While there is plenty of developer concern regarding just how far Apple will raise the technical bar with iPad 3, there's also a whole host of enthusiasm bubbling under the surface.
Case in point, Przemek Marszal game designer and art director at Anomaly: Warzone Earth developer 11 bit studios wants iPad 3 to provide him the freedom to deliver the most visually striking games he can.
Marszal claims the A5's GPU currently equipped in iPad 2 and iPhone 4S - is a limiting factor when it comes to game design, with a notable upgrade to iPad 3's chip a priority.
We caught up with Marszal to ask why processing power could turn out to be iPad 3's be all and end all.
Pocket Gamer: From a developer's perspective, what's the least you are hoping for from iPad 3?
Przemek Marszal: The standard iPad resolution is already big enough to display eye-candy graphics, so I don't need any growth in pixels.
What I actually would expect is a slightly more powerful GPU than the one in A5.
A5 is pretty efficient when it comes to rendering demanding effects like refraction, but I love to garnish every single scene I work on until it looks stunning, and the current GPU is filled and can't run more effects.
In fact, I want this style to be our games' signature.
So, to put it simply, I'd like to have more powerful GPU - even just slightly more powerful. But to be honest, I think new iPad will offer higher resolution screen.
If you were making the decisions as Apple, what's the one wildcard feature you'd include?
User interface could do with being refreshed, or even completely revolutionized.
Ice Cream Sandwich and others have popped up with new ideas when it comes to interfaces or refreshing the layout just like Microsoft did with the new Xbox 360 dashboard, where you have the same functionality but a new layout.
So I would develop a new interface. We've had the same one for a couple of years, right?
The latest suggestion is iPad 3 will come with an 'A5X' chip, rather than A6 as expected. Given we know nothing about either, is this likely to make any practical difference?
That all depends on a screen resolution.
If the A5X is more powerful than its ancestor, but forces me to display stuff on the bigger screen, then eventually it may end up making iPad 3 slower than iPad2.
If the screen grows bigger, the GPU must feature significant growth of processing power.
Where do you think iPad 3's competition is likely to come from?
Windows 8 would need to be an open platform to compete, but Microsoft likes to keep control, so I don't expect it to offer any competition. I don't know if it's good or bad on a consumer level, but it's not a good move for the Redmond giant.
To me it looks like only Android is powerful enough to compete with Apple.
It's an open system, so that means it's attractive for device manufacturers and it develops fast, so I wouldn't be surprised to see powerful tablets and phones running Ice Cream Sandwich in 2012.
Furthermore, I think the two both Android tablets and iPad - will leave others long, long behind them.
Broadly speaking, what do you think iPad 3 will do for games on the App Store, and mobile gaming in general?
It'll continue to be a successful gaming platform.
It has already proven its ability to be a great gaming device, now it'll add some more fireworks. Just give devs a chance to create magic and they will do.
Thanks to Przemek for his time.
You can find out more about 11 bit studios on the developer's website.
Interview
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
11 hours, 48 minutes ago
Niantic celebrate Earth Day success with 3.4 million players taking part
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
as
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Honor of Kings set for June 20th global launch after $15 billion+ revenue in China
Feature
May 14th, 2024
Matej Lančarič's Squad Busters deep dive: Under the skin of 2024's biggest launch yet
Events
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |