iPad

I see it, Dave...I just don't think the potential market is as large as you and some others, including Apple, think it's going to end up. It's a very niche product, IMHO, and will appeal to a very niche audience (more niche than iPhone/touch and even Macbooks, quite frankly). It will likely not measure up to iPod or iPhone/touch levels of consumer market penetration, and,

IMHO, the market that it might appeal to will skew older than possibly even the iPhone itself does (which itself skews older than the iPod touch) based on what part of the main "thrust" of it happens to be (e-books, and some creative and office work, as per Apple's presentation), the larger screen size itself, and the price tag of $500 for the base model. These will not be consumers looking into gaming in a big way, IMHO, as the target "base" for games, even casual games, is younger skewing (teens to young adults). iPhone/touch hits that "base" due to iPod touch alone (which, oddly, it seems even developers tend to forget about when discussing the platform).

Will there be a market for games on this thing? Sure. There's a market for games everywhere, IMHO. But don't expect it to match what the iPhone/touch platform did for mobile gaming. It won't get anywhere near that level of market penetration, IMHO, because it, again, is much more a niche device.

 

was thinking of games on this. im a casual gamer. so im thinking of the ipad as my electronic media pad and how maybe it could save me money buying ditching my paper back rags.. and go electronic.. as most magazines have a electronic versions you can get for cheaper or even free.. thinking of games tho my mind starts to sway to games that may work on it.. i really suck at the flying games.. but i wonder with the added mass of the ipad.. and larger screen.. cold i possibly kick butt at flying games? time will tell.

wish they would of told us some news on the ipod 4.. so i could get a new ipod and then think about other toys. heh.

chris.

 

Well sure, whatever. There are a ton of people who don't know their RAM from their ROM but they don't interest me and thus, I'm disappointed. I might as well have been waiting for a new Lego set to be unveiled. The iPad will find it's market, but it'll still be in the lower-class rung of the tech-ladder and will be looked down upon by those higher up. No one takes Wii owners seriously

 

I've been obsessing all day thinking of all the sweet board games (ie live multiplayer) that can be done here. This is the non-holographic D&D Gaming Table folks. Not to mention all the many many boardgames which finally have a table display minimally large enough to use. This is not going to be big at all, it's going to be insanely huge, hedged up by several winning factors.

 

yeah digital board games will work well. maybe even games like sway and such might work well too. im sure the ipad wont make me suck any less at sway. lol. but i can see my self holding the ipad and trying to get into a dog fight. lol would be amusing to look at im sure.

chris.

P.S

i thought the wii was for drunk partys.. whole point of the device. heh.

 

Good thing Nintendo hasn't found out yet!
http://webhw.info/software/2010/01/28/nintendo-wii-ds-hardware-sales-reach-192-million-worldwide/

And also...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrs2V3MB4L8&feature=player_embedded

Just.Sayin.

 

yay he thinks like i do for my magazines. laughs.
come on adobe give us photoshop! lol

 

I own a Wii myself, but as a gamer I bought it for the very few decent games it does have... I just needed to play them, it was my duty

I still don't take the console seriously on it's own and so I have PS3/360/PC/DS/iPod Touch to compliment it.

 

although there is a number of issues with ipad, i think it will still be able to steal a bit of share in mobile computing which currently dominated by laptop and netbook .. these are the device that ipad will be competing with ..

actually, it remind me when apple release the first iphone .. remember? it lack a lot .. initially iphone 1G was a disaster from many point of view due to it's lack of features .. but then, look at iphone 3GS today .. I bet the same thing is going to happen with ipad .. in one or two year, they probably will come out with the 2G version, with camera, more space etc .. they would probably have the prototype of better ipad already, but it seems to me, apple is in habit to experiment with their target market first before giving the best out of their product ..

I would also think that the success of ipad is with the number of peripherals that's going to come with it .. for example, imagine, a desktop docking station and wireless keyboard .. by having these two peripherals, we can use ipad as desktop computers at some time, or we can use it as a mobile computing device as it was originally intended to .. also, imagine a docking station in car, where you just dock ipad and let's your family watch movie .. what about a docking station in no of area in your home? one in the bedroom for you to watch movie before sleep .. one in the kitchen for wife to watch some cooking show .. one wall docking station in lounge/living room that would convert ipad into digital frame .. just imagine, you don't have to buy 10 different devices, but one device with multiple docking .. imagine an IPAD enabled home ..

