iPhone Games are among the most popular applications on the App Store. Close to 20% of iPhone applications available today are gaming apps. This is no surprise considering the rich experience that the platform offers to casual gamers thanks to features like multi-touch controls, accelerometer based motion-sensor control, social gaming capabilities that spruce up role playing games, in-app purchasing, etc.
Despite the growth of gaming on iPhone and iPod touch, this could still be just the beginning for Apple as a gaming platform manufacturer. According to a recent article published on the Silicon Alley Insider, the iPad could be the ideal platform for third party gaming app developers to offer an even richer gaming experience for their users. The potential is not hard to see. With a much bigger screen, the iPad offers a much improved visual experience for gamers compared to the iPhone. Also, the extra pixels on the iPad could bring in the opportunity for a whole lot of additional gaming controls and options that were hitherto unavailable on the iPhone OS games.
But the most vital improvement to the iPad gaming platform is probably the additional multi-touch input sensors available on the device. The iPad recognizes nearly 11 simulataneous multi-touch inputs, which can provide a gaming experience that is way better and richer than what users have seen with the iPhone or iPod touch.
Having said that, the apparent superiority of the iPad platform over its iPhone OS predecessors is also Apple's greatest challenge. While there is no doubt that the app developers see a tremendous opportunity in the new medium, fact is that iPad's complete potential shall not be exploited unless iPad-specific games are developed. And that is not likely to happen until the iPad matches the iPhone in terms of the the number of units sold.
This is something that will become apparent when the iPad goes on sale on April 3. But if the buzz around Apple's tablet device is anything to go by, we can well guess that the success of the iPad is just a formality waiting to happen.
[via Silicon Alley Insider]
look a bit silly on a bus playing a racing gsme with this I would use a pspgo blows ipad out of water every time
iPad is too big to be a portable gaming device. Moreover, it is much more delicate than the iPhone and more prone to being dropped.
If you really want to play games on the go, either get a Sony PSP or the iPhone.
Kids want to sneak their gaming systems into places such as school, church, grandmas house, etc. An iPad is too big to hide from your teacher or parents and quite frankly is too expensive to purchase if you're not exactly working. The iPad is targeted at older people who can afford it and have trouble reading and typing on a small screen. Somehow I don't see old people all that crazy about today's technology which is why I don't think the iPad will be as big a hit as the iPod or iPhone.