This spring is the newest and most playing device Apple. Will we play on tablets in the next two to three years?
January 27, 2010 at the presentation Apple In San Francisco in the hands of the chief executive director of Steve Jobs, the world first saw the world iPad. According to Jobs, this is a “magical and revolutionary device”, the output of which will change the rules of the game in the market of mobile and home computers.
According to numerous critics, this is a big iPod Touch – Maxipod, if you want. While social networks are dentist over the name (funny fact: the words of the iPad and iPod, uttered with the Boston accent, sound exactly the same), some journalists talk about the prospects of tablet PC, others about the capabilities of tablet mobile devices, while independent developers are frantically remodeling their applications for App Store under a large screen, we have time to look around and try to determine the place of the iPad in the world of video games – and indeed in the world.
The price of the issue
Jobs at the presentation tried in every possible way to emphasize the fact that Apple is now mainly a mobile company. Stable sales of laptops, iPhone and iPod led to the fact that Apple is now a larger manufacturer of mobile devices than Sony , Samsung or Nokia. And iPad, whatever you say, is a mobile device. But if you look soberly at his tactical and technical characteristics, everything is not so simple ..
The screen size is 9.7 inches diagonally (with a resolution of 768×1024 pixels and the ratio of the parties 3: 4), the size of the total device is 24.2 by 19 centimeters, thickness- 1.3 centimeters, weight- 730 grams (expensive model with Wi- FI and 3G). In general, in size it is not a MP3 player, but an impressive book in a solid cover with a volume of 1000 pages. The dimensions are not too playful – you can’t put such a thing in your pocket with all your desire, you can't play a crowd metro or standing on the bus. For the iPad you need a calm atmosphere, two (at least) free hands, and even better a table and a special stand.
The next moment is the price. If we consider the iPad as a mobile game device, then it competes with Nintendo DSI (10,500 rubles in Russia, $ 165 in the world), PSPGO (11,000 rubles or $ 249) and iPhone 3GS (30,000 rubles or $ 299), not to mention the younger, cheaper models of these platforms.
If you look at the iPad as a semi -male game platform, then among its competitors – Nintendo WII (15,000 rubles or, sorry, $ 199), Xbox 360 (9500 rubles or $ 199) and PlayStation 3 (14,000 rubles or $ 299).
The cheapest ipad version (without 3G and 16 GB of memory) will cost $ 499 in the United States, but in Russia, with an eye on the iPhone 3GS and other Apple products, not 15,000 rubles will have to be given for the younger model, but rather around 50,000.
For the sake of games, few people agree to lay out such money – it is better to immediately buy Xbox 360, PS3, PSPGO and continue to consume products from the App Store on an old iPhone. It is easy to believe that the Apple tablet is an excellent web surf device (on the iPhone, with all its advantages, to flip out the web pages painfully). It will also be convenient to read books on the iPad – individual journalists even consider this as the main function of the device, and Apple opens the store iBook store , in which e -books will be sold (500 rubles per copy), newspapers and magazines.
The tablet is convenient for viewing photos and videos – in fact, in the newspapers sold in IBook Store, the videos will be built directly into virtual stripes (and the newspaper The New York Times Already managed to demonstrate an official reader to read their multimedia publication on iPad). The printed press is worried about the imminent death of paper newspapers and magazines; on the main technoleum of the Silicon Valley ( Churchillclub.Org ) The topic “Journalism after the end of the Press” is underway with might and main, and in the imminent death of the print media, the iPad is primarily accused of and Amazonkindle.
In fact, of course, this is not death, but rebirth ("gambling", for example, at least today it is ready to go out in PDF format). There is not enough a single device, a universal reader, under which the entire virtual press would format and sharpen. But sooner or later, this will happen: thousands of screenshots and videos from games will be built into the pages of game magazines, subcases will apply to the newspaper stripes, the articles will be distributed by subscription, and the news will instantly enter the device immediately after the publication. Although as a device for reading iPad is also expensive ..
Bill Gates, who ten years ago personally demonstrated to humanity the world's first tablet PC (see. IPAD's predecessors in -deposit), spoke out about the iPad quite contemptuously: “I believe in multi -line, I believe in electronic reading devices, but it still seems to me that such devices need a voice interface, stylus and physically tangible keyboard – in other words, this should be a netbook ". As you can see, Gates also considered an iPad electronic reader – or simply did not want to record it in the same category with traditional tablets.
