Apple's iPhone 4, App Store set world records for gaming

Given analyst estimates of 1.5 million iPhone 4 units sold on launch day, Apple has earned the title of "Fastest-Selling Portable Gaming System" for its popular smartphone, as certified by Guinness World Records, The LA Times reports.

By comparison, Sony's PlayStation Portable sold just 200,000 units on its launch date in 2005, while the Nintendo DS sold 500,000 units in its first week of availability in November 2004.

"The release of the iPhone has not just changed the mobile industry, but the video game world too," said Gaz Deaves, Guinness World Records Gaming Editor. "With the never-ending App Store selection and an intuitive device, Apple has created a gigantic new space for itself in the casual games genre that literally brings entertainment to users wherever they may be."

Apple's App Store has also been awarded records for being the "Most Popular Application Marketplace" and the "Largest Downloadable Video Game Store." Using numbers from September 2010, Guinnes World Records noted in a statement that Apple had received over 6.5 billion downloads since the launch of the App Store and hosted 259,740 apps, including 61 flatulence simulators.

The App Store's 37,362 games (as of September 2010) dwarf the offerings from rival downloadable game stores. PC game download service Steam offers 1,110 titles, while Microsoft's Xbox Live Indie Arcade has 1,300 games and the Japanese Virtual Console store has 576 titles.

Apple also set the record for the "Largest Launch Line-up of Any Gaming System" with the over 500 available on the first day of business for the App Store.

iOS developers also took home several world records for their work. Rovio's popular "Angry Birds" game was noted as the "Top Paid-For App Store Game in Most Countries." As of October 2010, the game had been recognized as the top paid-for game in the App Store in a record 67 territories worldwide.

Rovio boss Peter Vesterbacka announced last month at the Globile Mobile Internet Conference that total downloads of the game on all platforms had reached 140 million. According to Vesterbacka, Apple "changed everything" about the mobile gaming industry with the release of the iPhone.

Meanwhile, PopCap's "Plants vs. Zombies" set the record for "Fastest-Selling iPhone/iPod Strategy Game" with more than 300,000 paid downloads in its first nine days of availability, while "Tap Tap Revenge" took the title of "Most Popular iPhone Game Series" with more than 15 million downloads.

Apple has reportedly hired away two key gaming industry PR veterans from Nintendo and Activision in an effort to ramp up gaming on iOS.