Retina revolution was natural next step for iPad, reckons NaturalMotion's Torsten Reil

No price hike a big bonus

With any new iOS hardware, the unveiling of new features isn't the big news – most having already been detailed in thousands of rumour-fuelled articles in the days before the event in question.

Rather, the story comes when they are actually delivered.

We all knew a Retina-equipped iPad would launch at some point, but as NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil points out, the fact Apple has delivered it before the competition, and without any increase to the tablet's RRP is nothing to be sniffed at.

We caught up with Torsten for what Apple's next step means for developers on board the good ship iPad.

Pocket Gamer: Following the unveiling of new hardware, what's your impression of where Apple is taking iPad?

Torsten Reil: I think adding a Retina solution was a natural next step for Apple. I'm actually surprised it's been able to do this without increasing prices.

Including a display with such a high resolution is a big deal. It's also great to see that the A5X is specifically designed to support the increased graphics requirements that come with the retina display.

What do you think will prove to be the most important new feature?

I'm pretty sure it's the retina display. After the iPhone 4, I've found it hard to go back to an iPhone 3GS or another phone, so I presume the same will happen with the new iPad.

Anything you think Apple was wrong to leave out?

I don't think so. We have a lot of performance and an amazing display to play with.

Is there a chance that the new tech employed in the new iPad will leave indies behind?

It's definitely true that development budgets are going up; and the increased resolution and performance of the new iPad will allow for even richer experiences.

Having said that, while I think games are naturally moving high end, there will always be extremely successful indie games with innovative design that can succeed – for example, Temple Run.

And the iOS App Store is still very much an egalitarian platform that allows great indie games to break through and get massive visibility.

Thanks to Torsten for his time.

You can find out more about NaturalMotion on the studio's website.

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