iPad Mini: iPad mini best gaming device in iOS lineup

[CandyNJ66]

Great to know it can keep up with the big girls in gameplay but which graphic intensive games lag and crash on the Mini?

[Anti-Lucifer]

Most of the games are written with the ipad 2 in mind, being 1024x768. The retina enhanced games are for the ipad 3. On the ipad 3, the resolution is so high, even with the quad GPU cores, it's basically needed to push the graphics to a playable state on the retina resolution.

Most games are optimized on the iPad (1024x768) so they all run extremely well. You won't see special optimized quad core GPU specific effects like in infinity blade2 on an ipad 3 vs and iPad 2/mini for example. But everything else runs super silky smooth.

There will be games that push even an ipad 4 to the limit but I have yet to see a game max out on an ipad 2 yet. Sure there are occasional stuttering say like in RR2, but that's nothing like 15fps all the time.

I love this ipad mini so much for gaming, it's just so good in ergonomics and I'm very impressed with the whole package. For games, the display is just gorgeous...for text, of course we can argue till the moon explodes it is inferior but at a further distance away, it's extremely acceptable.

[Random 995K]

Originally Posted by ZBoater

Infinity Blade 2, Modern Combat 3 are big games. They run fine on the mini. Better than fine actually.



So the developers are going to update their games to make them unplayable in all those iPad 2s and Minis? Ok. Sounds like a great move on the game developers part.

No not updated games, i mean new games like NOVA 4 or the next infinity blade. They will either tone down effects and make it run at a WAY lower FPS or just not release it for the 2 or mini. Seriously the mini is using internal that are 2.5 times less powerful. And also asphalt 7 doesn't run as smooth, i saw it on youtube with an ipad 4 and ipad mini comparison.

[ZBoater]

Originally Posted by Random 995K

No not updated games, i mean new games like NOVA 4 or the next infinity blade. They will either tone down effects and make it run at a WAY lower FPS or just not release it for the 2 or mini. Seriously the mini is using internal that are 2.5 times less powerful. And also asphalt 7 doesn't run as smooth, i saw it on youtube with an ipad 4 and ipad mini comparison.

Asphalt 7 runs fine. It was free yesterday so I downloaded it and played it. You are making your comments based on a YouTube video you saw?

[Random 995K]

Originally Posted by ZBoater

Asphalt 7 runs fine. It was free yesterday so I downloaded it and played it. You are making your comments based on a YouTube video you saw?

Anyway even my old Iphone 4S which is just as powerful as your mini lagged a bit on Asphalt 7. Especially when you are going 400 km/h with a Ferrari. Also it stuttered a lot on NOVA 3 online multiplayer. I am not lying to you, once you get a high speed car on asphalt 7 you will see the FPS drops quite a lot and stutters. If you want flawless gaming for this year and probably 1 or 2 in the future, the iPad 4 and iphone 5 will only be able to provide that. Imagine NOVA 4 on my old 4S or the mini..

[Anti-Lucifer]

Originally Posted by Random 995K

Anyway even my old Iphone 4S which is just as powerful as your mini lagged a bit on Asphalt 7. Especially when you are going 400 km/h with a Ferrari. Also it stuttered a lot on NOVA 3 online multiplayer. I am not lying to you, once you get a high speed car on asphalt 7 you will see the FPS drops quite a lot and stutters. If you want flawless gaming for this year and probably 1 or 2 in the future, the iPad 4 and iphone 5 will only be able to provide that. Imagine NOVA 4 on my old 4S or the mini..

Developers will always support the low common denominator device until apple ceases to support that device any longer. Do you think thee are more retina iPads sold than ipad 2's, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S??

Don't even worry about the ipad 4. Even with an a6x chip you will end up selling that for an iPad 5 come 6 months time. Owning a mini is safe for a few more years. And most of the games play extremely well.

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Originally Posted by Random 995K

Anyway even my old Iphone 4S which is just as powerful as your mini lagged a bit on Asphalt 7..

And the iPad mini is slightly faster than your iPhone 4S based on today's anandtech released review of the iPad mini.

[Random 995K]

Originally Posted by Anti-Lucifer

Developers will always support the low common denominator device until apple ceases to support that device any longer. Do you think thee are more retina iPads sold than ipad 2's, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S??

Don't even worry about the ipad 4. Even with an a6x chip you will end up selling that for an iPad 5 come 6 months time. Owning a mini is safe for a few more years. And most of the games play extremely well.

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And the iPad mini is slightly faster than your iPhone 4S based on today's released review of the iPad mini.

