If console gaming and handheld gaming got together and collaborated to produce something awesome, this would likely be one of the first real tests of that relationship. So you"ve got a nice HDTV at home for your console gaming needs, except your console"s stuck in your electronics cabinet or stand with a stack of game discs lying nearby. You"ve also got a mobile phone or a tablet to bring with you on the go, so you can play some racing game on the subway while a few of your fellow commuters looks at you with an odd stare.
What about the best of both? You"d like your games to go with you, but you prefer a large screen to game on, and you"d rather do it all in the privacy of your own home. If these are your wishes, check this out:
A teaser posted on Australian developer Firemint"s blog demonstrates an upcoming update to their iPad 2 racing game, Real Racing 2 HD. The new addition here is taking advantage of 1080p output support offered by iPad 2. But instead of simply mirroring the image from the iPad 2 to the television, the action is shown on-screen and the iPad 2"s display shows statistics and an overview map. In essence, the iPad 2 is the (informative) steering wheel of a gaming console.
We"d imagine other racing games appearing on the iPad 2 may choose to do away with the map and replace it with a realistic dashboard, complete with an animated steering wheel, gears, pedals, an instrumentation panel, and a honkable horn.
For now, the real downside of this arrangement is finding a long enough HDMI cable to string your HDTV and iPad 2 together. In addition, HDMI cables are far thicker than ordinary controller cables for gaming consoles. Perhaps a wireless solution should be in Apple"s pipeline in the near future.