Why iOS is slowly becoming my favorite platform.

This is pretty much a completely useless post of me giving my opinion. Keep that in mind at all times. I haven't posted on GameSpot in nearly 2 years. But today I woke up and said...I'm going to post on GameSpot.

Historically I have been a "hardcore" gamer I suppose. I still own my Xbox 360. Still play it fairly often. However my focus in games has shifted a lot. While back when I mostly played shooters, action, and rpg.....I now play a lot of sports, extreme sports, driving, racing, sim, etc. I am getting older and I don't exactly have time to put 100 hours into a game like I used to.

Anyways I bought my first Apple product ever about a week or so ago (iPhone 5) and long story short - iOS gaming is awesome. The GameCenter app makes even more worthwhile and gives it a feel of being a real platform. FIFA 13 is surprisingly good on it. Real Racing 2 (While it is no Forza 4) it is a damn good experience. Plants Vs. Zombies...really fun. And theres also the puzzle/indie time-passing games that are fun. I do plan on buying an iPad eventually to even more enhance the experience. One Apple figures out a way to make the controls a bit sharper in future games, it will be top notch. I get attacked by the GAMing ELITIstZZzzZZzz by speaking this blasphemy, but I hope iOS is a fully legit contender this upcoming gen.

You say you are not interested in playing games that much now and yet you plan to buy an ipad to play games? I mean sure iOS is a real gaming platform now no doubt about it but your argument makes no sense. You dont have to give in "several" hours into console games like fifa and need for speed, there are many pick up and play games on consoles.

The iphone and ipad are very formidable portable gaming solutions so it's totally understandable if an ipad replaces a nintendo DS or PS vita. But comparing it with console gaming just makes no sense to me. Console gaming is more expensive yes but it's just as accessible if not more and unquestionably a more entertaining way to pass time.

You say you are not interested in playing games that much now and yet you plan to buy an ipad to play games? I mean sure iOS is a real gaming platform now no doubt about it but your argument makes no sense. You dont have to give in "several" hours into console games like fifa and need for speed, there are many pick up and play games on consoles.

The iphone and ipad are very formidable portable gaming solutions so it's totally understandable if an ipad replaces a nintendo DS or PS vita. But comparing it with console gaming just makes no sense to me. Console gaming is more expensive yes but it's just as accessible if not more and unquestionably a more entertaining way to pass time.

Gambler_3

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

You say you are not interested in playing games that much now and yet you plan to buy an ipad to play games? I mean sure iOS is a real gaming platform now no doubt about it but your argument makes no sense. You dont have to give in "several" hours into console games like fifa and need for speed, there are many pick up and play games on consoles.

The iphone and ipad are very formidable portable gaming solutions so it's totally understandable if an ipad replaces a nintendo DS or PS vita. But comparing it with console gaming just makes no sense to me. Console gaming is more expensive yes but it's just as accessible if not more and unquestionably a more entertaining way to pass time.

Kid-Atari

Lets see a port of GTA 4 on iphone 5 or something similar, only then will I agree that its comparable to 360 in graphics and general processing capabilities. Fact of the matter is even if the iphone 5 is capable there is just not enough money being spend on huge projects for mobile games.

And yes I agree it's a great mobile gaming platform better than android in many key areas never denied that.

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"][QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

You say you are not interested in playing games that much now and yet you plan to buy an ipad to play games? I mean sure iOS is a real gaming platform now no doubt about it but your argument makes no sense. You dont have to give in "several" hours into console games like fifa and need for speed, there are many pick up and play games on consoles.

The iphone and ipad are very formidable portable gaming solutions so it's totally understandable if an ipad replaces a nintendo DS or PS vita. But comparing it with console gaming just makes no sense to me. Console gaming is more expensive yes but it's just as accessible if not more and unquestionably a more entertaining way to pass time.

