The iPad could replace home gaming consoles, says Epic CEO

The iPad 3 was announced last week and although the quad-core graphics processor in the new iPads A5X system may not be able to compete directly with the Xbox 360 or PlayStation, it looks pretty damn good.  It looks so good, in fact, that some video game developers believe it's only a matter of time before Apple's tablet catches up to, and even surpasses home consoles.

While Apple and the new iPad may not be there yet, Epic Games president Mike Capps could "imagine a world" where the iPad is more powerful than a home console.

"Apple is definitely building their devices as if they care a lot about 'triple-A' games. It is quite easy to imagine a world where an iPad is more powerful than a home console, where it wirelessly talks to your TV and wirelessly talks to your controller and becomes your new console," he told Reuters.

The iPad 3 is definitely a step in the right direction.  With a new retina display, the new iPad boasts 3.1 million pixels, or the most ever in a mobile device.

Taking advantage of that beautiful picture will be Epic Games, who has recently become the poster boy for iOS development.  Speaking at the iPad 3's unveiling, Mike Capps revealed Epic's dungeon-crawling adventure designed specifically with the new iPad in mind – Infinity Blade: Dungeons.

"The Unreal engine is unleashing the power of the new iPad," Capps said referring to the new iPad 3.  "This new device has more memory and higher screen resolution than an Xbox 360 or PS3."

“With Infinity Blade: Dungeons we continue the tradition of melding exciting gameplay with beautiful, rich worlds powered by Unreal Engine technology; and Apple’s new iPad allows us to push the boundaries even further.” Capps said.  “Just like Apple has raised the bar for mobile computing, the Infinity Blade franchise has continually re-defined expectations for mobile gaming."

While Capps could just as easily be hyping the iPad because it's their latest platform, it's not like the company is specifically a mobile developer.  In fact, Epic is probably most widely known for their console platform development with Unreal on PC and the Gears of War trilogy on Xbox 360.

Mike Capps isn't alone in his beliefs, however.  Frank Gebeau of EA agrees that the iPad could eventually replace traditional consoles as a gaming rig.

"When the iPad gets to the processing power that's equal to an Xbox 360 and it connects to a television, that's no big deal to us. We'll put the game through the iPad and have it display through the television," he said.

Defending Crytek's decision to release its first iPad title, studio manager Kristoffer Waardahl added, "As more people come to these platforms, we have to follow our fans."

Regardless of how you feel about it, the iPad is a force to be reckoned with.  The new iPad is making tremendous leaps in graphics and processing, and while it lacks the traditional buttons of a gaming console, it makes up for it in many other ways.  While the iPad 3, or new iPad, likely won't replace this gen or even next-gen in gaming, it looks like more and more developer's are hopping on the bandwagon.

[The Verge]