other mobile gaming devices of that era, e.g., the Nintendo DS, the iPod was hardly revolutionary.
Then came the iPod touch.
First released in 2007, the iPod Touch completely revamped the iPod’s design. Instead of a brick one with a luxuriously controlled track wheel, the iPod touch looked more like its contemporary, the iPhone: sleek, rectangular, studded with a glass touch screen that coated its entire silhouette. Unlike the iPhone, you can’t use the iPod Touch to make a call and immediately lose the courage to dial your crush algebraically. But if you have a Wifi connection, you can download games that will at least distract you During Algebra.
And some of the games of that era were really great. fruit Ninja, tap tap revenge, words with friends, Temple run practically created, or at least widely popular, a new style, laying the groundwork for truly awesome endless runners like Alto’s Odyssey, Personally, I had a soft spot for Doodle Jump, a platformer that molded you into an elephant(?) wearing a jetpack. The scenes, made to look like a lined paper notebook, are imprinted in memory. But for me, at least, it was also an early introduction to the wider world of leaderboards.
Some sports, quality aside, became legitimate cultural giants. angry birds made a feature film with a crossover star wars And transformer, and a gazillion other spin-offs. (My grandmother once bought me angry birds bath mat, admitting that, I like video games, I Of course to like angry birdsThe only video game.) The effect was undeniable.
Raise your hand if these ads have left a lasting impression on you too.
And so, the news of the iPod’s death sparked an enthusiastic wave of nostalgia. KotakuIt’s a dull afternoon this afternoon.
Staff editor Lisa Marie Segara spoke highly of all the games listed above, further pointing to the iPod as a catalyst for Undisputed candy Crush Craze also praised the tilt controls that came with some games, which were “so new at the time. Or at least it felt so.”
“What a time to be alive,” said staff writer Zack Zwiizen. “I really miss the bygone era of the App Store. … No doubt we have a lot of cool stuff today, but I can’t help but nod to those easy times when I drank fake beer and knick-knacks Played with off lightsaber apps.
Timing is actually less simple. Instead of a handful of must-play options, Apple’s gaming ecosystem is bigger than ever, in the form of flagship gameseverything like Blockbuster xcom And jenshin effect indie sleeper hits like Sayonara Wild Hearts And baba you are– Make your way to the App Store. Apple Arcade, a subscription service that provides access to a library of games, is slowly becoming an essential scouting ground for under-the-radar gems. (Many Apple Arcade games eventually make their way to the Nintendo Switch or traditional consoles, where they become ‘legalized’ in the eyes of the hardcore player, something that obscures the origins of mobile games.)
But every time one of these essential tools gasps to its last breath, I find myself at last struckhow everything, no matter its apparent staying power or cultural influence, is ephemeral, a fleeting moment called You don’t realize it was fleeting until it was gone. As they say: Wouldn’t it be nicer to recognize that you are living in good times when you are actually living in good times? I think so.
Anyway, yes, RIP for iPod. You had a good run. You have left a good legacy. And for really getting all in the mid 2000s: thanks fr th mmr.