On the other hand, at the February Conference Macworld Conference & Expo Senior Product Manager Microsoft Mike Tedesko said that the company is seriously considering the possibility of releasing a package Microsoft Office On the iPad – in addition to the already declared Apple kit iWork (which, among other things, includes a text editor Pages ). The iPad virtual keyboard takes half the screen and is suitable for a set of long artistic texts, the image can be displayed to a large monitor, and a full -fledged keyboard is connected to the document. You are unlikely to agree to play without a mouse and on a one -stuck in a dock at an angle of 80 degrees of a tablet, but how a serious iPad operating device in this form can be used.
Horizontal Tetris
In terms of capabilities of the iPad processor, it is not so different from the iPhone 3GS: 1 GHz vs 600 MHz. The most important hardware differences are a large sensor screen with a multi -tape support and an accelerometer that can capture the tilt of the device on two axes.
The first means the luster spaciousness for the fuss with virtual buttons and just for the output of useful information and customization of the interface (in the presentation shown at the presentation to the shooter N.O.V.A. Company Gameloft A mini-card was displayed on the screen, and virtual buttons could be dispersed on the screen much more comfortable than on iPhone). The second is the possibility of managing serious three -dimensional games only with the help of accelerometer (although the presentation has not been demonstrated at the presentation) … otherwise the accelerometer captures the inclination of only one axis, and therefore it is almost exclusively used to control racing machines.
The iPad should be completely compatible with the library of programs already created for the App Store – you will not have to buy anything again, the games are displayed on a larger screen with a doubled number of pixels. There is no multitasking in the iPad, so it will be impossible to play in a small window on the tablet, at the same time doing browsing, reading news or some other useful matter. Although this is the only option for playing products from App Store what is on the iPad, what's on a stationary computer ..
In now popular social facebook entertainment like " Fun farmer »You can’t play iPad either – the device does not support Adobe Flash.
With all this, the iPad is the nearest analogue of the gaming product from all devices ever presented by Apple. iPhone as a game platform developed by itself, gradually-and gained such popularity that even in indifferent, in general, the company's games realized that high-quality gaming products in the App Store will help them sell an order of magnitude more devices. So at the presentation of the iPad, reporters were given not for one or two, but for a good dozen games.
In addition to n.O.V.A., showed Need for Speed: Shift And Super Monkey Ball – In racing and arcade games from the iPhone on the iPad, you can play with an accelerometer. Only not for long, thanks to the impressive dimensions of the device. Try to pick up the aforementioned book in a solid cover and guaranteed it a little … I worked excellently Bejeweled 2 – Because you can put the iPad on the table and comfortably poke your finger at the screen. And here Tetris – Not the game that you can play on a horizontally located device. Figures in a glass should still fall from top to bottom ..
IN Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles It turned out to be convenient to use large virtual buttons – it is possible that arcades with virtual gamepads will go well on the iPad, for which the iPhone screen is tragically lacking. Supercasual Oregon Trail , TAP TAP Revenge 3 , Scrabble And Madden NFL , but the most playable, oddly enough, turned out to be The Sims 3. iPad is ideal for leisurely games with a large number of menu, the main thing is that either a touch screen or accelerometer is used in the game. If both are involved in both, then you most likely drop a almost kilogram device on your foot.
The first original iPad games are expected no earlier than April – simultaneously with the release of the device or immediately after its release. Large publishers like Gameloft and Electronic Arts begin to specially sharpen their games to specific sizes and possible positions of the tablet. From it and without physical buttons, the game platform for the envy of iPhone, PSP and DS can be obtained – we are just used to analog handles, chiffs and crosses that we are not ready to seriously consider new control methods (although two of the three modern mobile platforms use the touch screen).
It all depends on the developers – you need to create new games, and not to twist the old, already established genres under the inappropriate forms of management … On the iPad you can definitely play; At the fantastic series of the tablet came from a convenient and intuitive management, it remains only to invent them to invent.
Developer Anthem
iPad – tightly closed platform. If you forget about the hacking of the device, then you will have to buy all games (and not only games) in the App Store-in this sense, we have not an ordinary “Macintosh” with sensory control, but really an iPod-overgrown. The development of games for the iPad is controlled by the iron manufacturer (also with their consoles receive Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo) https://sister-site.org/magicred/, although Apple sets softer conditions – to expel it 30% from each sale, while Microsoft in Xbox Live Arcade takes up to 70 % revenue … This unites a tablet with specialized game platforms, and not with free PC.
