Guinness World Records upturned expectations late Thursday by giving Apple three records for gaming. The iPhone 4 was now the fastest-selling handheld game system ever, having reached an estimated 1.5 million devices on its first day. Officials noted that just 200,000 Sony PSPs moved on its launch day, and the DS took a full week to hit 500,000.
The 3DS hit 400,000 in one day but quickly tapered off in the following days.
Apple also clinched a record for the largest downloadable game store. Even as of September 2010, the App Store had 37,362 games. Nintendo's Virtual Console store for classic games hit just 576 titles, while Steam had about 1,100 games at the time and Xbox Live Arcade's indie section had 1,300.
The App Store belatedly claimed a third title, for the largest launch lineup of any game platform. Although the total App Store only had 500 titles, 145 of those were games. Most consoles just ship with one to two dozen titles at best.
Guinness' records could bring criticism from gamers and companies, many of whom have argued that the iPhone and Android aren't offering substantial games. Guinness' gaming lead Gaz Deaves disagreed and argued that Apple had simply carved out a "gigantic new space" and helped establish casual gaming.
Game system designers have increasingly felt the impact in spite of initial attempts to deny an effect. Nintendo's profit dropped 66 percent, partly after it could no longer count on constantly rising DS sales.
For Apple, the trio of records may be a form of retaliation against Microsoft's fastest-selling device record from March.
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