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Speculations: Wargames for Tablets

 
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Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/2/2011 11:20:21 PM   
MPHopcroft

 

Posts: 179
Joined: 7/1/2006
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline 		Most observers would tend to agree the tablet computers (iPad, Android tablet. etc.) are revolutionizing the way people use personal computers. Many people are starting to forgo desktops and even laptops in favor of these easily portable devices. This presents a problem for traditional game vendors, who are used to the power and storage capacity of desktops and laptops, and it presents a tremendous opportunity to those publishers who are nimble enough to take advantage of the capabilities (and navigate around the weaknesses) of the new devices.

Unfortunately the operating systems for tablets have not yet shaken out to the point that long development cycles can proceed with the certainty that by the time you are done a large portion of the tablets in use will run the software. iPads run completely different software from Android devices and neither run programs written for Windows Mobile. We have not yet reached the point in tablets as we have in PCs where one OS (Windows) has such an enormous share of the market that you can safely do everything you want in it.

But the potential for wargamers is enormous. You would be able go into a competitive setting and have a computer game you can play face-to-face the way you play a boardgame -- only with less fuss, less setup time, and an enormous variety of possible scenarios. You would be able to play an e-mail or online game wherever you happen to be.

The question is who will be able to first use these possibilities and profit from them.

_____________________________

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"No plan survives the battlefield" -- old Army saw.
Post #: 1
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/2/2011 11:34:20 PM   
Joe 98


Posts: 3964
Joined: 1/5/2001
From: Wollondilly, Sydney
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: MPHopcroft
But the potential for wargamers is enormous. You would be able go into a competitive setting and have a computer game you can play face-to-face the way you play a boardgame --




One single OS of tablets will never dominate. Hence we wargamers need to use laptops and netbooks tosit around a tablr and play each other.

-

(in reply to MPHopcroft)
Post #: 2
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/2/2011 11:44:52 PM   
junk2drive


Posts: 12675
Joined: 6/27/2002
From: Arizona West Coast
Status: online 		Slitherine is working on an iPad version of Battle Academy and probably some others.

If tablets ever get below $100 they will boom but at the current prices I would rather have a notebook/netbook. IOW I think they are a fad.


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(in reply to Joe 98)
Post #: 3
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/2/2011 11:47:06 PM   
parusski


Posts: 4468
Joined: 5/8/2000
From: Wyoming, Even Liberals Welcome
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: junk2drive

Slitherine is working on an iPad version of Battle Academy and probably some others.

If tablets ever get below $100 they will boom but at the current prices I would rather have a notebook/netbook. IOW I think they are a fad.



My dad said, in 1984, that PC's were a fad...

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(in reply to junk2drive)
Post #: 4
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 12:15:40 AM   
Perturabo


Posts: 2004
Joined: 11/17/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: parusski


quote:

ORIGINAL: junk2drive

Slitherine is working on an iPad version of Battle Academy and probably some others.

If tablets ever get below $100 they will boom but at the current prices I would rather have a notebook/netbook. IOW I think they are a fad.



My dad said, in 1984, that PC's were a fad...

PC prices went down a lot, though.

< Message edited by Perturabo -- 10/3/2011 12:16:23 AM >

_____________________________

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(in reply to parusski)
Post #: 5
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 12:18:15 AM   
Hertston


Posts: 3303
Joined: 8/17/2002
From: Cornwall, UK
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: MPHopcroft

Most observers would tend to agree the tablet computers (iPad, Android tablet. etc.) are revolutionizing the way people use personal computers. Many people are starting to forgo desktops and even laptops in favor of these easily portable devices.


Who? I know several people with tablets (including the Mrs) and may well get one myself at some point, but none have 'forgone' desktops and laptops in their favour. At present there are just too many things a desktop does better or that tablets can't do at all in both liesure and business realms, and I can't see that changing anytime soon. I don't think tablets are a 'fad' by any means and fully expect them to become almost as much a 'must have' in current times as a mobile phone; the potential is huge in some areas. But they will accompany desktops and powerful laptops (the two being virtually indistinguishable in terms of capacity these days), not replace them.

I'm afraid wargames is one area in which I don't see a big future for tablets. Of what use is 'portability' when I want to play a guy 6,000 miles away, viewing the battlefield on as large a monitor as I can afford and my desk will accommodate? Same for FPS games, MMOs or whatever. I just don't see the scenario you suggest at all; if people get together they do so to play miniatures or boardgames, not computer games - that's the whole point. Where are these 'competitive' settings where people would trade in their 15mm armies for tablets; where's the market? And I can PBEM or play online from wherever I am on my netbook already.

< Message edited by Hertston -- 10/3/2011 12:23:09 AM >

(in reply to MPHopcroft)
Post #: 6
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 12:31:53 AM   
MPHopcroft

 

Posts: 179
Joined: 7/1/2006
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline
quote:


PC prices went down a lot, though.


I see no reason to believe they won't just as the prices on PCs, HDTVs and videogame consoles have all gone down.

