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EA, Epic: "The Ipad could be the future of game consoles"

Welcome. Welcome to the future you peons.

The quad-core graphics processor in the new iPad's A5X system-on-chip may not quite be able to match a PlayStation 3, but some games industry bigwigs believe it's only a matter of time before Apple's tablet catches up to consoles. In comments made to Reuters, Epic Games president and perennial iPad keynote guest Mike Capps had this to say:

"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."

The comments have more weight than they otherwise might, coming from a company which has historically been on the vanguard of cutting-edge video game technology with the Unreal series on PC, Gears of War trilogy on Xbox 360, and most recently Infinity Blade on iOS. The Infinity Blade series has made Epic the poster boy for iOS development, and the company would probably be more likely than any third party to know about Apple's future plans — that said, Capps has been pushing Microsoft and Sony to make their next generation consoles as powerful as possible to maintain the gap with mobile devices. Any theoretical iPad-as-console setup would presumably use the new 1080p-capable Apple TV for output, though that wouldn't solve the thorny issue of control.

Frank Gibeau of Electronic Arts agrees that the iPad could replace the traditional console as a gaming hub, saying "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." Finally, studio manager Kristoffer Waardahl of Crytek said "As more people come to these platforms, we have to follow our fans," explaining why the studio most known for pushing the highest of the high-end graphics in hardcore games is releasing its first iPad title this spring.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/13/2866224/ipad-future-of-games-consoles-epic-ea

What fans is Crytek talking about?
 

Spruchy

Member
Touch screen are a serious disadvantage when you are talking about responsiveness and easy controls. As soon as you require multiple simultaneous inputs, it become a problem.

Glad to see you read not even the bolded part.
 
Good, developers are so smart =) Let's root for a system infested with 0.99 cents games, developers and publishers.

I'd like to see you sell your 59.99 game that took 20 million to develop in a system like that :/
 

Cipherr

Member
Touch screen are a serious disadvantage when you are talking about responsiveness and easy controls. As soon as you require multiple simultaneous inputs, it become a problem.

In this example they are adding the variable of a separate controller that you use.

Good, developers are so smart =) Let's root for a system infested with 0.99 cents games, developers and publishers.

I'd like to see you sell your 59.99 game that took 20 million to develop in a system like that :/

Or he could do both. Sell the 59.99 on consoles and sell cheaper games on mobile.
 
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udivision

Member
In the sense that, when I'm at my desk, I plug in a mouse, keyboard, and second monitor into my laptop I can see this happening in some form. I don't even have a desktop PC anymore.
 

alphaNoid

Banned
Touch screen are a serious disadvantage when you are talking about responsiveness and easy controls. As soon as you require multiple simultaneous inputs, it become a problem.

A traditional 3D camera would be hard to implement. ME3 could work on an IPAD. You could run around, talk to people. buy some stuff. But, as soon as you get into combat,it gets way more complicated to control the camera, the reticle , the powers and everything else.

I don't even mention battery life.
If you read the article it said plugging the iPad into the tv and syncing a controller to play just like a console.

I believe this is the future as well. Static boxes that plug into a tv are ancient. Portables game systems that plug into TVs and can Sync controllers are the future for sure.
 

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Inevitable TV connection. Apps coming at some point to the Apple TV no doubt, and probably in the future they'll have some sort of ATV / iPad games (ala Wii U or something)

Meh whatever. As long as there are buttons and good games.
 

Erethian

Member
This doesn't really explain how one gets around the issue of battery capacity and what you can reasonably deliver on a portable device with those restrictions.

Unless a revolution in battery technology takes place.
 
"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."

a67bf37cc3fd.gif

Yeah, the day consoles are stronger than PCs...
 

mclem

Member
"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."

Well, yes, but the *reason* it's easy to imagine that is because iPads sell at a cost premium with more frequent generational updates than a home console; two factors that are rather off-putting to many price-conscious gamers.

That statement is *basically* "It's easy to be more powerful than a home console if people buy hardware updates every year". You could just as easily argue "it's easy to imagine a world where a PC is more powerful than a home console" (of course it is, that's the world *we live in*!)... but at least you can update PCs in a piecemeal fashion rather than having to buy an entire new unit every time the 'next gen' comes around.
 
