After seeing the demo of Epic Citadel, I've been wondering about the future of these systems. The graphics are beyond any game on the Wii console and nearing Xbox 360 quality, and this could mean serious gaming. But so far, epic games seems to be the only group to be taking advantage of these system's potential, why? What do you see for the future of games for the ipod/iphone/ipad? Do you think more developers will be using these systems full potential or not? I ask this out of curiosity, but also because I am debating whether or not to invest in a new system, as I have an ipod touch 3g and I am considering either a new ipod touch 4g or an ipad.
The iPod Touch 4G has 256MB of Free RAM. The iPhone 4 has 512MB of Free RAM. The iPad has 256MB of Free RAM. iPod Touch 4 has better graphics, iPad has larger screen. iPad is my winner, and you already have the iPod Touch 3G so get the iPad. Gaming is indeed becoming very serious with Unreal Engine 3!
Yeah, I would get an Ipad if I knew there would be more games like Epic Citadel, because the big screen lets you fully appreciate the graphics. But I'm just worried developers won't want to spend the money or time on developing quality games like Epic Citadel because of the way the appstore is set up. Reality is the developers aren't going to make enough money selling their games at $9.99 a pop. I think Apple needs to help them out somehow.
The phone/mobile market is still very new. None of us expected to be playing games like Modern Combat or Chinatown Wars on a phone up until the last few years with the introduction of the iPhone/App store in 2007 which ushered in a new era for mobile gaming. Given that information and how new the app store is in the eyes of developers who might still be on the fence and how we've grown accustomed to the 99c craze, it will be a while before a lot of people are willing to pay 15/20/30 dollars for a AAA gaming title on any of the new iDevices.
If Epic Citadel is the future, then there will come a time in which truly premium AAA iDevice titles will cost as much as high-end DS games. There will not longer be a significant difference in pricing between the iDevice and other handheld and/or portable gaming devices. At that point, the ipod touch loses it edge as a gaming machine. If the prices are similiar, I'm playing the 3DS over the ipod touch virtually every day of the week. Even if the prices aren't similiar, and even if DS gaming remains significantly more expensive on average, I might end up playing the 3DS anyway. Most games average between .99c and 4.99, with only a handful of games ever selling above 6.99. This really has become the appstore's main draw. This is why iDevice gaming has a leg up on the competition. There really is no other reason, to be honest. Fully-featured, fully developed Unreal Engine games are not going to sell for 6.99 or even 9.99, much less .99c. I don't know if people are just glossing this fact over or if they are somehow delusional. You want legitimately premium games for the iDevice, then you are going to have to pay for them, and the price is going to be steep.
Yeah, this is my worry. But I could see a game like borderlands being very possible on the ipad and that would bring a console quality game, which is really impossible to get on the psp or ds. This is what I want from my iDevices, but like you said, the way the appstore is going I don't see it happening. I personally do not mind spending $30.00 on a game of the quality Epic Citadel has shown.
In the future there will be . . . Also I would wait till the next iPad model comes out if you're on the fence, should be within 6 months?
Besides price, what games are being released is going to make a difference. The idevices corner the market for indy devs where you can't do anything with psp or ds to get that quality they can on idevices. Until nintendo and Sony figure that out, they will never catch up.
I want an iPad mini. The iPad is too big for me (border is too big for good controls, especially FPS games). And I'd like something a little bigger than my iPhone 4, so my next idevice will probably be the device that comes in between the two.
Wow. Unreal 3 engine on the iphone is "the future". how short sighted. Any thinking man or woman knows the future of iphone gaming is in the cloud much sooner than later with more rock solid 3g/4g/wifi connectivity and services such as Onlive. Start thinking netflix. just log on to your account wherever you're at: iphone, tv, desktop and access all your games via subscription based service. that is the future, period.
you all need to keep in mind the ACTUAL stats of the ipod 4. Take a look at this article, pretty much sums it all up... http://www.anandtech.com/show/3903/apples-ipod-touch-2010-review-not-a-poor-mans-iphone-4 made me skeptical
Before the iPad was released I was hoping that it would have a 7" screen. It didn't, but I bought it anyway. Now that I am used to the big screen, as well as the big keyboard, I don't think i'd want a smaller screen. I am happy with the size it is...