I am not getting the next iPad and its most likely not coming out in 6 months. I will be getting the ipad 7 and will enjoy flawless gameplay on high end games up until probably the 6th one. I understand that the mini will handful game like angry birds very easily but i am talking about games that require the full capabilities of the most powerful IOS devices (iphone 5 and ipad 4) like NOVA 3 and real racing 3 which will come out soon. The mini is a bit faster than the 4S, the geekbench scores of both are approx 650 and 750 respectively. You can not be serious if you think that a 2 year old mini will be able to handle the games out in two years. As i said earlier my 4S cannot handle NOVA 3 flawlessly so i doubt the mini will be able to. You are right when you say "most of the games play extremely well." It really comes down to what games you wanna play.

[Anti-Lucifer]

Originally Posted by Random 995K

I am not getting the next iPad and its most likely not coming out in 6 months. I will be getting the ipad 7 and will enjoy flawless gameplay on high end games up until probably the 6th one. I understand that the mini will handful game like angry birds very easily but i am talking about games that require the full capabilities of the most powerful IOS devices (iphone 5 and ipad 4) like NOVA 3 and real racing 3 which will come out soon. The mini is a bit faster than the 4S, the geekbench scores of both are approx 650 and 750 respectively. You can not be serious if you think that a 2 year old mini will be able to handle the games out in two years. As i said earlier my 4S cannot handle NOVA 3 flawlessly so i doubt the mini will be able to. You are right when you say "most of the games play extremely well." It really comes down to what games you wanna play.

The iPad 4 is a beast compared to the iPad 1,2,3mini, iPhones. I would buy that but I like the form factor of the mini very much for games and web stuff. Too bad there is not a6 for the mini at this release. The big game titles will sure take advantage of the newest hardware but for the older stuff it will run just fine but without the extra eye candy effects on the iPad 4. It's not like it runs like it does on competing tablets (androids and windows). Maybe there won't be support in two years but that's quite a bit of time left to enjoy the gadget. But then when the next gen mini comes out, most will just buy it without hesitation.

[bigboar]

Originally Posted by Anti-Lucifer

Developers will always support the low common denominator device until apple ceases to support that device any longer. Do you think thee are more retina iPads sold than ipad 2's, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S??

Don't even worry about the ipad 4. Even with an a6x chip you will end up selling that for an iPad 5 come 6 months time. Owning a mini is safe for a few more years. And most of the games play extremely well.

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And the iPad mini is slightly faster than your iPhone 4S based on today's anandtech released review of the iPad mini.

that review from anandtech was spot on about the mini..more people should read it before they buy one....but wow, everything about the ipad 4 was outstanding... with all the talk i have read about the mini battery I couldnt believe it when I saw that the ipad 4 battery lasted longer!

[Moongrass]

Originally Posted by Random 995K

No not updated games, i mean new games like NOVA 4 or the next infinity blade. They will either tone down effects and make it run at a WAY lower FPS or just not release it for the 2 or mini. Seriously the mini is using internal that are 2.5 times less powerful. And also asphalt 7 doesn't run as smooth, i saw it on youtube with an ipad 4 and ipad mini comparison.

Not only do most games run very well on the older (not outdated) hardware, you're apparently not familiar with the multiple game developers who have noted that if they intend to continue to sell their games to the widest audience, then for the next year at least, the "sweet spot" for development will continue to be the A5/512Mb combo sported by the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, 5th-gen iPod Touch and iPad mini.

The idea that only the iPhone 5 and 4th-gen iPad will be able to play games well in 2013 is nonsense, and is not an argument actual app developers agree with.

[CandyNJ66]

Originally Posted by Moongrass

Not only do most games run very well on the older (not outdated) hardware, you're apparently not familiar with the multiple game developers who have noted that if they intend to continue to sell their games to the widest audience, then for the next year at least, the "sweet spot" for development will continue to be the A5/512Mb combo sported by the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, 5th-gen iPod Touch and iPad mini.

The idea that only the iPhone 5 and 4th-gen iPad will be able to play games well in 2013 is nonsense, and is not an argument actual app developers agree with.

Agreed. I'm still very surprised when someone with a 3GS can still use certain apps/ games, so the A5 will definitely still be supported. Apple wants to squeeze as much $$ as they can and apple devices always sell no matter how outdated they are.

[bimmerboii]

Can someone try the game "sports car challenge" and report back if it runs well on the mini? Its one of my fave racing games

[Random 995K]

Originally Posted by Moongrass

Not only do most games run very well on the older (not outdated) hardware, you're apparently not familiar with the multiple game developers who have noted that if they intend to continue to sell their games to the widest audience, then for the next year at least, the "sweet spot" for development will continue to be the A5/512Mb combo sported by the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, 5th-gen iPod Touch and iPad mini.

