Other Ocean: iPhone To Be 'Major Player' In Handheld Market

In a release revealing that it was behind Sega's iPhone Super Monkey Ball demo revealed in March, Gordon Wood, senior developer at former Foundation 9 studio Other Ocean said he believed Apple's newly opened platform would end up a 'major player' in the handheld market. In its latest release, the studio confirmed that it had developed the Super Monkey Ball iPhone demo shown off by Apple at the official unveiling of the device's new SDK and third-party development program, along with a version of EA's Spore. Other Ocean's studio formation was first announced in May of 2007, when Foundation 9 co-founder Andrew Ayre departed the company, taking the studio previously known as Backbone Charlottetown independent. Charlottetown was previously behind the Xbox Live Arcade port of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the Xbox Live Arcade release of Disney's Tron / Discs of Tron, and worked with Midway on the DS release of Ultimate Mortal Kombat. Other Ocean technical director and senior programmer Wood extolled the device saying, “Apple’s SDK is extremely developer-friendly and the iPhone, with its accelerometer, is the perfect platform for Super Monkey Ball. The iPhone is going to be a major player in the handheld gaming market, and we’re excited to be among the first to develop games for the device.” The release does not explicitly state that the studio will continue development on a full version of the game, but Sega's product development VP called Other Ocean "the obvious choice" for the demo version, adding "We knew Super Monkey Ball could be a perfect game for the iPhone, and all we needed was the right team to partner with to make it happen.”