No, not a chance
The PS3 /PS4 use industry leading desktop gpu variants
You think an ipad, with its small thermal envelope and non-gaming emphasis can hold a candle to systems whose sole purpose is intense gaming?
The PS3 did use cutting edge technology both for the CPU and GPU when it came out (a half decade ago)..especially with its 'cell' technology. Xbox as well....though the Wii the story is a bit different. Considering the iPad 4 is clocked at what...1.3ghz/1.4? The GPU doubles the performance of the iPad 3s 255mhz GPU...the theoretical performance measures are significantly closer than you'd expect. Currently, Apple mandates less than 2GB per app maximum....but with more space, who knows what developers would be capable of.
Obviously PS4 and Xbox 720(?) will sport current guts and significantly outperform their older siblings. But today...regardless of thermal envelopes and other BS cited earlier in this thread....the iPads are definitely a thorn in both MS and Sony's ass. Games are getting very good in iOS and Android both. More casual, sure. No WOW or Starcraft exists yet. But their casual Modern Combat and GTA counterparts in the mobile world are extremely compelling. Especially if you're over 18, married...with children, mortgages and a 9-5 gig. We don't have 30 hours a week to build a 90 level Palladin in WOW.
See below for current console CPU and GPU clock speeds. And notice the, again...theoretical similarities between iPad 3/4 and the new Wii U---
"Hacker Marcan claims to have identified the clock speed and some characteristics of the CPU. Apparently, Nintendo uses a variant of the IBM PowerPC 750 processor with three cores and a clock speed of 1.243125 GHz per core. The Wii had a PowerPC 750CL processor running at 729 MHz. The Wii U's graphics clock is 549.999755 MHz. The Wii's Hollywood GPU was clocked at 243 MHz.
We know that clock speed isn't everything in performance, and the specs somewhat correspond to developer claims -- though some of which are apparently already hitting their limits. Still, the clock speeds are substantially below the rival processors, as the PS3′s Cell CPU and the Xbox 360′s Xenon chip are clocked at over 3 GHz per core. The graphics chip in the Xbox 360 runs at 500 MHz, while the PS3's GPU is clocked at 550 MHz."
Boy you must be old to bring up the 1.44MB floppy disks. The games that were on the disks were poor quality graphics and very small and limited.
Boy...you must be young and extremely ignorant to dismiss the 1.44MB floppy games as small, limited, and poor graphically. As you get older you'll understand. Many of your favorite artists will be the same you listened to between 14-20 years old. Same with games. Ultima 1,2,3 & 4 on my Apple IIe were some of the favorites in my life...and they were played on the 5 1/4 (6/700k?) floppies! Lol...I remember playing Microsoft flight simulator on 5.25" floppies on my IIe before there was 'Windows'
Sorry to ramble....point being, Apple and Android manufacturers actually have the advantage in this sector. With Sony and MS only updating their hardware every half decade or longer...the tablet manufacturers with yearly updates...the incredible growth of the 'mobile' computing landscape (where Moore's law also pertains)...these attributes will ONLY help to sustain the growth of both hardware AND software development on the iPad. The Surface. The Nexus...alon with our smart phones. Hell...my iPhone 5 is faster in almost every way than computers I owned just a half decade ago. With solid state storage, a GB of RAM, quad core CPU and GPU options....and unparalleled graphic displays....there's no question in my mind these devices WILL indeed surpass the performance of current generation consoles. Not just in performance, but consumer demand and ultimately the curiosity and the support of the developers. Storage size will increase. And the ability to steam wirelessly to your home entertainment system will eventually eliminate consoles completely
I do agree though...better controllability is essential. But already a third party, cottage industry has started to emerge. Check out iCade! Their April fools joke turned into a profitable venture.
If still not convinced...take a look at what nVidia is doing with their own Tegra 4 gaming (handheld) portable unit from CES! It's a very exciting time to be part of this period in technology. When I was 14, I had an Atari 2600. I'm the oldest of four brothers. The next bro down...Coleco Vision. Third brother at 16 had Sega. The youngest brother got a PS1 on his way to college. Only 14 years later...the evolution of both game consoles and portable options has completely changed! When I was riding the school bus...our idea of a iTouch or the Vita was a little football game from Mattel Electronics!...Bad graphics! HA!!....tgis game had little dashed red LED lines for players.
Some of you youngsters would do well to pay respects for the technology that came first. You'll get old too...and soon your kids will be laughing at you for enjoying HALO the way I do Defender, Asteroids or a good old fashioned pinball machine
