BGS' Roy Meredith

Yes, definitely. I think it's probably fair to say that we'd look at every single platform that comes up, and evaluate it for what fits. When I first joined here about three years ago, we were aware that they don't really work on console.

But that's not been an issue on the handheld platforms at all. Personally I think these are really exciting times we're going through - it's not a blip at all, it's a trend. From my own perspective I guess it's interesting because it's now that games have become part of life, rather than a bedroom or playroom culture.

You look around you on the Tube, people are playing on iPhone, or iPod Touch, or Nintendo DS; or you go around to people's houses, and everybody's got consoles now. On a professional level, for Championship Manager, it's fantastic that there are now other opportunities - five or six years ago it was as black and white as 'can't go on consoles, can go on PC'. Now we have a whole host of choices.

It's a good question. I think there's a danger for these games that they become too dry in one respect - that they're going through the motions of certain things, or you add a feature that's dry within them. Or alternatively, they can become too deep for the platform that they're on.

The PC is fine, or online, where you'd expect to find a deep game - but you won't get that on iPhone. So what we need to assess when we're doing that is what the reasons are that somebody plays a game on that format - what does it bring to that person's life? And then build a game around it.

I think that every game should be made for the format it's on, rather than just ported over blindly, because I don't think you get the rewards; and neither does the consumer. So when we look at the iPhone, it's about what we want ChampMan as a game to be - we want to make that game more like large snacks, rather than the full banquet, so if you're playing it four or five times a day you're still progressing, still getting satisfaction.

But when you think about it, you're not doing as much as you would have in the PC game because you had to sit there for hours. That's what we have to look at when we go for a format.

It's really difficult to do - there are some games where it doesn't matter what format they're on. I'm not knocking any product at all, but if you take a Match-3 game for example, it's not going to change per format. Whether you find it online, on your iPhone or on your iPad, it's not going to change because it is inherently what it is.

Therefore the price elasticity in that model is quite simple - you go for a low price. But how do we test out what we've got? What's fascinating about the iPhone as a format at the moment is that a lot of people still treat it as very experimental, both in terms of features and price. It's almost suck-it-and-see for people coming into it.

No, I don't think it has - it's very new, and it's caught a lot of people by surprise. But the Apple market has transformed a lot, and I do think the days of three people making a million-seller in a bedroom have gone already. The serious players are in.

Oh yes, I absolutely think so. From a personal perspective I think it'll be very interesting to see where Facebook goes over the next few years. There will be something that breaks the mould at some point. It's an industry that will always be predicated on being on the cutting edge of technology and entertainment, so there will always be that arms race. We're always looking for the next big thing, aren't we?