Apple’s iPod Games: Planned Obsolescence

With the recent release of new iPods – the iPod classic, nano and touch – Apple has “deprecated” the use of all the games they’ve released up until now. None of these games work with the new iPod models, and Apple, on the iTunes Store, says that “Tetris, Ms. PAC-MAN and Sudoku will soon be compatible with the iPod nano (video) and iPod classic.” So what does this mean? All the rest of the games, that people willingly paid for, will no longer work, and Apple won’t be updating them? That’s what it sounds like. If they were planning updates so purchasers could use them with their new iPods, I think they’d be clear about it. So, friends, if you bought games for your iPod, you’re screwed.

I bought a total of four games: Bejewled, iQuiz, Texas Hold-Em and Zuma. Since iQuiz is included with my new iPod classic (not yet delivered), that’s a wash, but what about the other three? That’s $15 for games that lasted, in one case, only a few months (I just bought the poker game in the spring). Unlike game devices, such as GameBoys, which ensure backwards compatibility for at least one generation, Apple is saying, in its inimitable fashion, “Screw you, faithful iPod user.”

Perhaps this will change, and Apple will say something soon, but I think that, as people start getting their new iPods, there will be a lot of unhappy campers out there. This isn’t big money, but it’s a bad precedent. Apple: fix this!