IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

iPad To Shove Aside The Portable Console?

Posted July 9, 2010 by M.H. Williams

A number of iPad consumers are not buying those devices for gaming purposes, but a study shows that some are starting to see the gaming potential of the device. In a good number of those cases, gaming on the iPad is decreasing their need to purchase a portable gaming device.

In a Resolve Market Research study reported by Mashable, 60 percent of iPad buyers felt a portable console was the ideal way to play mobile games. Only 23 percent felt the iPad was ideal and a paltry 8 percent felt smartphones were the way to go. Later, after owning the device for a while, 38 percent of iPad users said they had no intention of purchasing a portable console again.

The iPad as a replacement product shoved aside portable consoles more than any other device except e-readers, with 49 percent of owners saying they never needed another e-book reader. Home gaming consoles landed at 27 percent.

More than half of those who purchased the iPad did so for entertainment purposes, while 42 percent said their purchase was motivated by the “cool factor.” The price tag and lack of niche function still keeps many consumers away from the device. 55 percent of consumers still see the iPad as little more than a “very expensive toy.” The next most common perception is that the device is a “technological breakthrough,” with 33 percent agreeing.

In the end, those that choose not to buy an iPad do so because they either don’t see the need for such a device (54 percent) or they believe it’s too expensive (46 percent).

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.