I would think that a no of docking station will come along ipad in near future .. and that expand an endless possibilities of what we can do with the ipad ..

in any way, I don't think that this is for gamers .. casual gamers probably, but to me casual gamers is just another word for anyone else except gamers ..

 

I came across this article today that talks about the chipset inside of the iPad and how it relates to other chipsets out there (snapdragon, tegra). It also compares it to the 3Gs and gives some info about its power consumption.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2010/1/27/apple-a4-soc-unveiled---its-an-arm-cpu-and-the-gpu!.aspx

 

That's amazing. I knew the wii and DS were popular but thats crazy!

 

From a business point of view I'm sure it's deadly serious, if we're talking popularity then... so are diapers and cataract operations. Strangely enough diapers and cataracts pretty much sum up the two halves of the Wii's fanbase.

Nintendo's approach was to take gaming... and make it as stupid as possible, stupid enough for the whole world to enjoy. They succeeded, but in doing so they kicked out the people who don't need this new form of uber-simplicity to get their gaming fix. Apple seem to be following suit. Good for business, insulting to the rest of us.

 

That is exactly the point of why Facebook Games, Wii, and now the iPad is poised for sales-y wonder. It's 'everyone else' out there who will be getting and using them (and the few of us who now crave it).

 

i want one for class because its lighter than my laptop, so i will actually continue to use it, and its much sleeker and simpler, not like using a full-fledged computer...

i dont care about any of the other crap, if i did i would get a macbook air

edit: midian, ive come to the conclusion that u are half-troll, seriously, get a macbook air if u need the other stuff

 

I am definitely a gamer and I think this device will be really fun for games. Not ALL games, some will be better suited for the iphone/touch and some for the ipad. I am wondering how the games will look in full screen that have not been modified in any way.

 

and how would u hold/use/type on it in class?

for me, the iPad is at most a mediocre product.

In fact, if it comes from any other company, most of us wouldnt even give a flying shit.

 

I would love to be able to jump into a parallel universe and see how this forum would have reacted had the iPad been a Microsoft creation.

 

Except...I had (and still do) have high hopes for the Wii as a gamer. I thought the idea of having motion sensing built in was pretty brilliant from a gamer's perspective, especially since it would (and did) make it a guarantee that one of my favorite game genres, light gun games, would be all but assured on the console. I also thought that games utilizing FPS style controls would fit quite well (Wiimote as mouselook/aim/shoot). Didn't matter about the power.

From a business perspective, it made total sense for Nintendo to "go different" with Wii. They tried the typical thing with GameCube and it wasn't a big success. Hell, I still think that if Sega had had the financial muscle to last that generation with their Dreamcast console that Nintendo might've come in 4th place that gen instead of 3rd.

Possibly. But maybe not...for games at least.

Wii still, despite what some may think, targets "core" gamers. It's a game console, and by that very fact alone "core" gamers are a prime target for Nintendo.

iPad, however, is quite different. It may very well be a viable platform for games, as iPhone/touch is, but it will not be a game system as that is not the primary focus of the device above all else. It's a "do all" system, ala PC, ala mobiles (including iPhone/touch). That its market may in fact skew older than iPod touch (where a large section of the "core" gamer market exists for this platform) and perhaps even iPhone (which has a good deal of younger "core" gamer owners as well) might make it the sort of consumer market that doesn't buy many games. If so, then games won't be a big factor for the product.

BTW, I'm not talking "hardcore" vs. "casual" in gamer speak in terms of types of games played. I'm talking "core" vs. "casual" in game industry marketing speak, where "core" gamers really refers more to game consumers who buy a lot of games, with "casual" gamers being those who buy just a few. There is some overlap between the two uses, but they are not the same.

 

It remains to be see if the casual audience will pick this up. The appeal of the Apple brand and the appearance of the iPad will pique people's interest. But, from a functional and pricing standpoint, you're paying a premium for an top of the line ereader. Sure, people keep talking about the educational and business applications, but you can easily say that about netbooks which actually are more functional.

Here's the thing, the iPhone and Touch have seen plenty of success primarily because people have brushed aside the fundamental problems with those devices. That relevant here because the iPad is essentially a bigger version of those devices. Beyond people who already have iPhones and Touches, it's a big question mark whether others will actually want this. The wow factor only last so long before reality sinks in. Don't get me started on AT&T. That brought noticeable groans from the audience at yesterday's announcement.