Savegames. To be more precise: A function to backup and sync savegames. So simple, yet so important to finally turn the iOS platform into a ‘real’ gaming platform. Most games of course already allow you to save your progress or even do it automatically for you – but those savegames are only stored locally on that one iPhone or iPad you have played this game on and are forever lost if you ever delete the game from that device. No savegame in iTunes, no sync available. If you look at some games taking up to 1GB of space it becomes obvious that for gamers with 16GB or 8GB iDevices this will become a problem rather sooner than later (Let’s hope that’s not intentional).
One more important point: If I start a lengthy game like Final Fantasy III on my iPad, I want to be able to synchronize that savegame to my iPhone or iPod Touch so I can continue on the go. And the more serious developers take the iOS platform, the more often you will come across such games that are just too deep to be played on 2 devices with different savegames.
The introduction of Game Center has shown that Apple is taking gaming on iOS serious, so I really hope they also address this last shortcoming of the platform. And since rumors say Apple will present its new iOS 5 on a special event sometime in April, it seems we don’t have to wait long until we find out. Fingers crossed.
