Fortunately soon people will have a choice of one device that does both, runs software designed for tablets and runs desktop software as well. No more need to compromise, you can have your cake and eat it too by getting tablet form factor and battery life and still do it all. And given that games are a huge part of tablet app sales, that backlog of x86 games that can be made tablet friendly will be a boon to users of that new tablet device.
US$199 quad core tablet - is it the end for handheld consoles?
- Thread starter gongo
- Start date
Fortunately soon people will have a choice of one device that does both, runs software designed for tablets and runs desktop software as well. No more need to compromise, you can have your cake and eat it too by getting tablet form factor and battery life and still do it all. And given that games are a huge part of tablet app sales, that backlog of x86 games that can be made tablet friendly will be a boon to users of that new tablet device.
Right but I wonder about the mindset of people who approach the x86 tablet with the thought that she's going to run all the software she already has. Maybe some of these people don't bother trying out the tablet-specific apps. that much, or hold off on buying new software.
Or some people are just hostile to the idea of buying tablet apps, more interested in using x86 tablets for the lighter form factor.
Or some people are just hostile to the idea of buying tablet apps, more interested in using x86 tablets for the lighter form factor.
Well it has a built in keyboard, and you can use any bluetooth travel mouse with it as well so it should work just fine as a mobile desktop with ones existing desktop apps. Personally I rely on a bunch of desktop apps for my business which is what made the iPad useless to me in that respect (had to always travel with iPad + laptop), so now the one tablet can handle it all which is really nice. I don't think people will ignore tablet apps unless they decide to totally ignore the app store, which seems like a meatball thing to do.
this is honestly the kind of hardware the Vita should have marketed as as well since day 1. And Sony still havent figure out their PS mobile.......sigh, It has the hardware to do all this even if the system may not be good enough for multi tasking at least it can them. The system should have shipped with all basics PDA functions built into the OS right from the beginning. It was released earlier than nexus 7, the 250 dollar price point would be much more compelling at the time.
At those age they screech at anything.
My son already enjoyed the iPod Touch at 1 years old. But having bought it 2,5 years ago, that device iisn't even supported beyond iOS 4.x, and even 2D games don't run well on it. This is partly where my PC vs console comparisons come from.
My guess is a surprising amount of kids will end up having both. Get a Nintendo one year, an iPod two years later (could be a mini, a touch), a Wii U two years after that, then a Vita, then a smartphone. Again I'm exaggerating, but the handheld consoles stay around and valid for five years, and at some point in that lifecycle, they become quite the bargain with lots of dedicated games that make the most of exactly that device.
@Squilliam: that's Japan, not the US, which I was quoting Wedbush figures from (also 2008). And in Japan, the 3DS is selling ... pretty decently I'd say.
Just got Dead Trigger on my Asus.
It looks pretty sweet on the Tegra 3.
It looks pretty sweet on the Tegra 3.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Is that basically about what consoles are running now? Between 30-60 fps for well developed games. About 15-25 fps for badly developed games?
So that puts it right in line with a home console. Throw in a 7" screen and you can likely get away with rendering at 480p resolution with better assets than medium/low detail settings and noone would be able to tell the difference from a 720p game until it was output to a big screen TV.Actually 10 years ago, a 40 year old business man would likely have been gaming on his phone already.
Assuming we're talking about Japan. Gaming on phones was already a big thing in Japan, even back then. Granted not particularly sophisticated, but then most iPhone app games aren't terribly sophisticated either.And the handhelds still did well. Granted the iPhone has certainly closed the gap and surpassed the handhelds in some ways (potential graphics fidelity) but is still years behind with regards to game content and length. Then again, there isn't much you can do to address that if you are designing your game for the 0.99 USD price point.
Somehow I feel if a company were to release a modern DS/PSP game on iOS at a modern DS/PSP price that the game would tank. That would suggest that people gaming on iOS devices aren't necessarily interested in the types of gaming experiences and thus cost of games that are typically available on handhelds.
Basically what it boils down to. Is that people with a 3DS/PSP2 are more likely to purchase games in the 30-50 USD range. A price range that can support the developement of large and complex gaming experiences. I doubt that most people gaming on iOS devices would be similarly willing to purchase games in the 30-50 USD price range. Hence games that are targetted at someone like the 3DS/PSP2 will never succeed on an iOS device.
I think the Win8 tablets "might" be able to make some inroads, as the x86 tablets will be able to play the entire back catalog of PC games from the day it is released. But then again, an x86 slate is going to be more expensive than an ARM slate. And will still require a extra controller for precise controls that is already built into a handheld console. But on the plus side you can then hook it up to any big screen TV you wish. Even in hotels, assuming hotel TVs have HDMI inputs. Making them equivalent to a portable home gaming console, which also allows you to play some of your library on the go like a handheld console.
Regards,
SB
Is that basically about what consoles are running now? Between 30-60 fps for well developed games. About 15-25 fps for badly developed games?
The console benfits from a huge amount of money being thrown at optmising the heck out of it.
I guess we will see in a few months. 17-19w trintys might be interesting in this space.
Persistantthug
Newcomer
Nope.
Not as long as Pokemon have anything to say about it.
Not as long as Pokemon have anything to say about it.
I didn't see anything about the Kindle Fire 2 until about 2 days ago so I will take a look at it & think about it, but I think it will have a hard time getting the sell over the Nexus 7. also Nexus 7 has a camera so it should have video chat & that's something that my mom can use.
Rurouni
Veteran
I don't know about the tv output for the PC tablet (I assume it would be good like your regular laptop/pc tv out), but on the android device that I have used (Note with mhl and MediaPad/Springboard with mini hdmi), the tv out have a big enough lag that it really wasn't possible to game while looking at the tv. And on both devices, using tv out reduced the performance of the device (lower fps).
scooby_dooby
Legend
I'm interested in gaming, but haven't bought a dedicated handheld. There's many reasons why.
1. Games are too expensive for my attention span. For longer games I will play on PC/Console, for a shorter briefer experience I will grab my Phone/iPad. $2-4 games are much more suited to what I feel like doing when I grab a portable device.
2. Ecosystems. When I buy something for Android, it will work on my wife's phone, my son's device, my old device, and my future device. If I buy a disc for Vita, it works on a Vita, that's it.
3. Large screen. No portable device can match the sweetness that is gaming on a 10" device, yes the controls are less precise, but it feels _very_ gratifying to do everything through touch interface. The nice thing about mobile is that I can run the same sofware on either a large or small screen, at my leisure.
4. Multitasking. Again, my attention span sucks. I'd like my mobile game device to also be capable of bouncing out to Flipboad / Gmail / G+ at the drop of the hat. This is not a lack of interest in gaming, but rather additional interests on top of it.
5. Fresh software. While 3DS and Vita struggle to fill their software lineup, Mobile is exploding with new games. Granted, this is much more true on iOS than Android.
I could go on... I've really considered buying a Vita, but the small screen, expensive games, and lack of software don't make it super appealing.
scooby_dooby
Legend
I have a Google 7 on my desk right now, boss brought one home from google IO. This thing is much smaller than it looks in pics.
The top bezel is actually pretty small (1/2"), the side bezel's are a bit thick(1"), but just big enough to rest my thumbs on, so it seems about right.