This is good news now because there is no reason why developers should support 2.2.1. What does this mean for games? Games run faster on firmwares 3.1 and above because the GL drivers were updated by Apple. This means games that had framerate issues on older hardware with firmware 2.2.1 will be sooo much better now. This is the best move Apple have done in a long time.
When did that happen? Did I miss it? Do you have a link? Going here: http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/software-update.html shows the update is still $4.95 for iPod Touch users. It would be awesome if they did finally make the upgrade free though! I still support all the way down to OS 2.0 for Rogue Touch, but would love to stay with 3.0 and up for my new game projects....
Maybe I was getting too excited after reading the article... I hope this happens, though, because 2.2.1 is just holding up what you can do with game design on the iPhone.
Not only have they not announced it, but I think the whole article is a misunderstanding about incremental upgrades. The jump from 2.X to 3.X is paid, but the jump from 3.0 to 3.X is free. Now that I think about it, there were threads of excitement here about 10 days ago saying the same thing. So far, zero from Apple on it
Yeah, I think you are probably right about zero from Apple... I think I need to stop working now and get some sleep because I'm not reading things correctly now 3.1 would certainly make our next game more viable for the older hardware if it was free.
No worries here! I'd love to see it happen too, it would make every developer's job a lot easier. Less OS versions to worry about testing on, easier/better graphic, audio, and multiplayer support. Nice to dream!
Keep in mind that part of the reason that users haven't upgraded isn't just the cost, but the fact that they don't sync it... I only sync my iPhone and iTouch once every couple months...
