Is The iPhone The Future Of Gaming?

This is a very interesting question, considering Apple has never really had a focus on gaming (it's one venture into the field was a failure of epic proportions, Apple Bandai Pippin. So this quote from Epic Games President Mike Capps, is of interest, especially to the likes of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

I think that’s the real challenge for us now, rather than worrying about the difference between a couple consoles and some order of magnitude, whether 3X or 4X. It’s about how do we deal with iPhone 8… if you watch where the gamers are going that’s where they are. Your iPhone 8 will probably plug into your TV, or better yet, wirelessly connect to your television set to give you that big screen gaming experience with good sound. So really, what’s the point of those next-gen consoles?

iPhone 8? I’ll be amazed if this doesn’t happen with the iPhone 6, since gaming over AirPlay is already possible (if sometimes a little laggy) with the iPad and a game such as Real Racing 2. Although I don’t think next-gen games consoles will vanish overnight, simply because they are, relatively speaking, much more affordable than an iOS system (which would require several devices and an Apple TV for wireless gaming streams), and also because Apple still doesn’t entirely get gaming itself, and lastly because the existing fan base of the three major consoles is massive. Nintendo's latest offering, the unreleased Wii U is a very similar concept to that of the iPad and the Apple TV. Users control the game with a touch screen tablet that wirelessly transmits to the console connected to the TV. So maybe the game companies are catching up? However, should Apple add AirPlay mirroring across its entire line, the Apple TV would go from being a niche concern to, potentially, a $200 add-on that turns any iPod touch, iPhone or iPad into a games console. At that point, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony would have a massive fight on their hands.