It’s official: the iPad is finally
among us. This past Saturday, Apple released their long-anticipated tablet
device that couples the touch-screen features, extensive App Store, and
movie-star good looks of their iPhone and iPod Touch line of devices with a
larger form. With its smaller form factor and portability, it’s safe to say that
the iPad is gunning for the netbook market, where PC manufacturers have been
emphasizing portability and lower price points over performance. The device is
truly an all- in-one, offering a robust feature set similar to an iPod Touch,
including access to the diverse iTunes storefront, movies, gaming, music, and
online features like a web browser and email support, benefiting from more
screen real-estate.
When it comes to gaming on the
iPhone, one of the main issues that people have with the device is one of its
most primed features: the touchscreen. Gaming on the iPhone is an experience
unlike any other around due to this, but unfortunately playing on the iPhone can
be a very cramped experience. As your hands are effectively taking up a portion
of the screen as you try to control your character/car/avatar/what have you, it
can make keeping tabs on the on-screen action difficult to say the least. For
gamers with bigger hands, this issue can be exacerbated quite a bit. The iPad
seems to rectify this issue simply by virtue of being much larger. The device
offers up a gorgeous 9.7” backlit display capable of displaying a 1024×768
resolution, roughly 720p resolution in HDTV-talk. Like the iPhone before it, the
iPad features a built-in accelerometer, allowing you to play certain games
utilizing the tilt functions, which come in handy for racing games and other
genres.
The iPad’s accelerometer feature makes games like
Need for Speed SHIFT a truly unique experience.
Since the device launched on
Saturday, there has already been some big-name support from gaming publishers.
Companies like Capcom, NAMCO BANDAI, Activision and EA Games have already
released both original titles and updates of successful iPhone games on the
system, including entries to the Resident Evil franchise, Need for Speed, Metal
Gear Solid, Call of Duty, and several other big name titles. Each of these has
been updated to support the device’s higher resolution, looking sharper and
cleaner than iPhone games would on the device.
There are a few caveats to be had
when it comes to purchasing an iPad. For starters, if this device is in fact
meant to go up against netbooks, it comes in at an awfully high-price point.
Starting at $499 for the base model (with only Wi-Fi and 16GB of storage) and
going all the way up to $829 for a 64GB unit with Wi-Fi and 3G support
sans-contract through AT&T, iPads aren’t really on the low end of bargain PCs.
Additionally, the unit is lacking in several features, including Flash, which
would make surfing the web not as complete as an experience as many users would
hope. Flash games are unplayable on the device, bringing its vaunted
capabilities as a true gaming device down a peg.
Games like Resident Evil 4 are poised to benefit
from the increased screen space of the iPad.
Additionally, the device is
essentially locked into Apple’s official App Store. Downloading Apps from
elsewhere is not possible on the iPad, and while the store is as complete an
online portal as you’ll find, offering a huge array of movies, music, and
programs for download, the walled garden approach is troubling for those looking
for a more complete experience out of their tablets.
The iPad is still brand new, and
judging by Apple’s actions with their iPod and iPhone lines, there will
obviously be some modifications and updates as the device gets older. However,
as it stands, the iPad is already a success for Apple, with launch numbers
around the 300,000 sold mark and roughly a million iPad Apps downloaded in just
the few days that the device was made available. Additionally, any possible
revolutions that Apple and game developers have lined up for the system will
have to wait, as at the moment the majority of big titles being released for the
system are simple higher-definition updates of existing iPhone games at a
slightly higher price. However, as a nascent gaming device, there is a lot of
promise in the iPad, which we will hopefully see come to fruition in the coming
months.
