So I've had an iPhone for all of a week now and already my life has been changed by it.  I'll dispense with most of the glowing endorsements I could give it for its remarkable music playing-phone call making-location tracking-web browsing-spledor, but I will focus on one thing that I wasn't fully prepared to be astounded by -- the games. Admittedly, I knew that many gaming websites and other entertainment authorities already had great things to say about the iPhone's games and the future of the device as a legitimate gaming platform (for example - The Future of Portable Gaming, Apple Pins Its Hopes On Gaming, Apple Thinks the Future of Gaming is the iPhone - We Kinda Agree) but I guess I didn't think Apple could so easily sweep in and secure a place for itself on the same pedestal occupided by the DS and PSP.  But that it did. I can tell you the exact moment that it dawned on me that Apple had "made it" into the gaming world.  I was sitting at work on my lunch break playing a couple of rounds of TapDefense and Aurora Feint when I thought, "Hmm... maybe I should make an iPhone section on Southern Gamer."  Then I realized that I don't even have a DS or PSP or even a 'Portable' section -- I just write about games overall.  But here was this sleek little black device whispering at me to give it a section all unto itself.  Of course, I have fought back against this urge... but then again, I am writing a slobbering endorsement of the thing.  Why, just tonight I was jogging on the treadmill in my apartment's gym - which I typically get bored of fairly quickly, even when listening to music or a podcast.  Oh, but let me tell you how great it was to play the simple little TapDefense while listening to a podcast (This Week in Science to be exact, which I also very highly recommend).  I had literally jogged two miles before I realized how much time had passed.  So there you have it, the iPhone is also doing its damndest to get me fit! One of the greatest things about the iPhone is the distribution model for its games.  My instant-gratification gland went into immediate overdrive when I first entered the App Store and saw all of the free and very cheap games.  It's obvious that Sony and Nintendo are taking notes as the PSP will have an online store next year that offers all of it's games for download and Nintendo has its own online-distribution model in the works for the new DSi. So, I have to concur with the articles linked to above -- Apple has arrived in the gaming world, and with such an outstanding first entry, it is very likely to remain there.