iPad 1.5 and why I don't play games on the iPhone anymore

So, the new iPad has been announced, as expected. The new one was pretty much what I was expecting, too. Of course, we won't know how much RAM the thing has for another week, but I'm assuming it's going to be 512MB. If it's 1GB, I'll be quite surprised (and excited), but with the diminishing number of features absent on the device now, it's likely that they'll make that the selling point of the next iteration of the device for sure. It should be interesting to see where the next iPhone iteration weighs in on RAM. For that matter, it would be interesting to know why Apple thinks the iPhone needs more RAM than the iPad. Oh, but they don't mention RAM for a reason, kinda like it wouldn't exist.

Anyway, when they find the 512MB in the new iPad, I'm expecting all kinds of scandal in the media and comparing the specs to current Android tablets, like they didn't expect it.

I'm a self-attested fanboy of Apple. That's right. I admit it. This is why I'm trying my hardest to resist the need for this new iPad. I'll list the reasons why I DO want it, though.

It's sexier looking. Who doesn't want sexier. Shit, it even looks good with a baby blue "smart cover". It's probably going to be Macbook Air sexy when I finally see it in real life.

The covers. Yeah, that's the best thing about the new iPad. I'll repeat that. The new covers are the best thing about the new iPad. I never saw that coming.

Faster and better graphics capabilities. As my primary, and currently only, gaming device, I find it hard to resist the pull of new hardware. As stated, the games appearing in the app store over the next year, at least, will cater to the lower hardware requirements of the first iPad, but just to know that they'll run smoother and load faster is always a carrot towards wanting the new device.

The cameras are something I don't need, and I hate tilt games, so I don't care about a gyroscope. I don't think there was anything else.

In the end, it'll be the looks of the device, case included, that will get people buying it. I don't see other manufacturers coming close to Apple's industrial design standards anytime soon. Apple are just genius to be able to put out hardware again and again that people just want because of the looks.

It was disappointing that they didn't share any new ideas on iOS, only telling us what we've known for ages about 4.3. I watched maybe the first ten minutes of the Steve show until the audio on the stream cut out and de-synced with the video. So much for that working on the iPad. I can't be bothered to watch more of it, since it's just a bunch of patting oneself on the back about statistics and numbers, followed by an over-exaggerated long infomercial about the new product. I call myself a fanboy, but watching the cheers from the audience (especially on parts of the infrastructure that us lot outside of the US don't benefit from) makes me almost want to puke. I could understand the need for cheers back when Apple was a nobody, but it's not necessary in this day and age.

Onto gaming.

It really didn't take me long after getting the iPad before I switched over to it being my only gaming device. Well, I say it didn't take long. In actual fact, there was jack and shit for games for the first six months, but I was playing blocky pixel-doubled iPhone games for a good while.

I honestly don't bother playing games on my iPhone anymore. The battery on my phone goes down in no time at all if I start gaming, and the screen is just too small, especially when you consider the size your fingers take up on that screen for controlling things. The iPad is way nicer and it's set the bar, for me, on what a portable gaming device should be. I'm not at all excited about the NGP (PSP2). This 9.7 inch screen is like having a small TV and console with me at all times. I can hold the device comfortably away from my face while playing. The screen real-estate means that the controls can be sensibly placed and take up almost no screen when used. And the larger screen really allows for all sorts of concepts you can't fit onto a phone screen (although there are almost no games that capitalize on that yet). Some people complain about the weight of the device while playing. I'm a pretty small and wimpy guy and I don't have any problems, so those of you that do might try and exercise just a tad. You could maybe hold your iPad in one hand and lift it up and down a bit to build up that missing bicep.

As a final note, and on the subject of gaming, I read that Starfront Collision is very good. This is a game that would undoubtedly be more suited to the iPad than a small phone-size screen, being a rip-off of Starcraft. Is it out on the iPad? Of course not. Gameloft, you fail yet again.