For Many, iPad May Replace Need For Dedicated Portable Conso

[ProfMorrison]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2935 ... onsole.php

Although most buyers of Apple's iPad tablet device aren't brought to the device because of its gaming capabilities, that may be how they end up spending much of their time with it -- and for many of them, that decreases the need to buy a dedicated portable video game console.

Prior to actually owning the device, a good majority (60 percent) of iPad buyers said they perceived a standalone portable game console as being the ideal way to play mobile games, followed by only 23 percent who thought the iPad would be ideal and 8 percent who selected smartphones, according to Resolve Market Research data released by Mashable.

But after owning the device, 38 percent of iPad users said they had no need to buy a portable console. In fact, the iPad displaced portable consoles for more users than it displaced any other device except e-readers (49 percent), which have been a major target in Apple's iPad marketing. Standard gaming consoles fell much further down the list, with only 27 percent of users saying the iPad filled that need.

Of those who bought iPads, more than half (56 percent) said it was for entertainment purposes; 42 percent said it was primarily for the "cool factor."

The device's price tag and unclear primary function is likely still dissuading many potential consumers, however. According to Resolve, a majority of consumers (55 percent) still perceive the iPad to be "a very expensive toy." It's a polarizing product; the next most-common perception of the device (33 percent) is that it is "a technological breakthrough."

As for those who chose not to buy an iPad? More than half of them (54 percent) say they simply "don't see the need for it," and 46 percent believe it's too expensive.