During Apple’s iPad unveiling last week, Epic Games president Mike Capps took a few minutes to demo Infinity Blade: Dungeons, the latest installment of the exceedingly popular Infinity series.
During the course of the demo, Capps mentioned that the new iPad “has more memory and a higher resolution than the Xbox 360 or the PS 3.”
Capps’ statement expectedly set off a series of online debates amongst gamers who challenged the implications of Capps’ assertion. After all, the platform with more memory, for example, doesn’t necessarily transform it into the best gaming platform.
The reality is that console to console comparisons are pointless. The fact is that the iPad has emerged as a bone fide gaming platform, and now that iOS has already taken a significant amount of marketshare from Nintendo, is it possible that Apple’s new iPad will now be able to compete with the big boys of gaming?
Epic Games president Mike Capps believes so quite emphatically.
Speaking to Reuters, Capps said:
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.
And Electronic Arts, or EA if you’re so inclined, is also keeping a close eye on what Apple’s up to in the gaming space.
“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,” EA president Frank Gibeau explained. “We’ll put the game through the iPad and have it display through the television.”
Ah yes, that elusive Apple HDTV.
While everyone is busying themselves with what potential moves Apple might make to revolutionize the TV viewing experience, the built-in user base of iOS users and the powerhouse that is the latest iPad turn Apple into more of a gaming company than it ever thought it could or wanted to be.
Lastly, it’s expected to see Capps so enthusiastically optimistic. The Infinity Blade series is one of the most popular iOS games of all time. In early January we reported that the Infinity Blade franchise – which is exclusive to iOS – had already netted 30 million in revenue for Epic Games.
via Reuters
March 15th, 2012 at 11:37 am
well, the article should note the necessity of the new Apple TV to get that new iPad game onto your HDTV (any brand).
accessories that convert the iPad into a full-feature game controller are certainly coming from third parties. but such a two-screen UI is different than conventional game consoles and will need a new generation of games that work great for it – better than any console + controller with only one screen could.
an obvious example of such are dashboard/windshield combination games. the iPad screen is your dashboard/cockpit/starship captain’s chair, and the TV screen is the car/plane/spaceship windows’ outside view.
but this new generation of games hasn’t arrived yet. so far developers are just adapting standard game UI’s to touch screens. that’s ok but not special.