_____________________________

"Any asset that would cost you the war if lost is no longer an asset, but a liability." -- Me

"No plan survives the battlefield" -- old Army saw.

(in reply to Perturabo)
Post #: 7
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 12:41:16 AM   
wodin


Posts: 6503
Joined: 4/20/2003
From: England
Status: offline 		No interest at all in tablets.

If browser games are you bag and apps fair enough...not for me.

Well overpriced aswell...give me a desktop over anything. Cheaper in the long run as you can upgrade it for not that much over a few years to keep it upto date.

A tablet is a big mobile phone without the phine bit.

Only thing it does that I have even the slightest interest in is as a reader, but if I was going to get one it would be kindle.

(in reply to MPHopcroft)
Post #: 8
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 2:43:38 AM   
rhondabrwn


Posts: 1784
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
Status: online 		I pre-ordered a Kindle Fire within minutes of their announcement. One of my reasons was to be able to view PDF Game manuals in color.

Now, my purpose in posting is to encourage Matrix to consider issuing electronic manuals in native e-book formats like Kindle. I know that there are utilities to convert PDF, but my experience hasn't been all that great when I tried it. I would prefer finding a native e-book format manual for every game.

As to playing games on a tablet? Nah... not interested in small screen games due to my failng close vision. I want that big desktop monitor for my gaming!!! (and a mouse, a keyboard, maybe a joystick, and a good set of Bose speakers etc etc etc).

Actually, my only big reason for considering a tablet (or laptop) is the simple fact that with a solar powered ranch, I can't run a 2 nto 4 amp drain on the batteries all night running my computers. I finally decided I needed a battery powered device for checking the internet during low power times. The Amazon Kindle Fire appealed instantly and the price was definitely right!

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Post #: 9
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 7:46:16 AM   
sterckxe


Posts: 4593
Joined: 3/30/2004
From: Flanders
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Hertston
I'm afraid wargames is one area in which I don't see a big future for tablets. Of what use is 'portability' when I want to play a guy 6,000 miles away, viewing the battlefield on as large a monitor as I can afford and my desk will accommodate? Same for FPS games, MMOs or whatever. I just don't see the scenario you suggest at all; if people get together they do so to play miniatures or boardgames, not computer games - that's the whole point. Where are these 'competitive' settings where people would trade in their 15mm armies for tablets; where's the market? And I can PBEM or play online from wherever I am on my netbook already.


If you owned a tablet you'd have noticed that a netbook and a tablet are completely different beasts. A netbook is - in essence - a mini-computer, while a tablet is just made for playing boardgames on. All the hot games in the boardgame world are already, or are getting ported to the tablet (Carcassone, Ticket to Ride, Caylus, Ra, Small World, Kingsburg, Dominion, ...) This has attracted the attention of the cardboard wargame companies and the following games/boardgame conversions have been announced for the iPad : Across Five Aprils, Battle of the Bulge, Engage (demo-ed at GenCon 2011), Hornet Leader, Manoeuvre, Peloponnesian War, R.A.F., Soviet Dawn, The Caucasus Campaign, War Patrol, Washington's War and Waterloo.

If the traditional pc wargame companies don't watch out, they will be left in the dust - especially as since from a design pov boardgames are much more streamlined and playable than most of what gets released in pc wargame world. Bought more games for my iPad this year than I bought pc wargames.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

(in reply to Hertston)
Post #: 10
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 2:47:40 PM   
redcoat


Posts: 644
Joined: 8/31/2005
From: UK
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn

As to playing games on a tablet? Nah... not interested in small screen games due to my failng close vision. I want that big desktop monitor for my gaming!!! (and a mouse, a keyboard, maybe a joystick, and a good set of Bose speakers etc etc etc).



Same here. I will only play a wargame on a tablet if they make one with a 19" screen.

(in reply to rhondabrwn)
Post #: 11
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 5:29:21 PM   
Greybriar


Posts: 527
Joined: 2/9/2007
Status: offline 		No iPad or Android for me. I only use my PC.

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Post #: 12
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 6:01:19 PM   
Perturabo


Posts: 2004
Joined: 11/17/2007
Status: offline 		I don't even have a cell phone.

_____________________________

Armored Brigade - a freeware moddable RT wargame. My favourite game to play.
Wonderland - my AB mod in progress:
www.armoredbrigade.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=14

(in reply to Greybriar)
Post #: 13
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 7:45:44 PM   
Hertston


Posts: 3303
Joined: 8/17/2002
From: Cornwall, UK
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Perturabo
I don't even have a cell phone.


I envy you. It's only when you are forced to acquire one you realize what a blessing NOT having a cellphone is!

(in reply to Perturabo)
Post #: 14
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 8:57:01 PM   
Andrew Williams


Posts: 6112
Joined: 1/8/2001
From: Australia
Status: offline 		Have to argue the complete opposite.

mobile phones are a blessing... not having one is just means you miss out.

