5 ms·

You missed the biggest reason... cost of games is much cheaper. Even the Wii, with lower end titles, still cost much more than iPad games. The big problem wit

You missed the biggest reason... cost of games is much cheaper. Even the Wii, with lower end titles, still cost much more than iPad games. The big problem with the iPad is that it is not an enjoyable multiuser experience yet. Nothing beats having friends over and playing Madden on a big TV. This is one reason why I think PC gaming never really took off in a big way. Playing a game on a PC is basically an isolated experience (mitigated by online play).

cletus 16y ago
You raise two good points. As for the cost, they are cheaper but I don't necessarily see that as being structural. What I mean is that that there is that as capabilities expand, so will what producers can do with that platform. The cost will go up with this. This will, in part, be mitigated by increasing market size. Or possibly publishers will finally learn that if games are cheap people will buy more of them, a lesson that has been consistently proven true from Steam price cuts (where selling a game for $5 made more than the original IIRC). The second good point you make, which I missed, is the multi-user aspect of games like Madden. This is mainly because I've never been this way inclined. I haven't been much of a console gamer at all really. I'm more of a PC gamer that likes turn-based strategy games. But I have bought and played a plethora of "casual" games on my iPad (and now iPad 2). I see tablets as being fundamentally personal devices, not really something you play a game on with multiple people (unless they each have their own). Still I see a huge potential market for games like Madden where each person has their own tablet as a control. What about where the Apple TV (a future iteration) plays one view and each player has their own control so it looks like a real football game?
- icefox 16y ago
  > What about where the Apple TV (a future iteration) plays one view and each player has their own control so it looks like a real football game? The other weekend I sat down and looking into a very similar question. My detailed "report" can be found here: https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games Summary: There might be some killer idea out there, but it seemed you could always do better without the TV. Also that in person (like football) multiplayer or coop tablet games are an untapped market.
- bilbo0s 16y ago
  I know of several startups working on ipad 2 games that uses the ipod touch or iphone as the other controller. Or even THE controller. It's actually pretty cool. The one I played made me think ... WOW ... goodbye console wars.
  - icefox 16y ago
    I was at an airport a few years ago and the plane was delayed. A mother pulled out her iphone, gave it to her kid and said he if he wanted another game he could only spend $1. The kid was entertained for the next hour while we all waited for the plane. I knew then that dedicated portable consoles were dead.
weego 16y ago
This maybe true, but only in certain markets. I don't see many parents being convinced to part with the $ for an iPad for presents when a DS or PSP type item is around. Though the games are indeed more expensive the up-front cost is a major player in decision making for leisure time purchasing.
lallysingh 16y ago
The casual market's doing well here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/words-with-friends/id322852954?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/words-with-friends/id32285295...
mryall 16y ago
Playing multi-player games on multiple iPads (or iPhones or iPod Touches) isn't at all bad. I've had quite a few fun times with friends playing games this way. Looking at the same screen works well for some games, but not so well for others.
bigiain 16y ago
"The big problem with the iPad is that it is not an enjoyable multiuser experience yet. Nothing beats having friends over and playing Madden on a big TV." I suspect Apple have plans for iPads, iPhones, AppleTV's, and your big plasma that'll make the Wii/PlayStation/XBox look positively primitive.
r0s 16y ago
> PC gaming never really took off in a big way. http://www.pcworld.com/article/207358/world_of_warcraft_subscribers_hit_12_million.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/207358/world_of_warcraft_subs... Nothing more than an outlier exception, I'm sure.
tlear 16y ago
Big problem with IPad games is that most of them are junk :o there is really no comparison to good DS stuff, xbox or PS3. There was a good keynote from the Nintendo at the GDC, situation with junk games now is getting dangerously close to the Great Video Game crash of 1983
xiaoma 16y ago
This is one reason why I think PC gaming never really took off in a big way. We must be living in different worlds. I've seen PC gaming surpass movies as the dominant cultural product with ease, and at least in this part of the world (east Asia), no console game comes even remotely close to pulling down the revenues that World of Warcraft does or getting the TV time or tournaments that Starcraft II does.

cletus 16y ago

You raise two good points. As for the cost, they are cheaper but I don't necessarily see that as being structural. What I mean is that that there is that as capabilities expand, so will what producers can do with that platform. The cost will go up with this. This will, in part, be mitigated by increasing market size. Or possibly publishers will finally learn that if games are cheap people will buy more of them, a lesson that has been consistently proven true from Steam price cuts (where selling a game for $5 made more than the original IIRC). The second good point you make, which I missed, is the multi-user aspect of games like Madden. This is mainly because I've never been this way inclined. I haven't been much of a console gamer at all really. I'm more of a PC gamer that likes turn-based strategy games. But I have bought and played a plethora of "casual" games on my iPad (and now iPad 2). I see tablets as being fundamentally personal devices, not really something you play a game on with multiple people (unless they each have their own). Still I see a huge potential market for games like Madden where each person has their own tablet as a control. What about where the Apple TV (a future iteration) plays one view and each player has their own control so it looks like a real football game?

icefox 16y ago
> What about where the Apple TV (a future iteration) plays one view and each player has their own control so it looks like a real football game? The other weekend I sat down and looking into a very similar question. My detailed "report" can be found here: https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games https://github.com/icefox/tablet_tv_games Summary: There might be some killer idea out there, but it seemed you could always do better without the TV. Also that in person (like football) multiplayer or coop tablet games are an untapped market.
bilbo0s 16y ago
I know of several startups working on ipad 2 games that uses the ipod touch or iphone as the other controller. Or even THE controller. It's actually pretty cool. The one I played made me think ... WOW ... goodbye console wars.
- icefox 16y ago
  I was at an airport a few years ago and the plane was delayed. A mother pulled out her iphone, gave it to her kid and said he if he wanted another game he could only spend $1. The kid was entertained for the next hour while we all waited for the plane. I knew then that dedicated portable consoles were dead.

weego 16y ago

This maybe true, but only in certain markets. I don't see many parents being convinced to part with the $ for an iPad for presents when a DS or PSP type item is around. Though the games are indeed more expensive the up-front cost is a major player in decision making for leisure time purchasing.

lallysingh 16y ago

The casual market's doing well here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/words-with-friends/id322852954?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/words-with-friends/id32285295...

mryall 16y ago

Playing multi-player games on multiple iPads (or iPhones or iPod Touches) isn't at all bad. I've had quite a few fun times with friends playing games this way. Looking at the same screen works well for some games, but not so well for others.

bigiain 16y ago

"The big problem with the iPad is that it is not an enjoyable multiuser experience yet. Nothing beats having friends over and playing Madden on a big TV." I suspect Apple have plans for iPads, iPhones, AppleTV's, and your big plasma that'll make the Wii/PlayStation/XBox look positively primitive.

r0s 16y ago

> PC gaming never really took off in a big way. http://www.pcworld.com/article/207358/world_of_warcraft_subscribers_hit_12_million.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/207358/world_of_warcraft_subs... Nothing more than an outlier exception, I'm sure.

tlear 16y ago

Big problem with IPad games is that most of them are junk :o there is really no comparison to good DS stuff, xbox or PS3. There was a good keynote from the Nintendo at the GDC, situation with junk games now is getting dangerously close to the Great Video Game crash of 1983

xiaoma 16y ago

This is one reason why I think PC gaming never really took off in a big way. We must be living in different worlds. I've seen PC gaming surpass movies as the dominant cultural product with ease, and at least in this part of the world (east Asia), no console game comes even remotely close to pulling down the revenues that World of Warcraft does or getting the TV time or tournaments that Starcraft II does.