Gambler_3

Lets see a port of GTA 4 on iphone 5 or something similar, only then will I agree that its comparable to 360 in graphics and general processing capabilities. Fact of the matter is even if the iphone 5 is capable there is just not enough money being spend on huge projects for mobile games.

And yes I agree it's a great mobile gaming platform better than android in many key areas never denied that.

See Real Racing 3 running on an iPhone 5. It's not a question on IF the iPhone 5 is as capable as a 360 in processing power. That aspect has been answered already. It's insane that a tiny thin little slab has the graphical horsepower of our bulky 360's. It's insane, but it's pretty much reality now. Technology is exponential like that. Welcome to 2012.Kid-Atari

And it's not as amazing as you are making it sound like. A 360 is 6 years old!! PS vita is more powerful than iphone 5 and yet cant quite match the PS3 which is not any better than xbox 360.

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"] I don't think he was arguing more less than he was just making a statement. iOS has become a pretty alarmingly good gaming experience. The iPad 3 and especially the new iPhone 5 make it a comparable experience to current gen consoles mainly for the fact that the games can be wirelessly projected onto TV's (or with an HDMI cable) to bring graphically intensive games to the big screen while utilizing the iPod/iPhone as a controller. The graphics in an iPhone 5 are so ridiculously close to a current gen 360 it's amazing. Fifa on the iPhone allows you to all share a single TV screen while allowing everyone to join in with their iPods/iPhones for use as a controller for the action going on the TV. Suffice it to say, Game Center ties it down and makes it a legitimate platform. It just makes sense for gamers to be on iOS more than any other mobile platform. Pretty much is a dead given and accepted norm that iOS wins hands down in the gaming department.Kid-Atari

Lets see a port of GTA 4 on iphone 5 or something similar, only then will I agree that its comparable to 360 in graphics and general processing capabilities. Fact of the matter is even if the iphone 5 is capable there is just not enough money being spend on huge projects for mobile games.

And yes I agree it's a great mobile gaming platform better than android in many key areas never denied that.

[QUOTE="imprezawrx500"]yes they look great but they have nothing on a 5 year old pc, if they tried to run boarderlands 2 in 1080p it wouldn't even load, plus there is the whole problem of controls, yes touch screens work but not nearly as well as a controller or k/m. Technology has come along way but hasn't caught up the the big bulky machines yet and that is still 5-10 years away. Phone games are somewhere between ps2 and ps3 now and the iphone 5 isn't even that graphically powerful compared to other chips out there such as in the s3 or the tegra 3. If you play a game on a tablet you will see there are lots of muddy textures and poor effects compared to consoles. Those take lots of power and soc chips are not anywhere close to being able to run them. Gambler_3

The big problem for devs in pushing an iphone 5 is that if a game pushed the iphone 5 then it'll be raping the ipad 3 which the devs obviously dont want. The weak links always seem to cause restriction in every ecosystem when it comes to gaming. They also have to atleast support the iphone 4S and I am sure most devs would still wanna support the iphone 4.

Consoles on the other hand are just 2 with very similar capabilities and thus their potential gets nearly maximized. Then there are first party games which have no restriction just one device to work with. iOS doesnt quite have the optimization and unification of a console.

I suspect mobile gaming will take off in a year or two, as soon as apple patents and release that controller it becomes a more competitive gaming device.mystic_knight

Whats more powerful than the vita? Anyway s4 pro adreno 320 better than sgx543mp3. iOS games are interesting but will not supercede consoles just yet. I suspect mobile gaming will take off in a year or two, as soon as apple patents and release that controller it becomes a more competitive gaming device.mystic_knight

The most out-spoken "hardcore" gamers are typically cheaper, have an artificial sense of entitlement, are cynical and/or apathetic, and rarely appreciate concepts that they can't grasp or understand (i.e. design philosophy and balance).

musicalmac

Lulz "hardcore", them console kiddies don't know hardcore gaming until they fork $1000-2000 for hardware ala pc gaming hehe.