The idea that only the iPhone 5 and 4th-gen iPad will be able to play games well in 2013 is nonsense, and is not an argument actual app developers agree with.

I wasn't trying to say they wont be supported as Apple allows support for so many previous generations with apps. I was saying that it wont be able to run the very high end games, for example many games require an iphone 4 or higher. I was also saying that they wont run the high end games flawlessly.

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Originally Posted by Anti-Lucifer

The iPad 4 is a beast compared to the iPad 1,2,3mini, iPhones. I would buy that but I like the form factor of the mini very much for games and web stuff. Too bad there is not a6 for the mini at this release. The big game titles will sure take advantage of the newest hardware but for the older stuff it will run just fine but without the extra eye candy effects on the iPad 4. It's not like it runs like it does on competing tablets (androids and windows). Maybe there won't be support in two years but that's quite a bit of time left to enjoy the gadget. But then when the next gen mini comes out, most will just buy it without hesitation.

Fair enough, agree with most things you said and an A6X mini would be really cool. Anyway im gonna go read up that anandtech review, thanks for letting me know it was uploaded.

[Moongrass]

Originally Posted by Random 995K

I was saying that it wont be able to run the very high end games, for example many games require an iphone 4 or higher. I was also saying that they wont run the high end games flawlessly.

Yes, but as I was pointing out, according to the developers themselves it isn't in their best interest to release "very high-end" games that simply don't run at all on that "sweet spot" cluster of devices (two of which are brand new releases) that all use the A5 chip and have 512Mb of memory. It'd be a spectacularly foolish move to exclude the userbase with the newly updated iPod Touch and wildly popular iPad mini, to say nothing of all those still using the iPad 2 or hanging on to the iPhone 4S because of contract or other reasons.

The app store is a ridiculously difficult place to make a profit at the best of times, which these folks understand all too well, and they're not about to hamstring themselves unnecessarily. As such, it's almost guaranteed that you're not going to be seeing many successful games that list "iPhone 5 and iPad 4th-gen" as the minimum requirement any time soon - soon meaning the next 12, quite possibly 18 months.

I'm not sure how the iPhone 4 as a minimum requirement is relevant here, given that the devices in question are all more powerful than that one; the iPhone 4 as a minimum requirement is currently still quite a way below the A5 "sweet spot", technologically speaking, even if the minimum requirement gets bumped up over the next year. You really need to go and read what the developers from the various game companies have been saying, because their whole point is that they will be deliberately designing their games to run pretty much flawlessly on these A5-based devices, with additional bells and whistles for the newer Apple products. It's not going to be a case of designing primarily for the high-end first and having the larger demographic be "second-class citizens" coping with an unavoidable 12 frames per second.

[Random 995K]

Originally Posted by Moongrass

Yes, but as I was pointing out, according to the developers themselves it isn't in their best interest to release "very high-end" games that simply don't run at all on that "sweet spot" cluster of devices (two of which are brand new releases) that all use the A5 chip and have 512Mb of memory. It'd be a spectacularly foolish move to exclude the userbase with the newly updated iPod Touch and wildly popular iPad mini, to say nothing of all those still using the iPad 2 or hanging on to the iPhone 4S because of contract or other reasons.

The app store is a ridiculously difficult place to make a profit at the best of times, which these folks understand all too well, and they're not about to hamstring themselves unnecessarily. As such, it's almost guaranteed that you're not going to be seeing many successful games that list "iPhone 5 and iPad 4th-gen" as the minimum requirement any time soon - soon meaning the next 12, quite possibly 18 months.

I'm not sure how the iPhone 4 as a minimum requirement is relevant here, given that the devices in question are all more powerful than that one; the iPhone 4 as a minimum requirement is currently still quite a way below the A5 "sweet spot", technologically speaking, even if the minimum requirement gets bumped up over the next year. You really need to go and read what the developers from the various game companies have been saying, because their whole point is that they will be deliberately designing their games to run pretty much flawlessly on these A5-based devices, with additional bells and whistles for the newer Apple products. It's not going to be a case of designing primarily for the high-end first and having the larger demographic be "second-class citizens" coping with an unavoidable 12 frames per second.

