Apple seems to be getting really serious about games, its 'final frontier'. Yesterday I was writing about the Apple TV and the chances it stands to become a 'gaming platform' sometime soon. Greg Canessa said in a Wired interview that his job at PopCap is to adapt and customize their games to other platforms, including Apple TV and iPod.

Well, today the attention is drawn towards the iPhone. Apple is interested in getting a number of casual games for its January-announced new device, the iPhone, due to be released this June.

The iPhone was designed to be an all-in-one portable media device equipped with a robust Mac OS X operating system, so it should host perfectly a nice set of play-it-when-you're-bored casual games. Its memory capacities and great graphics would very well adapt to game-playing. The touch-screen, however, could turn out to be a downer. Overcoming this challenge will open new directions, game developers say.

The iPod already allows users to play games that can be downloaded from iTunes, exactly like music, for $4.99 a piece. The casual games market is experiencing a strong growth, and entering it could only mean good news for Apple, since games are their weakest point.

GamePro magazine editor, Sidney Shuman, says it is ridiculous to assume Apple is targeting hardcore gamers. They are mostly sticking with consoles especially dedicated to gaming. Even if the current trend is towards all-in-one media devices, "games will be the last to the party", says the editor. He also feels that the tricky thing about gaming on such platforms is compromising other directions and that's not something Apple is likely to do.