During and immediately after launching the tablet, large companies and independent developers will work on the iPad versions of existing programs (yes, games with the iPhone should go so, but how without minor improvements!). At the demonstration of Need for Speed: Shift Vice President of the Department EA Mobile Travis Botman said his company intends to transfer all its gaming products from the App Store to the new device as soon as possible.
Theoretically, the App Store allows any, even the most modest, developer to compete with the largest game corporations. Making an independent game for Apple products is no more difficult (and commercially more profitable) than to make an independent game for Windows. Although on a large screen, people may be more demanding on the schedule – in the end, a version of the engine has been developed Unreal Engine for used on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad iPhone OS , So the graphics in the best three -dimensional projects for the iPad may well be very high quality. But this requires solid budgets and large teams of developers ..
According to the company Flurry , engaged in the analytics of the market of mobile devices, only in January the number of new applied applications for the App Store has increased three times (this is what the existence of the iPad was officially announced at the very end of the month). A new gold fever is approaching, the chances of getting rich in which will be much less than during the first paper of games for the original iPhone.
To stand out against a similar background-on the one hand, a million porporated from the iPhone of old games, on the other, corporate monsters were menacingly hung-we need to invent something very bright and out of the ordinary. If a fantastic idea comes to mind (like some developer PEGGLE ) and he will be able to adequately realize it (as the developer did it Topple ), then … Apple Vice President Forstall says that any magnificent game for the iPad will necessarily be seen and posted in the App Store in the most prominent place (and these are not empty words-Apple really closely monitors high-quality applications and willingly advertises them).
As the release date approaches, there are more and more rumors about the presence of undocumented software capabilities in the iPad (precedents were – about support YouTube The original iPhone was announced nine days before the launch). Enthusiasm around the new Apple Product is many times more than around competing platforms (see. insert "enemies around"). The case is small – to determine which audience all these games should be designed. Talking about Apple's target audience in our time is ridiculous (it is like talking about the target audience of buttons), but who is still designed for their new tablet?
Jobs proudly states that “thanks to the iPhone and iPod Touch, over 75 million people know how to use iPad”. But whether all these people need a tablet and whether they agree to spend money on it? Perhaps here it is worth focusing on a new, unknown type of consumer – users who need not even a reader, but as accessible and convenient Internet as possible. The virtual keyboard is enough to create records on social networks (although for 140-digit messages in Twitter It is fine and iPhone).
* * *
What is the main function iPad? We do not know this – as Steve Jobs himself probably does not know. The future of this platform is much more foggy than the previous Apple devices. Jobs really made a revolution with iPhone, this device replaced the player, phone and psp on the bedside table by the bed. iPad is an interesting thing, maybe even useful, but at the moment you can’t call it the necessary.
Now it is impossible to say with confidence whether this new audience actually exists, which does not need a full -fledged PC or a full -fledged mobile device and which will suit the best way as possible. And if Apple actually succeeds in selling a sufficient number of tablets, they will probably change the gaming culture. For the first time we will see what games and what genres live on the border between home and mobile gaming devices.
[Break]] What was before
The predecessors of the iPad are fictitious and not very ..
Around enemies
New tablets are announced almost every week – these are just some of the IPad direct competitors
HP SLATE
The first swallow of the upcoming tablet-self-self-sample-the head of Microsoft Steve Balmer showed a prototype on the January CES in Vegas. The only tablet using Windows 7.
Dell Streak
The five -inch tablet Dell is the only prototype shown by the “many tablets preparing for the production”. Due to modest sizes, he competes more with the iPhone than with iPad.
Asus eee tablet
The company that launched the first mass netbook also showed a prototype of a nine -inch tablet. Apparently, she will use the Google Android operating system.
Notion Ink Adam
Another tablet on Android, works on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip, has a ten -inch screen, supports multitach, the price is “from 300 to 800 dollars”.
Google Tablet
Google mythical tablet, which should do the same for pills that Nexus One has done for smartphones (that is, nothing special). So far – from the field of pure rumors.
Lego iPad
Three days after the announcement of the iPad Flickr, Joe Meno (Nick Jmenomeno), he collected his own tablet from the details of the designer Lego. This iPad is unlikely to be a competitor to a real tablet, but it weighs several times less.