Could iOS kill console gaming? - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

99semaj · 2012-03-08, 08:19 AM

Some interesting data out of this week's iPad update presser:

iPad has now sold more units than XBox or PS3 and will soon surpass Wii...and did it in less than half the time.
iPad has more graphical proceesing power
iPad has higher resolution
Can be streamed to a 1080p HDTV
Has a far more robust media store
Already has cracked the mobile market via iPhone

Granted the gaming catalog needs to grow, but titles like Infinity Blade and Sky Gambler prove that you can have the same calibre on iOS. Seems to me it's just a matter of time. Has console gaming already died and we just don't know it yet?

Veee · 2012-03-08, 08:37 AM

Sure the iPad sells more but are people really replacing their consoles with iPads?

Can you play online games with an iPad?

And what about things like controls? Is tapping and rotating a screen really that satisfying for certain types of games?

james99 · 2012-03-08, 09:13 AM

Mobile phones and tablets are a obvious threat to mobile gaming but not home consoles at this point.

NeilN · 2012-03-08, 09:32 AM

Agree with james99 right now. However in five years time, who knows? Apple or Google + random manufacturer might produce an iPad/Android tablet that could hook up to a TV via HDMI and support wireless controllers. Some games could be played on both the tablet and the TV and for others, you could have subsets for each output device. For example, customizing/outfitting your avatar could be done on a tablet while gameplay would be done on the TV.

jvincent · 2012-03-08, 09:53 AM

The console gamers are always going to want better graphics/shading/frame rates than can be crammed into a portable device.

There is some serious silicon in the Xbox360/PS3 and it is only going to be higher performance in the next generation consoles.

The power requirements for those would drain an iPad3 battery very, very quickly not to mention the heat dissipation required, etc.

TorontoColin · 2012-03-08, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 99semaj

iPad has now sold more units than XBox or PS3 and will soon surpass Wii...and did it in less than half the time.
iPad has more graphical proceesing power
iPad has higher resolution
Can be streamed to a 1080p HDTV
Has a far more robust media store
Already has cracked the mobile market via iPhone

I think you could make an even better argument for all of these things with PCs, other than the last one, and it has been true for a very long time, but I don't see PCs as a danger to console gaming.

I'm sure the iPad's graphical processing will be topped by the next generation of consoles, coming soon. And the higher resolution doesn't really matter because console gamers typically want the big screen of a TV, on which the iPad is only 1080p anyway.

I think Nintendo should be very concerned at the moment, but Sony and Microsoft shouldn't be too concerned about the iPad. The bigger threat for them one day is probably a future version of Apple TV.

Tikker · 2012-03-09, 06:26 PM

nintendo? nah, they produce the majority of the quality titles for their platform, so it's not like they have to really worry about studios defecting

MarcP · 2012-03-09, 06:52 PM

It may be more of a threat to the $60-$80 games than it is to the console itself. With games going for $0.99 and slightly above, I have yet to convince myself to get Mass Effect 3. I'll probably wait for the bargain bin.

Tikker · 2012-03-09, 07:03 PM

the 99 cent games play like 99 cent games tho

there is a HUGE gap in the quality of games for iOS and windows/xbox/ps3/nintendo

MarcP · 2012-03-09, 07:05 PM

It's still hard to justify $60+ despite quality and scope. I'm not as excited about new games that pricey anymore.

BGY11 · 2012-03-09, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilN

Apple or Google + random manufacturer might produce an iPad/Android tablet that could hook up to a TV via HDMI and support wireless controllers.

Some phones like the Galaxy S II or Galaxy Nexus can already do this. MHL adapter to connect to the TV, and a PS3 controller can connect to the phone via Bluetooth. I could see this migrating over to some of the tablets if they can't handle this already.

The big misleading thing i see here is making the assumption that more people are playing games on an iPad vs traditional consoles. I also don't believe the statement that graphics processing power on an iPad is better than an Xbox 360 or PS3 - if this were so, those consoles would use a lot less power than they do (and yes, I understand the other components in a console affect power utilization, but the GPU is still a big factor here).

I want to see how games perform at the new iPad's native resolution - if it can still deliver so-called "console quality" graphics at that point, then I'll be surprised.

audacity · 2012-03-10, 10:40 AM

When comparing against a 7 year old console in a Moore's-law-world it really isn't a surprise that the new iPad has more GPU power. Of course, one needs to remember that the iPad 3 must drive a lot more pixels than a console does (even if they were to run games at 1080p).

I think the main weaknesses in new consoles are that the screen sizes are small and most games are designed for a touch screen - which isn't a great controller for many things.

That would be like if game developers tried to make all games work only using Kinect. That would work well for a few game types, but not so well for many popular genres.

99semaj · 2012-03-10, 10:58 AM

No reason that you couldn't have bluetooth controllers, though.

jvincent · 2012-03-10, 04:45 PM

Quote:

When comparing against a 7 year old console in a Moore's-law-world it really isn't a surprise that the new iPad has more GPU power.

