"In the beginning there was nothing," said a deliberately dramatic Neil Young, CEO of publisher ngmoco, at the GDC's first mobile session keynote. "Then there was this guy, Steve Jobs, and he changed everything. And at the center of everything is the iPhone."

An enthusiastic Young explained how Apple's 2007 release of the iPhone solved numerous problems that previously challenged mobile game makers and publishers, from dealing with carriers, numerous handset formats, and the limited capabilities of the devices. "Before that, everything was pretty lame."

"Since the iPhone App Store opened, there have been 800 million downloads, 25,000 apps, and 165 new apps are released each day," he explained, smiling. "How do you succeed in the face of such numbers? You have to understand your superpowers."

Young sees four major ways for developers to succeed in the wake of the iPhone App Store's newly democratized playing field: distinguishing your product in the market, unique game creation, evolving the process of making games and strategizing the publishing process.

He compared Need for Speed's visuals on another handheld system to the iPhone, the latter of which looked demonstratively better. "The iPhone's simple usability and its capability create a new usage for consumers. And don't let the haters tell you the games aren't as good as the games on the PSP or the DS.

"We're working with Rough Cookie to make our own Star Defense game, a Tower Defense-like game," Young added as he demoed the game onscreen.

"What can be learned from Nintendo?" Young asked. "How did the DS crush the PSP?" On paper, the PSP had better hardware, more third-party support, and better visuals. "Nintendo looked to create games that would only work on the DS, and it focused on the system's dual screen and touch capabilities. On the iPhone, the games use a touch screen; they're always on, always with you, and you're always connected. The iPhone is an all-encompassing device. It's better than the PSP and the DS because it produces great looking games, but more importantly because it's connected all the time."

Young said social components would no longer be a bullet point--they would be the game's main feature. Online multiplayer mobility, voice-over IP (VOIP), and the developer's ability to push the fundamental interaction capabilities of the iPhone would distinguish future gameplay.

Illustrating this point, Young showed a LiveFire game demo that his company gave at Apple. The iPhone FPS showed multi-touch, dual analog capabilities, voice-over IP, multiplayer capabilities over 3G and wi-fi, and the ability to upgrade weapons by purchasing a rocket launcher online.

"The next level of gaming for us is to leverage every surface of the screen, bring together all of the console, PC and mobile experiences we have had, and use them for the iPhone.

"I've developed games on every system except the Colecovision and two others, and I missed those only because I was too young," he said. "I have not seen development tools on any system that are as robust and impressive as the tools on the iPhone."

In 11 months, ngmoco developed Rolando, comprising 12 worlds, 48 levels, and 40-plus hours of gameplay. By minimizing development time, creating long-term relationships, and collaborating with other developers, his teams have created good games in short periods of time, which is crucial for the mobile market. "Long-term relationships are important because the life cycles are shorter."

Young then announced Rolando 2 and 3, and described a plan to release more follow-ups, explaining this multi-sequel strategy as an important way to distinguish games due to the sheer volume of mobile games.

Young delved into the viability of publishing. Why do developers need publishers now that the iPhone App Store has essentially eliminated the need? "The App Store revolutionized game distribution, but not game publishing," he explained. "Publishers help you get your games in front of as many people as possible."

ngmoco's platform is its key, he explained. The ngmoco software platform enables his team to upload on-the-fly fixes to games and new levels, actively communicate messaging, show the company's growing game catalog, and update analytics.

"As a publisher, we will silently, in the background, offer our platform to independent developers, giving them the ability to use their own branding, to make and deliver games"