The beauty of my phone is that I can turn it off or not answer it, which many people indicate they cannot do with theirs.

I can use it to make calls, send text, send Instant messages, video calls, play games, read books, compass, bus/train time table, GPS, calendar, surf the web - hell- it does everything  while on the move.


_____________________________


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Post #: 15
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/3/2011 9:58:41 PM   
MPHopcroft

 

Posts: 179
Joined: 7/1/2006
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Andrew Williams

Have to argue the complete opposite.

mobile phones are a blessing... not having one is just means you miss out.

The beauty of my phone is that I can turn it off or not answer it, which many people indicate they cannot do with theirs.

I can use it to make calls, send text, send Instant messages, video calls, play games, read books, compass, bus/train time table, GPS, calendar, surf the web - hell- it does everything  while on the move.



I have a mobile phone, but it's a prepaid plan "dumb phone" with very few other capabilities besides taking calls and storing phone numbers. A smartphone with a data plan is appealing but prohibitive on my income. Most of my church group has them and uses an app to look up their scriptures.

_____________________________

"Any asset that would cost you the war if lost is no longer an asset, but a liability." -- Me

"No plan survives the battlefield" -- old Army saw.

(in reply to Andrew Williams)
Post #: 16
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/4/2011 10:36:14 AM   
Andrew Williams


Posts: 6112
Joined: 1/8/2001
From: Australia
Status: offline 		You can get an app. that points to Mecca too.

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Post #: 17
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/4/2011 2:06:19 PM   
Joe 98


Posts: 3964
Joined: 1/5/2001
From: Wollondilly, Sydney
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Andrew Williams

The beauty of my phone is that I can turn it off or not answer it..............



And should you turn it off or not answer it...............................what is the monthly fee ?

I still do not have a mobile phone


-



(in reply to Andrew Williams)
Post #: 18
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/4/2011 2:54:58 PM   
sterckxe


Posts: 4593
Joined: 3/30/2004
From: Flanders
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Joe 98
And should you turn it off or not answer it...............................what is the monthly fee ?


5 Euro

The cell phone itself was free as I "inherited" it from my wife who's more into techno-gadgets than I am.

5 Euro / month to text someone I'm going to be 15 minutes late for a meeting or to phone the wife from the supermarket because item #17 on the list I got is not in stock and with what do I replace it is a steal.

And given the amount of guys I see in the supermarket aisles doing the exact same thing I can almost say it's a lifesaver :)

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

(in reply to Joe 98)
Post #: 19
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/4/2011 7:21:45 PM   
Jeffrey H.


Posts: 2502
Joined: 4/13/2007
From: San Diego, Ca.
Status: online 		I just bought a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 off Amazon last night. It runs on Andriod OS. I'm looking forward to it. I've found several wargames for my Android OS smartyphone. They are simple and limited but suprisingly fun.

We can't get games for these devices soon enough IMO.



_____________________________

"Games lubricate the body and the mind" Ben Franklin.

(in reply to sterckxe)
Post #: 20
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/4/2011 11:32:16 PM   
Joe 98


Posts: 3964
Joined: 1/5/2001
From: Wollondilly, Sydney
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: sterckxe
And given the amount of guys I see in the supermarket aisles doing the exact same thing I can almost say it's a lifesaver :)



I don't do grocery shopping, my wife does that. She will not allow me to go with her as she knows how annoying I can be in a shopping environment.

After a few shopping trips I was able to hone my act

-


(in reply to sterckxe)
Post #: 21
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/5/2011 12:47:16 AM   
Adam Parker


Posts: 1850
Joined: 4/2/2002
From: Melbourne Australia
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: sterckxe]
This has attracted the attention of the cardboard wargame companies and the following games/boardgame conversions have been announced for the iPad : Across Five Aprils, Battle of the Bulge, Engage (demo-ed at GenCon 2011), Hornet Leader, Manoeuvre, Peloponnesian War, R.A.F., Soviet Dawn, The Caucasus Campaign, War Patrol, Washington's War and Waterloo.


Go to www.gmtgames.com for a more accurate run down of its plans.

(in reply to sterckxe)
Post #: 22
RE: Speculations: Wargames for Tablets - 10/5/2011 3:44:32 AM   
Jeffrey H.


Posts: 2502
Joined: 4/13/2007
From: San Diego, Ca.
Status: online
quote:

ORIGINAL: Joe 98


quote:

ORIGINAL: sterckxe
And given the amount of guys I see in the supermarket aisles doing the exact same thing I can almost say it's a lifesaver :)



I don't do grocery shopping, my wife does that. She will not allow me to go with her as she knows how annoying I can be in a shopping environment.

After a few shopping trips I was able to hone my act

Haha, one of favorites was to stop at the "femine hygene" section and start asking questions really loudly. "What's this for ?", "How's that supposed to work ?" "These things can fly ? No ? Why do they have wings then ?".


-





_____________________________

"Games lubricate the body and the mind" Ben Franklin.

(in reply to Joe 98)
Post #: 23
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