Very good points, but that "sweet spot" will imo move to A6 in the next year. if not then by the iphone 6/ipad6 (2 years). Also the games that i play on my iPad are those few games that require the power of the A6/A6X chip. It all depends on what games you wanna play, you raise a good point with most developers wanting to hit that A5 sweet spot but like i was trying to infer before, is that the iphone 4 with the A4 chip was the sweet spot a couple years back. Mini will defs be able to play 90% of games without any trouble for maybe 2 years. The reason i got the 4 is because i want to be able to play 100% of all games pretty much without any staggering at all for the next three years (till i upgrade). As is said earlier i guess its up to what type of games you like.

[ZBoater]

Originally Posted by Random 995K

...Also the games that i play on my iPad are those few games that require the power of the A6/A6X chip...

There are no games that "require" the A6...

[darngooddesign]

Originally Posted by ZBoater

There are no games that "require" the A6...

Games might not require it, but RR2 turned off effects and simplified the graphics on the iPad 1 when compared to the iPad 2. Games will look better on the iPad 4 than on either the 3 or Mini due to its better GPU.

It's impossible to claim that the Mini is the best iOS gaming device; the iPad4 is more powerful and the iPhone/iTouch are still easier to have with you always.

[ZBoater]

Originally Posted by darngooddesign

...It's impossible to claim that the Mini is the best iOS gaming device; the iPad4 is more powerful and the iPhone/iTouch are still easier to have with you always.

The problem with "best" claims is that they depend on the definition. I find the screen on the iPhone too small to enjoy gaming. So for me iPhone/Touch can't be the "best" iOS gaming device.

Having spent the last day playing on the mini, I find it a better device than the iPad 3. Obviously not because of the screen, but because of the weight. I find a lighter device more enjoyable to hold for longer periods. For me, that makes it "better".

The screen on the Mini is big enough to enjoy the games (it's only 1.8" smaller than my iPad 3). When I first got my iPad 3 I ran Infinity Blade (retina optimized) and compared it to my ipad 2. Guess what? I couldn't see the difference. I had to read an article that had side by side pictures and they had to point out what to look for. I don't call that a "big" difference.

[darngooddesign]

Originally Posted by ZBoater

The problem with "best" claims is that they depend on the definition. I find the screen on the iPhone too small to enjoy gaming. So for me iPhone/Touch can't be the "best" iOS gaming device.

Having spent the last day playing on the mini, I find it a better device than the iPad 3. Obviously not because of the screen, but because of the weight. I find a lighter device more enjoyable to hold for longer periods. For me, that makes it "better".

The screen on the Mini is big enough to enjoy the games (it's only 1.8" smaller than my iPad 3). When I first got my iPad 3 I ran Infinity Blade (retina optimized) and compared it to my ipad 2. Guess what? I couldn't see the difference. I had to read an article that had side by side pictures and they had to point out what to look for. I don't call that a "big" difference.

I agree that these kinds of things are subjective.

[Moongrass]

Originally Posted by Random 995K

Also the games that i play on my iPad are those few games that require the power of the A6/A6X chip.

Boater got to this before me, but I don't know of any (non-tech demo) games out there that only run on the two devices that have these chips.

While games that take advantage of the 4th-gen iPad's superior hardware will definitely come out in greater numbers over the next year, current video comparisons of the iPad mini and iPad 4 on the latest "high-end" games show that there's actually very little real-world difference in terms of performance or appearance between the two devices right now. The 4th-gen iPad does have very slightly faster loading times for games, webpages and the like, but at the moment its "doubled performance" is really only evident in benchmarks.

Originally Posted by Random 995K

Mini will defs be able to play 90% of games without any trouble for maybe 2 years.

Yeah, we agree there; like I mentioned, gamers concerned about being left behind should feel secure with their A5-based devices for the next 12-18 months. All devices become outdated eventually (like the 4th-gen iPod Touch which at this point is basically no longer supported by many game developers), but I think some people are expecting this to happen more quickly than it actually will with these particular products.

I don't think we'll be seeing a Retina-based mini until at least this time next year, though - the people guessing at one turning up in March seem to be making that call based on a very simplistic take on the iPad 3/iPad 4 situation, rather than actually looking at the hardware that such a move would require.

[Random 995K]

Originally Posted by ZBoater

There are no games that "require" the A6...

Yeah i meant to say i play the games that are purposely made around the highest chip. For example when NOVA 3 came out, lots of effects were missing on the iphone 4 and ipad 2 in order for the device to be able to run smooth. I don't think games will actually require an iphone 5/ipad for a long time. Maybe 5 years. I didn't use the right words before lol.

[akdj]

Originally Posted by DarwinOSX

The iPad 4 destroys the mini in CPU, gpu, and screen and is a far better gaming device.