I never understood why they always complain about hardware pricing when the games $50-60 and the pricing is more static or slower to drop, so they don't save nearly as much as they think. When they cheap out on hardware. Also they seem fairly willing to buy the collectors & dlc for even more money. I'd leave it as that to not create a system war-esque argument here.

I do think mobile gaming will take off, but with the casual crowd, while the gaming handheld will lose some of that casual crowd over.

Apple doesn't want to directly compete with Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft in the gaming realm. The most out-spoken "hardcore" gamers are typically cheaper, have an artificial sense of entitlement, are cynical and/or apathetic, and rarely appreciate concepts that they can't grasp or understandmusicalmac

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"]See Real Racing 3 running on an iPhone 5. It's not a question on IF the iPhone 5 is as capable as a 360 in processing power. That aspect has been answered already. It's insane that a tiny thin little slab has the graphical horsepower of our bulky 360's. It's insane, but it's pretty much reality now. Technology is exponential like that. Welcome to 2012.Gambler_3

And it's not as amazing as you are making it sound like. A 360 is 6 years old!! PS vita is more powerful than iphone 5 and yet cant quite match the PS3 which is not any better than xbox 360.

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"]See Real Racing 3 running on an iPhone 5. It's not a question on IF the iPhone 5 is as capable as a 360 in processing power. That aspect has been answered already. It's insane that a tiny thin little slab has the graphical horsepower of our bulky 360's. It's insane, but it's pretty much reality now. Technology is exponential like that. Welcome to 2012.Kid-Atari

And it's not as amazing as you are making it sound like. A 360 is 6 years old!! PS vita is more powerful than iphone 5 and yet cant quite match the PS3 which is not any better than xbox 360.

Get your facts straight the iphone 5 has better CPU then vita but vita has better GPU so its more capable for gaming purposes. If iphone 5 cant beat vita no way can it beat a PS3 end of story!!!

[QUOTE="Kid-Atari"][QUOTE="Gambler_3"]That game is not released and would probably not hold a cradle to forza. :|

And it's not as amazing as you are making it sound like. A 360 is 6 years old!! PS vita is more powerful than iphone 5 and yet cant quite match the PS3 which is not any better than xbox 360.

Gambler_3

Get your facts straight the iphone 5 has better CPU then vita but vita has better GPU so its more capable for gaming purposes. If iphone 5 cant beat vita no way can it beat a PS3 end of story!!!

This is not a 360 game. It is an ingame screenshot of Real Racing 3 running on an iPhone 5. The Vita can not do this.

The chipset in the iPad 3 is not the same as the chipset in the iPhone 5. The A6 in the iP5 is superior to the iPad 3. :b

iOS is getting a game along the lines of Skyrim. And it looks pretty damn near close to console graphics.

Raven Sword 2 trailer:http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/10/09/ravensword-2-gameplay-trailer

lol those car models dont look as good as forza 3 or GT5.

And you need to know the difference between CPU and GPU. The iphone 5 does not have a better GPU than the ipad 3.

And talking about vita's capabilities? That trailer you posted has nothing on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7nnRI60Gq0

The iphone 5 might actually be overall more powerful but iOS isnt as unified as a gaming handheld so it's power wont be fully utilized in a game.

i agree totally with the original post

i am 35 now, i luv games but rare i play them anymore due to time constraints. having an ipad with games like starfront collision, red alert, infinity blade etc means i can play games in bed between reading, studying and watching blu rays with the mrs

it means i can play some games even if only for 15/20min whereas i just wasnt able to before. having a wife, kids, relatives etc always over.. getting the main tv to myself is rare so something like the ipad was a godsend

also for someone like me i can say im working or studying on it whereas ill really be in the middle of a gaming session

i dont think anyone says they will take over from consoles. i dont. nor do i want it to, but its a nice option for people to have that wasnt there a few years ago