With the introduction of the Apple iPad, the technology community has been abuzz with commentary: what is it? What is it for? Will it replace Netbooks? And while I'm not sure I have a good answer to any of these questions, or even anything useful to add to the overall iPad dialogue, I do have to wonder how it will affect the state of handheld gaming. And my answer? Significantly.
Note: This is a companion piece to my article on the introduction of the iPad.
Since the introduction of the App Store, one of the most popular types of applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch has been games. In fact, Apple has been doing its best to position the iPod Touch as more of a gaming device than a simple music player. Clearly seeing a pile of money to be made in the gaming market, and wanting to take a slice of it away from the DS, PSP, and mobile phones, Apple has been working hard to make inroads into gamers' hearts and minds. And by some accounts they have succeeded: many major publishers have been developing iPhone- and iPod-specific games, and the most popular apps for the include a number of games ranging from simple to complex.
The iPad, then, creates a unique opportunity for Apple: while enabling virtually all of the games that are currently available to iPhone and iPod Touch users to be used on the iPad, and while also giving developers a rich canvas for which they can create a whole slew of new and interesting games, the iPad is yet another trojan horse that Apple is using to place itself firmly within the mainstream gaming community. Consider the following: During the iPad Keynote, the very first application showcased for the device, aside from built-in apps like the web browser and photo viewer, was a game. Scott Forstall, senior vide president of iPhone software, immediately demonstrated a racing game when it was his turn to come on stage. Following that was a brief Facebook app, and then a snowmobiling game. As soon as Forstall left the stage, Mark Hickey from Gameloft was given the spotlight in order to showcase an iPad-specific version of his company's game NOVA. Also on stage during the keynote was EA with an iPad verso of Need for Speed. MLB.com was on hand to demo a baseball simulator as well. In all, a significant portion of the iPad announcement was devoted to games.
Whether the device will succeed or not, it's interesting that such a great emphasis was placed on gaming. Anyone who has used a Mac for any significant period of time can tell you that games are not one of the platform's strong points. For decades, Mac users have looked on in envy as their Windows-based counterparts enjoyed being the platform of choice for game developers. If games ever did get released on the Mac, they were (and still are) years late, underwhelming, and met with tepid sales figures. So it's no surprise that Apple has been trying to rewire the concept of gaming on their devices with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and now the iPad. In fact, gaming could be one way in which the iPad has a significant leg up on its competition.
True, notebooks still trump the iPad in many significant areas. And try as Steve Jobs might, Netbooks are actually good at a number of things--just not gaming. While most notebooks contain a surprising array of features like cameras, 160-gig hard drives, bluetooth, and all sorts of connectivity features, what they lack is sheer horsepower. Most notebooks contain watered-down CPUs compared to their notebook brethren, and with their tiny screens and keyboards, they are pretty terrible gaming devices.
The iPad, though, is no slouch when it comes to computing horsepower. And with a 1024 x 768 multitouch screen, it could be an amazing leap forward in expanding the current crop of iPhone and iPod Touch games. In fact, it provides such an amazing degree of potential for game developers (along with an incredibly powerful distribution channel) that the real key to Apple's success with the iPad might lie not in web surfing, Email, photos, or the other key features mentioned by Steve Jobs, but in games (which is on the list, but way near the bottom).
At this point it's too early to say whether the iPad will be a hit or miss. It won't be available for another two months, and until then all we have is punditry. But while the masses have certainly been wrong about this sort of thing before, it's safe to say we should not underestimate Apple here. And who knows? In two months we might have not just the best tablet-based computer, but the best handheld gaming device too.
-Simon
2 Comments On This Post:
I personally, just do not feel that the iPad will make serious inroads into the "hardcore" gaming market, its reach is too wide. The best selling apps on the iPhone are games, but they aren't what you would really call gamers' games, just fun little time wasters. The iPad seeks to be a device that everyone would want to have, I just don't think everyone wants a good portable gaming device. For a device to be ergonomic to play, the form factor has to be comfortable enough to hold for a reasonable amount of time whilst pushing buttons, tapping screens, etc. Also, it has been said before on the show, one of the biggest hurdles for the iPhone is a lack of buttons that would be good for any sort of gameplay and the iPad is really just a giant, rezzed-up iPhone. It certainly has enough oom-pahpah to run good looking games but as the Gameboy has shown in the past, the handheld with the most processing power or prettiest screen is not going to be the best selling. I think Apple would have to create a truly dedicated gaming division to really achieve any sort of serious successes in the gaming industry.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 8:38:00 PM CSTThere is a reason the latest main entry in the Dragon Quest series (immensely popular in Japan) was released on what is now the least powerful system on the market.
Tim,
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:50:00 AM CSTI think I completely agree with you here. I've always been reluctant to consider the iPhone platform a true "gaming platform", mostly because I'm a gamer and I don't think those games are, in general, on the same level as the kinds of games "we" play. I do feel that it's time I relinquish some of that though, and start acknowledging it as what it is - a *new* gaming platform.
Five years ago, cellphone games were a joke. The N-Gage proved this once and for all. The reason they were such a joke, though, was because there wasn't a unified platform for them. Now there is. Every single person with a cellphone knows what an iPhone or an iPod touch is, and they probably understand, even a little, the kind of impact that they have had on the industry.
Because Apple has offered such a rich development environment for people to get in the game (sorry), we now have a centralized platform for a new type of mobile gaming. We as gamers should be totally okay with this, because ultimately it's doing what the Wii is doing, only on the portable front. No, the iPhone isn't a gaming device, but it's sort of a starter device to get people interested in games, good games even, which may prompt them to buy a DS or PSP down the road.
As far as Apple actually taking inroads themselves into gaming, even their own gaming hardware, I seriously doubt it. One (semi-sarcastic) reason is this: Apple hates buttons, and gamers love buttons. I've been playing a lot of PS2 and 360 lately, and those controllers have 12-14 buttons (or more, depending on how you count). Apple has consistently removed buttons from their devices over the years, so that just doesn't line up.
Not only that, but Apple likes to have so much control over every aspect of pretty much anything they're involved with, and I just don't think us as gamers would put up with that. Microsoft has done everything right, for *us*, in this generation, and we're all over it. They update their OS to be better for us, to give us more of what we want. If Apple ran a gaming console and its online environment, they'd give us only what *they* wanted to, and not a pinch more.
They would also leave out features that we expect to see, and not tell us why. They would have to approve every single game to come out for the device, allowing a lot of good ones, but also allowing a boatload of crappy ones. They'd reject some great games simply because they have an attitude problem. So on and so forth.
We've seen this behavior from Apple for years, and especially as of late with the iPhone's app store. Frankly, I don't know why so many people (myself included, to a point) put up with this from them. They have an unexplainable aura, and that's what pulls us in. I just think, and hope, that the gaming population wouldn't let Apple succeed with a piece of gaming hardware unless there are some dramatic behavioral changes from the company.
-Phil
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