After Apple launched its iTunes service in 2001, it revolutionized the way we purchased music, for those of us who actually still purchase our music. With that industry already flailing, its sales in major decline, iTunes not only helped changed the legal music market from the physical to digital realm, but from an artistic standpoint, shifted the landscape from album to single-song sales. The single became more important than ever. With songs running 99 cents a pop, rather than $10+ for an entire album, people started purchasing their favorite tunes individually, rather than everything else that comes with them. Rock giants were forced to try free album models, and some even abandoned the album in favor of monthly song releases.

Six years later, in 2007, the iPhone was introduced, and over the last three years has become a force in casual gaming. The traditional console gaming market saw the "standard" retail release prices of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles rise to $59.99 with the latest generation, while Nintendo Wii and PC games have remained at a standard of $49.99. Meanwhile, three of those four avenues still primarily deal in disc-based games. And handhelds have held their own standards for pricing, with new, first-party DS titles coming it at $34.99, and PSP titles at $39.99. But the question is - Is iTunes revolutionizing the pricing and distribution of the gaming market this time around?

iTunes isn't the only major provider of digital downloads in this market. Valve's Steam service, among others, have been working to digitize the PC market for years. All three major consoles have download services, used extensively, and even the handhelds from Nintendo and Sony now have robust services. But on all three consoles, $5 is usually the cheapest one can find any title, and $10 to $15 is closer to an average. Cheap in comparison to the disc-based titles, but still up to five times higher than the $0.99 and $1.99 games that are so prominent on iTunes. And the low pricing doesn't necessarily speak to the quality of the games. On top of that, updates often add new elements to gameplay, like console DLC, but those updates come free.

The iPhone (and iPod Touch) has become a breeding ground for innovation in gaming, with smart developers playing to the strengths and weaknesses of the device with inventive titles that work on simple control interfaces, while providing great experiences with portability in mind. With so many developers, including many sole-proprietors, able to bring their inventions to the popular device, it's not easy to stand out amongst the crowd. In the interest of undercutting the big-name competition, making the titles affordable and creating a fanbase rather than revenue, these titles often come dirt cheap.

And these miniscule prices have already made it difficult for big-name studios to compete. It's not uncommon to see a new title from a big-name developer debut at $6.99, or $7.99, and quickly see that price cut in half. Despite their relative affordability in relation to other services, on iPhone $7.99 is an expensive game, especially when fantastic titles like Doodle Jump and Orbital come in so much cheaper.

Where it gets more interesting is with variations of pre-established PC, console or handheld titles. Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap's latest gem, runs $19.95 on PC, but registers a mere $2.99 on iTunes. And again, it has nothing to do with quality. Plants vs. Zombies actually translates very well to the iPhone control scheme, and has garnered a 5/5 Star rating in customer reviews. The same goes for something like Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which still retails on PSP for $29.99, but is only a third of the cost at $9.99 on iTunes. Both versions have been critically acclaimed and rated well by the gaming audience.

One would think that eventually has to have a bigger impact on the gaming scene at large. Sure, consoles and PCs are more powerful and offer experiences the iPhone currently can't, so it's a little bit of comparing apples to oranges. But when two nearly identical versions of a game appear on two different services, and one runs nearly $20 while the other doesn't even cost $3, it eventually has to change the landscape of the industry. Whether there's correlation or not (I don't know for certain), it seems many more console games in recent years have dropped from $60 to $40 much faster than in the past, maybe it's a sign that gamers are getting used to cheaper entertainment products.

Whether gaming in general is undergoing its own issues, its own overcrowding during an economic slowdown that forces competition to lower prices to stand out, is likely also a factor. Still, it's hard not to wonder if iTunes may now be changing the gaming industry the same way it has done with music. Eventually, the iPhone will likely be just as powerful as its handheld competition. Maybe it will never quite catch up to its console or PC counterparts, but with keywords like cloud gaming and digital distribution driving the industry, big changes may be on the way, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple at the center of it once again.