Interview

Illusion Labs' Martensson: With iPad, new game ideas keep popping up in my head

Bigger screen opens up new games

Illusion Labs' Martensson: With iPad, new game ideas keep popping up in my head
With over 10 million copies of Labyrinth downloaded for iPhone and iPod touch, not to mention its massively succesful Touchgrind, Swedish studio Illusion Labs is all fired up to get its hands on the iPad.

We hooked with software engineer Anders Mårtensson to get his first impressions.

Pocket Gamer: How will iPad change the portable gaming market?

Anders Mårtensson: The iPhone and the iPod have already changed the portable gaming market, so I don't think the iPad will have as big impact. The bigger screen opens up for new games that weren't really very good to play on a small screen, and existing games can be improved a lot. For instance, our own games Touchgrind and Labyrinth 2 would work extremely well with the bigger screen estate.

What game ideas does iPad inspire?

It sure opens up for new game ideas and improving existing games with the much bigger screen. Already new game ideas keep popping up in my head. Expect to see some cool stuff from Illusion Labs very soon!

What most impresses you about iPad?

The ability to run apps from the App Store, the price, and Apple bringing large screen multi-touch to every home.

What do you think about the price?

The price is the biggest obstacle to overcome for this to be a success. A tablet is not really something you "need" right now. You probably already have a computer and a cell phone right? And if your computer is a laptop that you can carry around with you, why do you need a tablet as well?

Of course, this is all new and we will probably think of reasons why we need one. I can see myself using it at home a lot instead of my MacBook Pro in my living room or when in bed, especially to browse the web, play games and watch TV shows and movies.

The starting price of $499 is really good in my opinion. Many thought it would be around $1,000, and in that case it would have been hard sell many devices. The future will tell how well it does, but to quote Borat: "great success"!

Thanks to Anders for his time.

Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.