At the unveiling of the iPad, one of the many features mentioned was the ability to run almost every one of the 140,000 iPhone apps already available. This feature keeps things relatively simple for the user, as you’ll be able to synchronize your existing applications and run them just the same. If you chose to, you can run them to look as they do on the iPhone, pixel for pixel, but this leaves a lot of empty display surrounding the app. The alternative is to double up the pixels, allowing the applications to run full-screen on the iPad’s 9.7-inch display. This will give a more immersive solution, but because of the pixel-doubling, the graphics in games and other apps just won’t be as crisp as they were on your iPhone or iPod touch. The only way around that is for developers to edit their applications to take advantage of the bigger display without the need to double the pixels.
Wondering what all of this will look like? The best way to see is by looking at some images taken from developer Kevin Ng’s applications running on the iPad SDK’s Simulator.
The image above shows an iPhone app running just as it would on your iPhone or iPod touch. Sure, it looks okay, but it’s a little on the small side for the screen.
Below, we see the same application running on the iPad Simulator full-screen. A nicer experience, but a little pixelated around the edges.
Now, let’s take a look at what this application could look like if it was re-written for the iPad. As you can see from the image (below), the graphics are very much improved. The wood-style background looks highly realistic, and the colors are very vibrant.
With graphics like that, the iPad becomes a serious mobile-gaming device. Sure, the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP devices are smaller, but the iPad doesn’t just run high-quality game applications.
It’ll be interesting to see what game developers can bring to the table for the Apple iPad. The hardware certainly appears capable, and there’s no doubting the developers’ abilities. With the very sensitive accelerometer and highly sensitive touch display, mobile gaming could become a very interactive experience. Now all we need, is for the hardware to begin shipping.
Read [KevinNgGames.blogspot.com]
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