I expect at least 5 threads like this every year.

I believe the "real", i.e. hardcore, computer gamers will migrate to Linux eventually. Many of them at least. 

Amazon.com prices:
Apple iPad Air MD785LL/A (16GB, Wi-Fi) : $467.99
Apple TV 3 with HDMI cable 6.5 ft $148.00
Xbox 360 Wireless Controller $35.99
Total = $651.98

Internal memory for one HD-game.
For six games (128GB) an aditional $337.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha......... funny.

It will never be possible to have mobile hardware that is better than what console hardware can give, but in maybe like 40yrs, what we will have in mobile hardware will be good enough that the 20x more power that console hardware brings will be unnoticeable.

The existing problems with gaming on iOS:

Interface: default is touch based which caters to specific UI types that don't translate well (or at all) to traditional controls.

The solution is for Apple to release a standardized BT controller that iOS developers can use as their default controller. Not an elegant solution, but having a standardized controller goes a long way in closing the interface gap for traditional interface games.

Processing power: gap is shrinking, make no mistake, but it's not closed yet as the current chipsets being used (which are the same SoC type set ups used in tablets/smartphones) simply can't be placed in a passively cooled, hand held package and produce the same performance.

This is changing, but won't change over the next year or two. Who knows how long. Software can't change this; it will take hardware engineering and advances in photolithography to miniaturize and increase power efficiency and reduce power consumption and operating temperatures.

Memory gap is another issue. Quite a difference between the 1-2GB of RAM currently used by tablets and the 8GB currently used by consoles. Not a huge issue, but it is a factor when developing for mobile.

Licensing and development support issues: most developers say or will claim in surveys that they plan to develop on mobile platforms before consoles, or at least more developers will say they are planning on developing for mobile rather than console (smaller developers). However, the most expensive games and ones that have legitimate marketing efforts to promote the games remain console games.

Apple has the leverage to promote more development from the major publishers, even as they gravitate towards mobile naturally due to following market growth patterns. We're already seeing major games that were console/PC only showing up on mobile, albeit in stripped down form.

This is the least of the problems for mobile and more specifically iOS. We're seeing this now.

And the last of the problems for iOS? Image.

We're seeing it right here on this forum. Traditional gamers are extremely resistant to the concept of gaming on a tablet or smartphone, or at least as a primary platform or replacement for traditional consoles and handhelds.

Mobile is seen as the choice of "casuals" as described in a derisive manner although it is the same casuals who bought the Wii and to a lesser extent, Kinect and made them commercial successes due to a growth market. They are driving sales and more importantly, they are driving growth, which is where forward thinkers are looking when it comes to future support and projects.

Markets vary, but from what I see in mine are a lot of small children who love the iPad and love the iPhone. It allows them to watch their shows, their home videos, play their games, many of which are tied to the shows they watch and do educational apps and read their books. Children's games currently have the best support on mobile simply because they tend to be lower budget and developers know that the children's shows that are being watched on iOS devices are a pretty obvious choice for games based upon the same shows.

But the telling factor here is that the current generation of first time gamers (children) are more often than not, gaming on iOS or maybe Android. I just see a lot of small kids playing with their parent's iPhones/iPads and it's pretty safe to assume they're not doing e-mail.

My nephew and niece have never played games on any of the consoles in their house. They just want to play on the iPad because that's where their games are. Like it or not, they are the future, not us.

People have been saying consoles are doomed for over a decade now lol

Direct hit.

Just look at what tablets are doing to PCs. Why would anyone think that consoles are immune to that same force when consoles get more PC-like every generation?

Even worse, tablets are a threat to the TV itself. Every consumer possessing a screen that streams HD video in their pocket and another in their bag reduces the relative worth of owning a big shared screen trapped in one room. What good are home consoles if people decide that a living room TV is about as useful as a landline phone?

If consoles are going to survive, they need to offer unique value, but since any attempt to do so is met with confusion and scorn from publishers and enthusiasts, I'm not optimistic.

i had to pay $500 for a 16 gb ipad. to upgrade to 32 gb adds another hundred. true AAA games won't come to ipad without a streaming service like playstation now. even then, ipad needs to get a screen share from ipad to the tv be easy (and without requiring a "console" like apple tv) to really make it viable. evevn then they would have to build up a first party line up.

i'm not saying we will always have console but i don't think apple can do it alone. playstation now, however, could have a very bright future.

I think I would quit gaming before migrating to Linux. The developer support simply isn't there for the games I play.

Sure, someone like Valve can build a Linux box or more specifically an OS based on Linux as the basis for their own walled publishing and development garden, but this is hardly the same as migrating to Linux. That's like saying people who use OS X have migrated to UNIX (which is what OS X was based on).

And most of the "real" gamers on PC aren't actually playing "real" games. They're regular people playing casual games on their laptops. Everyone on VGC should know exactly what I'm talking about.