Seems like Apple really knows what consumers want. I spend about 90% of my iPhone time in Safari/Chrome. Advanced 3D graphics are nice and all but I rarely take advantage of them, I'd expect that most users are the same.
Currently top grossing for the US: Clash of Clans, Candy Crush Saga, Pandora, Game of War - Fire Age, Farm Heroes Saga.
It would mean that all the built in apps, and all the free apps in the App Store relatively unused, and that advertising models are a fools errand as no-one spends enough time in the apps. I suspect companies persuing these kinds of apps, including apple, are seeing enough usage to make a business case for their actions.
Games are extraordinarily popular on iOS. I see people gaming constantly on planes, trains, busses, etc.
edit: I'd also like to point out that there are two interesting metrics here: time and battery usage. It's possible for me to spend the majority of my time on boring stuff, but the majority of my battery on non-boring stuff. I'm guessing, though (again, without data and purely based on my own biases) that most people spend most of their time and battery on the boring stuff.
When I think graphically heavy I think of games like Infinity Blade. Candy Crush has extremely simple 2D graphics, same with Farm Heroes Saga and Clash of Clans.
I can't imagine Smash Bros. on a phone. Not unless the phone gets analog sticks, face buttons, and shoulder triggers. Maybe there will be a shell that gets wide support, but given the fact that cases come in so many form factors and that Android phones have no standard shape, I doubt that will happen.
I don't mean to be negative, but phones utterly suck at the kind of games I enjoy most. 2048 is genius, but it's a phone thing.
Does anyone foresee a non-casual, non-contol limited future for mobile gaming? What changes could give it the ability to compete with the 3DS and Vita?
>there's not really any good games for the iphone
You're contradicting yourself unless you're saying that you personally don't like any of the games.