I'm not convinced it has more GPU power.

Just because the resolution of the display is bigger doesn't mean much. Scaling algorithms are easy.

Where the big power for GPUs in gaming PCs and consoles goes is into the shaders/pixel pipelines. They also have a lot of attached specialty DRAM to support the shaders. That kind of stuff is NOT in the iPad.

audacity · 2012-03-10, 06:54 PM

jvincent,

I'm certain that Apple wouldn't just render all display images/content at 1024x768 and then scale it to 2048x1536, because if the iPad did that all the time, it would just be a pixel-double and it wouldn't look any better than the original.

Until a 3rd party game dev who got early access to the new iPad hardware chimes in on how much pixel pushing power it has compared to a current console, it's just speculation.

Of course, John Carmack predicted that this would happen rather quickly, so if the iPad 3 isn't as fast or faster than the current gen consoles, the next iteration certainly will be.

2012-03-08, 08:19 AM	#1
99semaj Veteran Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: /dev/null Posts: 2,669	Could iOS kill console gaming? Some interesting data out of this week's iPad update presser: iPad has now sold more units than XBox or PS3 and will soon surpass Wii...and did it in less than half the time. iPad has more graphical proceesing power iPad has higher resolution Can be streamed to a 1080p HDTV Has a far more robust media store Already has cracked the mobile market via iPhone Granted the gaming catalog needs to grow, but titles like Infinity Blade and Sky Gambler prove that you can have the same calibre on iOS. Seems to me it's just a matter of time. Has console gaming already died and we just don't know it yet?

2012-03-08, 09:53 AM	#5
jvincent Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ottawa Posts: 5,370	The console gamers are always going to want better graphics/shading/frame rates than can be crammed into a portable device. There is some serious silicon in the Xbox360/PS3 and it is only going to be higher performance in the next generation consoles. The power requirements for those would drain an iPad3 battery very, very quickly not to mention the heat dissipation required, etc. __________________ Android rocks!

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

2012-03-08, 08:37 AM	#2
Veee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ottawa Posts: 525	Sure the iPad sells more but are people really replacing their consoles with iPads? Can you play online games with an iPad? And what about things like controls? Is tapping and rotating a screen really that satisfying for certain types of games?

2012-03-08, 09:13 AM	#3
james99 Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Burlington Posts: 24,791	Mobile phones and tablets are a obvious threat to mobile gaming but not home consoles at this point.

2012-03-08, 09:32 AM	#4
NeilN Veteran Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: North York Posts: 1,620	Agree with james99 right now. However in five years time, who knows? Apple or Google + random manufacturer might produce an iPad/Android tablet that could hook up to a TV via HDMI and support wireless controllers. Some games could be played on both the tablet and the TV and for others, you could have subsets for each output device. For example, customizing/outfitting your avatar could be done on a tablet while gameplay would be done on the TV.

2012-03-09, 06:26 PM	#7
Tikker Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: SaskTel Posts: 895	nintendo? nah, they produce the majority of the quality titles for their platform, so it's not like they have to really worry about studios defecting

2012-03-09, 06:52 PM	#8
MarcP Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Airdrie, AB Posts: 3,822	It may be more of a threat to the $60-$80 games than it is to the console itself. With games going for $0.99 and slightly above, I have yet to convince myself to get Mass Effect 3. I'll probably wait for the bargain bin.

2012-03-09, 07:03 PM	#9
Tikker Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: SaskTel Posts: 895	the 99 cent games play like 99 cent games tho there is a HUGE gap in the quality of games for iOS and windows/xbox/ps3/nintendo

2012-03-09, 07:05 PM	#10
MarcP Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Airdrie, AB Posts: 3,822	It's still hard to justify $60+ despite quality and scope. I'm not as excited about new games that pricey anymore.

2012-03-10, 10:40 AM	#12
audacity Veteran Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 1,817	When comparing against a 7 year old console in a Moore's-law-world it really isn't a surprise that the new iPad has more GPU power. Of course, one needs to remember that the iPad 3 must drive a lot more pixels than a console does (even if they were to run games at 1080p). I think the main weaknesses in new consoles are that the screen sizes are small and most games are designed for a touch screen - which isn't a great controller for many things. That would be like if game developers tried to make all games work only using Kinect. That would work well for a few game types, but not so well for many popular genres.

2012-03-10, 10:58 AM	#13
99semaj Veteran Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: /dev/null Posts: 2,669	No reason that you couldn't have bluetooth controllers, though.

2012-03-10, 06:54 PM	#15
audacity Veteran Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 1,817	jvincent, I'm certain that Apple wouldn't just render all display images/content at 1024x768 and then scale it to 2048x1536, because if the iPad did that all the time, it would just be a pixel-double and it wouldn't look any better than the original. Until a 3rd party game dev who got early access to the new iPad hardware chimes in on how much pixel pushing power it has compared to a current console, it's just speculation. Of course, John Carmack predicted that this would happen rather quickly, so if the iPad 3 isn't as fast or faster than the current gen consoles, the next iteration certainly will be.