The player

"Angry Birdshas sold millions of copies, and there is talk of making it into a movie" The iPhone has kickstarted mobile gaming in a big way, writes CIARA O'BRIEN

UNTIL recently, mobile gaming had been a mixed bag. But the launch of the iPhone and iPad appear to mark a watershed for the medium.

A recent report from trade association Tigra found that, in the UK at least, there has been a huge rise in the number of developers making games for the iPhone.

It's not hard to see why. The iPhone has quickly become a "must have" device, and the combination of the high-quality screen and the versatility of the phone makes it a no-brainer if you want to reach a large amount of gamers quickly.

Angry Birds, one of the most popular games on the platform, has sold millions of copies, and there is even talk of making it into a movie - although how a game that catapults birds at pigs would translate is another matter.

The existence of the App Store provides a ready-made distribution network, meaning that independent games developers have an easy way to target consumers and compete with the larger publishing firms. But it's not always as easy as it sounds. While the App Store is convenient for developers, it can also be a hindrance, especially if the game in question fails to meet Apple's arbitrary standards.

The reasons for rejection vary. But imagine one game company's confusion when told that its product ( Farm Villain) couldn't be approved because Chuck Norris would object. Cue visions of Mr Walker, Texas Ranger roundhouse-kicking hapless gamers.

The reality is far less dramatic. Norris, apparently, has objected to his name and likeness being used without his permission. The offender in this case was a reference to a genetically modified crop having "Chuck Norris genes". If Jolt Online Gaming wanted the game to make it into the App Store, it had to lose the reference. It agreed, and now you can send genetically modified crops to your friends or give them mad cow disease, all in the name of revenge for the umpteen Farmville requests lobbed at you via Facebook every day.

The concern is that Apple could use such tight control over its platform to stifle future games developers. Even updates must go through the approval process. This stops suspect software getting through, but also means updates and bug fixes can't be quickly rushed out to users. And should the App Store begin to police content more stringently, who knows what will fall foul of the approval process?

Still, for the moment, the platform is giving developers a welcome outlet for small games that might otherwise fall through the cracks.