Slight exggeration with the 1000s, but to use my own iPad experience:

Email
News
Magazines
Word Processing
Note taking
Social Networking
Education (iTunes U is a marvellous resource)
Music Creation
Movies/ TV
Art/ Animation
Cricket Score Keeping
Stock Market
eBay

I have around 400 apps for iPad, and only around 200 of those are games - and my App: Game ratio will be higher than most, because I review games.

I posted that in jest, but deleted my last post as I didn't want to be associated with possibly taking sides with Tendo.

Oh, so you're singling me out eh?

iPod Touch and iPad are used as game devices by many people. My point is still relevant. Why do you think people insist that these devices will eventually replace gaming handhelds in the future?

I doubt you'll be able to prove that "many" people use the iPad primarially as a gaming device at all, actually.

Why do you think people insist that these devices will eventually replace gaming handhelds in the future?

That's a different conversation. The reason that the analysts and market folks expect the gaming handhelds to go away in the medium to long term is because they're becoming more and more a luxury. A dedicated gaming device that is increasingly unnecessary, because people can play games on the iPhone and iPad.

The most definately do not claim that the iPhone and iPad are gaming devices.

No, don't think of it like that, I'm not taking Waltz's side on issues either, but sometimes I think you and Waltz could just start your own argument thread and you guys could have disagreements in there. That way, at least most topics can stay on course and those interested in your random exchanges have a place to go.

I think of the iPod Touch as a gaming device. So there. The iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad all share the same OS and basic functions.

And if handhelds are becoming a luxury device, then what about home consoles? They might as well go away too cause we already have stuff like OnLive, PC's with Steam and Games for Windows services, etc.

This!!! This!!!

Then home consoles might as well go away too, since we have stuff like OnLive, PC's with Steam clients and Games for Windows, etc.

EDIT: Game systems have always been a niche product. People were always able to play games on a PC, which for some is more convenient than owning a separate gaming device.

Good idea.

@Tendoboy: You're missing my point due to your natural inclination to run threads down tangents. The Go flopping spectacularly was a prime example of the fact that John Q. Public is not ready to rely on a downloadable service for all of their gaming needs just yet. At the moment, the App Store is doing nothing but reinforce the idea that downloadable games are merely cheap diversions meant to be played while waiting in doctors' offices, airports, on the can, or in between solid, meaty retail releases gamers gladly throw their money at devs to get their grubby hands on. Retail sales have shrunk, yes, but the retail gaming store is not dead in the water just yet.

My original point was that the lack of playable retail games at retail for Vita (due to the lack of backwards-compatibility) stands a good chance of making initial Vita sales quite sluggish. At launch, people were able to walk into a store, see that the 3DS could play not only the handful of launch titles but allll those lovely available DS games as well — sure, the eShop wouldn't be around for a bit, but who cared? We'd be all right in the meantime until the 3DS titles we wanted started rolling in, right? As for the Vita, it'll have a few retail titles available and then the clerks'll have to talk pretty fast about social network connectivity and the SEN, at which point... y'know, your phone can download games too, and most downloadable games are like Angry Birds, just bite-sized little things, aren't they? And they're probably cheaper in the App Store anyway, so who cares? What do you need a Vita for just yet? that's the hurdle at the moment.

"Your phone can download games too... What do you need a Vita for just yet?"

Couldn't you use that same argument against the 3DS?

Sometimes I wonder if tendoboy has ever read an entire post in his life.

I do read the posts, but I also pick up on bits and pieces of info that I want to counterpoint.

@Tendoboy: You pick out one sentence and then take it completely out of context, ignoring everything else I just said that qualifies it. I'm about done with the constant arguing that comes from letting you roam free. Either learn to read or go find some other place to haunt, because you are disrupting the hell out of this thread and I have had it.

Is this the PS Vita discussion thread? I couldn't tell.

Edit: But seriously, how about that Vita system? With the analog sticks and stuff?

So. Army Corp of Hell.

y/n?

See, I can cut out "bits and pieces" of your reply and make what you're saying seem weaker too. That's so cheap man. Everything that's relevant to what you're arguing against needs to be quoted, not ignored.

On-topic: I'd like to have one, but I'll wait for a price drop. It's like, $350 to get the system, a decent memory card, and a game, which is too much for me – especially when I already have a brand-new handheld.

By not ready I thought they meant that ISPs are too locked down and moat people only have the basic Internet plans which are too slow for downloading mass amounts of data. Also on the phone side you aren't even allowed to download big files over 3G because of the time it takes. Unless your running fios or tootle Tiber your sol.

I tried it at Best Buy. The screen is very nice, but the sticks and face buttons are way too small.