Wow, it's so amazing iPad is almost caught up to 7 year old Xbox 360. Too bad in a year or two Xbox 3 puts it 8 years behind again.

Beyond that, I see little indication iPad market can support big budget games to even take advantage of whatever graphical capabilities it has, infinity blade is the exception that proves the rule.

The simple fact is mobile tech is always going to be at a major disadvantage performance wise. Always. It has to run with no cooling, a couple of watts, and on a battery. The advantage ipad has, of course, is yearly updates.

If anything, it's kind of disappointing the new inf. blade looks less than console on the ipad 3, as well as the high resolution display which is going to gimp graphical performance. Lets just say for me, iPad 3 was a letdown graphically, if anything.
 
You can bet that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo were shitting themselves about Apple bundling a controller in with the ipad 3.

Ipad + tv out (not required) + controller is probably the best combination given the current market.

Most of the ipad detractors centre around 'no buttons' but that is not exactly hard to fix is it? What then?


Beyond that, I see little indication iPad market can support big budget games to even take advantage of whatever graphical capabilities it has, infinity blade is the exception that proves the rule.

This is true, but if the above is fixed, would the market then actually still support big budget games?
 
It won't happen directly. But as with the Wii U, and as rumor suggests with Xbox720, the hardware makers see the writing on the wall.

Expect tablet-ized consoles in one form or another. And a Gaming Ipad with buttons.
 

elfinke

Member
If you read the article it said plugging the iPad into the tv and syncing a controller to play just like a console.

I believe this is the future as well. Static boxes that plug into a tv are ancient. Portables game systems that plug into TVs and can Sync controllers are the future for sure.

It won't happen directly. But as with the Wii U, and as rumor suggests with Xbox720, the hardware makers see the writing on the wall.

Expect tablet-ized consoles in one form or another. And a Gaming Ipad with buttons.

I agree, and if anything, the WiiU is an early prototype of this.
 

Instro

Member
You can bet that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo were shitting themselves about Apple bundling a controller in with the ipad 3.

Ipad + tv out + controller is probably the best combination given the current market.

Most of the ipad detractors centre around 'no buttons' but that is not exactly hard to fix is it? What then?

No I think most of the ipad detractors center around "what games?".
 

Spookie

Member
I'd rather have a future with 101 penny pinching, micro DLC, buy XP because your regular gains are so shit free to play games than this.
 

Mrbob

Member
You can bet that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo were shitting themselves about Apple bundling a controller in with the ipad 3.

Ipad + tv out + controller is probably the best combination given the current market.

Most of the ipad detractors centre around 'no buttons' but that is not exactly hard to fix is it? What then?

Ipad + TV out sounds like such an elegant solution. Something I have to constantly hook up.

Plus, people are going to constantly upgrade a 500+ dollar device?
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I can see it as a dockable console. But I don't like the yearly model for games, so I hope that doesn't transfer over.

Not sure how game budgets and prices translate.
 
I think the fact that I am going to finally buy an ipad and apple tv soon says a lot, in my spare time now I play more iOS and mobile games then console games, plus I don't really have a problem with touch screen controls for the most part.

Ipad + TV out sounds like such an elegant solution. Something I have to constantly hook up.

AirPlay dude, seriously I think it's quite amazing how one press on your ipad or iphone can then mirror the screen to any tv you have an apple tv plugged into, wireless and with a rather good refresh rate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GaT9EGsLrk skip to 1 min to see a game being played
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Blech.

I love a select few iOS games, but that love is severely limited with the lack of buttons.
 

Raide

Member
[sarcasm]That sounds great fun! Upgrade your console every single year and if you don't, new games will stop working until you update.

We should all give Apple more money! Woo! [/sarcasm]

The idea of a home console with a tiny form-factor, touch-screen and traditional controller, plus outside mobility, sounds pretty awesome.
 
I wonder what the Apple controller will look like when Apple finally releases one. It seems like they'll have to, if the iPad eventually becomes a gaming hub that connects to the TV.
 
No games worth playing compared to the big budget console games. $40+ will be a hard sell on ios whereas it's normal on consoles.

Exactly. Apple has screwed itself over, at least for a long time.
The current game industry wouldn't be sustainable with $10-$15 big budget games
It's just not possible. All you people claiming iPad is the future when people using Apple products have become so used to super cheap games, I hope you don't expect any big budget games if this comes to be...
 
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