So, now that the iPhone 5 has been out for a while, and everybody’s stopped drooling over it, it’s time to answer a very, very important question (sort of):

What exactly does it mean for mobile gaming?

A great many websites have already detailed all the important stuff about the iPhone 5 (at least, where gaming is concerned). I’ll sum them up briefly here: it’s got a much beefier battery than previous models, better speakers and earbuds, a bigger screen, and (this is the part that’s really exciting) Apple’s new A6 Processor is capable of the sort of graphics you’d ordinarily only find on a PS3 or 360. Apparently, it’s more than twice as fast as the old A5 (which was no slouch when it came to graphics and processing power, itself). Not too shabby, right? Granted, mobile hardware’s been improving by leaps and bounds for a while now.

Because for some reason, our society has an ingrained obsession with making everything smaller (at least, where technology is concerned).

But we’re getting a bit off track. The iPhone 5 certainly boasts some impressive specs; true, and it’s no secret that mobile gaming is an incredibly fast-growing (and incredibly lucrative) field. At the end of the day, though, what does all this mean? Are we going to be seeing more complex games making their way to the mobile field? Are we going to start seeing a level of quality that used to be reserved for devices solely made for gaming? Could the iPhone really be hailed as a gaming smartphone?

I mean, if you think about it, the attractive thing about mobile games (and, perhaps, what makes them so popular) is that they’re both cheap, and very easy to pick up and play. Got a few minutes while you’re waiting for the bus? Slingshot some birds at a pig’s house. In line at the grocery store, and the clerk’s taking forever? Play a bit of Jetpack Joyride. While there are certainly a few fairly deep titles available on iOS, it’s not likely that the technological leap is going to result in any considerable change in the game mechanics.

Then again, some of the games we’ve already seen released onto the platform(Horn, in particular) denote an evolution in more than just aesthetics. For all we know, the developers could surprise us. The hardware is certainly there – all we have to do now is wait and see what they do with it.

Image Credits: [The Guardian] [Plus XP] [Forbes]

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