Apple's iPad might no longer be the new kid on the block, but 36peas founder Gareth Jenkins believes all too many developers have yet to nail down exactly what the tablet represents.

Speaking during this year's Develop Liverpool conference, Jenkins claimed scores of studios pitch iPad as a new take on the traditional games controller or – arguably even worse – little more than a large iPhone.

It's a mistake that then leads to games that, from a design perspective, fail to take advantage of the tablet's key selling points.

A matter of control

"iPad either gets treated as a new form of game controller, or something akin to Minority Report," Jenkins said in his talk.

"If anything, it's closer to the latter."

Jenkins believes games made specifically for iPad – rather than lifted from iPhone – almost always take greater advantage of the tablet's larger screen.

 

Heading in the other direction can be equally problematic, however, with too many studios scaling down their iPad projects and delivering games with controls far too fiddly to function on iPhone's comparatively compact display.

No compromise

But controls aren't the only issue developers have with iPad. There's also the tablet's different demographic to deal with.

"The audience is different – it's dedicated," Jenkins added.

"People who buy iPads want an iPad, whereas lots of people have iPhones they've picked up on a cheap contract. As a result, people are spending more money on iPad advertising. People don't through them away, either – they pass them on."

With so much still up in the air about what is still a burgeoning market – Jenkins noted Apple's rivals are "trying" to move into the same space, though he sounded less than convinced any had managed it – one thing developers can do right, however, is design games that specifically play to iPad's strengths.