Editorial: What could Apple's new iPad mean for MMOs?

This thing strikes me as potentially being as catastrophically disastrous as that $300 techno taco they called the N-gage (spelling?).... Remember? That thing couldn't play games either.... But everyone with more money than common sense had to have at least 8. Personally I've still never even seen one. :D

There's no way the iPad is going to have more then a superficial impact on how we currently play MMOs. No one in their right mind is going to port anything to that platform. However, it may very well have a place in how we play future MMOs. Keep in mind they may not be MMOs of the same flavor or type as we've seen so far. Consider these few things when thinking of the iPad as a potential device on which to play MMOs:

- The iPhone carved itself a surprisingly respectable piece of the gaming market through three things: availability of games, new and different ways to play games and easy, everywhere online gaming (sharing of scores, online ladders, etc.) The iPad might not be what we as desktop gamers usually look for in a gaming machine but neither was the iPhone. WoW and the iPhone have that in common: they both drew in a LOT of non-gamers.

- People will want iPads because they cater to an ever increasing demographic which are the people who don't care about the stats of a computer any more then they care about the stats on their toasters. Does it make toast? Is it good toast? Does it make toast consistently and safely? Will I need to replace this toaster in a few years? A few months? Whether these people can't be bothered because they're too busy, have other things to think about or are ignorant is beside the point; they are the next wave of device users and they're looking for convenience, ease of use and hassle-free tools. The iPad meets those requirements. By running the iPhone OS the iPad offers easy access to software, easy purchase and installation of said software and usually, easy to use software, getting the customer from 'interested' to 'actively playing' in no time. Don't underestimate the appeal.

- What this means for MMOs is this: soon as a company puts together a decent game for this device we will see people playing it. We've got two types of people who'll want in and they're both potential iPad customers. 'Casuals' who got into MMOs because of their social appeal and mobile gamers who are used to games on their iPhones. WoW's taught us that you don't need to be at the top of the graphic food chain to have a compelling game so the iPad can probably be a contender in that respect.

- A large portion of the MMO community have addictive personalities. Being able to play anywhere, anytime will look nice to a lot of people.

This being said, why WOULDN'T there be an MMO developed for the iPad? All that's needed is a developer and there are no shortage of people waiting to capitalize on whatever Apple puts out. Will it be an MMO I'll play? One that you'll play? Maybe. Maybe not, but it will be out there and depending on various things like cross platform compatibility and potentially innovative game play it will be something worth discussing.

I dont know why people still expect the iPad to replace a laptop/netbook, what apple is trying to do is create a "new category" of product that does not pretend to take the spot of a smartphone or a laptop, the answer of apple for a product like the "Acer Aspire whatever" is not the iPad, it's a macbook, apple is not interested in make "cheap PC/laptops" but create a new product to provide other kind of functionality, in my case even tough I have a great laptop sometimes I find myself wanting to stay in my bed reading an ebook or surfing websites (like this one) without the need of sitting in my desk in front of a computer, personally I think that could be a case where the iPad is far superior than a laptop and a smartphone, apple claims that the iPad is better than smartphone/laptop in other stuff (photos, music, mail, etc...), time will tell if they are right or not, but again, if people expect the iPad to "replace" or have the same capabilities of a laptop/netbook, then they are starting from the wrong perspective since the begining.

Do we actually need this kind of product? time will tell... but, did we think that we needed a cellphone 20 years ago? a computer 50 years ago? I dont see myself giving too much use to an iPad but again, it is the time the one who will give the real value to it. And I dont think it will have too much impact in MMO, but again, who knows... time will tell.

PS: sorry for any mistake in my writting, english is not my language

Once WoW:Cataclysm is released the entirety of WoW wouldn't even fit on the lowest model iPad. I think that fact pretty much kills the idea of WoW on it.

I think there are a lot of possibilities for this new Apple product in MMO-gaming. Think about multitouch-cast spells, abilities, macros. A wireless touch screen on the left/right side of your computer (because almost everyone who is planning to buy iPad has already a pc or a notebook). Programmers can write apps or even Blizzard can try to write a fully-dedicated app for the Pad that you can use in-game (like Apple's own Remote-app).

So you guys "Really" want to play WoW on a glorified EEE Pc with a touch screen instead of a keyboard. and you "Really" want to buy this Glorified and oversized Mp3 player to do it!!!! If you really really want this Ipad (Which sound very similar to a feminine hygiene product) for gaming and think it will revolutionise gaming, then there's this bridge in Sydney i have for sale if your interested.