Thinking of buying a 3DS? Or maybe a PSP 2 if it’s ever announced? How about a third option you may not have conside♌red - the iPad? Don’t laugh. Ab𒁏y Resolve Market Research suggests the iPad is becoming a viable option to portable gaming systems.

According to the study, prior to owning an iPad, 23% of users said the iPad would be preferable to a portable gaming device f𝓀or playing games. That number may be an interesting statistic by itself, but after owning an iPad, 38% of use♛rs said they wouldn’t buy a portable gaming device. That number was second only to e-readers at 49%. Full-sized gaming consoles also made the list of no-longer-needed items with 27%.

There was once a timeﷺ when gamers looked at Apple platforms the way an escaping prisoner searching for a hiding place looked at a truckload of rotten tomatoes and fish heads - it’ll serve your purpose, b🎶ut it’s not your first choice by a long shot.

All of that chang🌞ed with the release of the iPhone app store, which unleashed an avalanche of low grade tower defense games and fart simulators, but mixed in just enough decent games to make the iPhone a legitimate gaming platform. With the ease of developing for the iPhone transferring to the iPad, there’s always the possibility that it could eventually overtake dedicated gaming devices in the handheld sphere.

Could, yes. But probably won’t. As anyone who’s played them can tell you, coꦺntrolling games a touch screen instead of buttons is like riding a blindfolded elephant on crack instead o♏f a horse. In other words, they’re a little clumsy. The dedicated gaming platforms deliver an experience that the iPad just can’t match and core gamers know it. Combine that with its cost and the iPad doesn’t seem like a real threat to handheld gaming devices.

In 💞fact, the iPad could actually be benef🅷icial for gaming in general. The iPad study reveals another surprising tidbit that, after the early adopters, the second wave of iPad owners are older than 45. This is a group that typically doesn’t game and it’s possible that these and other non-traditional gamers could become more interested in video games after exposure to iPad games.

With all of that in mind, the iPad still has a ways to go before it reaches the popularit🌞y level of the iPhone. The study also shows that 55% of owners and would-be owners see the iPad as a very expensive toy. Those who didn’t plan on buying one cited the price and aಌ lack of need for one.

Jul 9, 2010