iBowl - Just Don't Throw The iPhone

Who needs an Nintendo Wii when you’ve got an iPhone? The Social Gaming Network, which released a Wii-like golfing game for the iPhone three weeks ago, has now followed up with a bowling game. As with iGolf (which has already been downloaded over 1 million times), iBowl uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to detect a player’s swing. You can even twist your wrist to give the ball spin or direct it to the pins.

The Social Gaming Netowrk is better known for its games on social networks like MySpace and Facebook. iBowl is free and you can challenge your friends to games, but not much else in terms of social functionality. But there does not seem to be much of a social component besides that. Not that it needs one. Becoming the Wii of the iPhone is probably a big enough opportunity in its own right.

That’s what’s so great about the iPhone as a gaming platform. It is not just a handheld computer that you can run games on, it’s the physical controller as well.