This has been addressed plenty, so I won't harp on it. Just know, you don't have to feel the need to defend your purchase. Indeed..I'm an iPad fan as well. Bought the mini and a pair of 4s. The mini....what so many are saying, really hits the sweet spot for size, functionality (for gaming control), and performance. You have to realize, the 'developers' received the iPad 4 the same time you did. They've been developing and refining their software for two years now around the A5 processor. As explained, developers want to make cash. As of now, there aren't any games tha run 'faster' or 'better' on our 4 in comparison to the mini. The fact that the iPad 2 and iPad 3 used the same CPU...and the GPU was 'doubled' in power to accommodate four times the pixels revealed the performance parity between these two versions. The speed/graphic performance just got here with the A6.

Originally Posted by racoonboy

Nope, game playing device should be around 4-5 inch screen.

I used to own playbook 7 inch and gaming is still irritating because your finger can't reach all area while holding on to it.

Btw, if Ipad mini is just mainly for games then better invest more on Wii U. Games should be casual on the touch gadgets.

No good. Comparing the play book to the iPad mini is silly at best. A joke at worst.
You owe it to yourself to try a 'real' tablet bro. Forger the Wii U!

Originally Posted by NavySEAL6

I'm surprised the iPad mini is handling games well such as Fifa. I'm interested to hear how the newest NOVA and Modern Combat 3 play. I assumed the performance would be sub-par because of the older chip.

Does this mean in a year games that come out will be sub par while my 8 month old iPad 3 is handling them just fine? I like the mini a lot but I feel like I'd be trading in for older technology

iPad 3 and iPad mini have essentially the same guts. Other than the RAM/resolution difference...which cancel any performance increase, the benchmarks of the iPad 2/3 are the same. And the mini is just as quick!

The iPad 4/iPhone 5 are the two products using Apple's new A6 design.

Originally Posted by Random 995K

No big games such as NOVA3 can even run smoothly on the mini. Also no retina, No thanks. Ipad 4 is the best for gaming by FAR. Try playing modern combat as well. Or even try playing asphalt 7. They wont run anywhere near as smooth.

Also even if they can just manage to run those high end games now, they will fail in a year and be totally unplayable on the current mini. Also retina makes a huge difference.

This. Isn't. True! See above remarks. No games are yet optimized for the A6. I've got both NOVA 3 & Asphalt 7--both run beautifully on both my mini and our 4s! Excellent games too btw

Retina...Yes, it does equal awesome. However the denser pixels on the iPad mini's screen in comparison to the iPad 2 definitely helps..and there are plenty of 'apps' that allow text resizing and adjustment. It was initially a tough adjustment. For about twenty minutes. As I, too, own the iphone 5--and have owned the 4&4s--as well as the iPad 3. However, the iPad mini form factor easily makes up for any 'retina' shortcomings visually. It's just the 'perfect size'....for almost everything. They'd have had to forsake the size, design, and/or battery life (most likely a combination of all of the above) to have achieved a retina quality display in this version.

Originally Posted by Random 995K

Very good points, but that "sweet spot" will imo move to A6 in the next year. if not then by the iphone 6/ipad6 (2 years). Also the games that i play on my iPad are those few games that require the power of the A6/A6X chip. It all depends on what games you wanna play, you raise a good point with most developers wanting to hit that A5 sweet spot but like i was trying to infer before, is that the iphone 4 with the A4 chip was the sweet spot a couple years back. Mini will defs be able to play 90% of games without any trouble for maybe 2 years. The reason i got the 4 is because i want to be able to play 100% of all games pretty much without any staggering at all for the next three years (till i upgrade). As is said earlier i guess its up to what type of games you like.

Hopefully I've beat it into your head enough now. The mini... And all other
A5 based products will play 100% of the App Store games currently available. You made a good investment. The iPad 4 is phenomenal and indeed it's going to be an excellent performer for years to come.

Originally Posted by Random 995K

Yeah i meant to say i play the games that are purposely made around the highest chip. For example when NOVA 3 came out, lots of effects were missing on the iphone 4 and ipad 2 in order for the device to be able to run smooth. I don't think games will actually require an iphone 5/ipad for a long time. Maybe 5 years. I didn't use the right words before lol.

OK. I think we are on the same page.. Hopefully I've made it clear. Your iPad 4 is awesome. Your iPhone 5 is. Bad. Ass! But my friend, You're missing an essential piece of iOS gear. You should buy or Ask for (@ Christmas) an iPad mini

J

[Medic311]

the iPad 2 and iPad Mini play games better than the iPad 3 w/ the A5X. the A5X was not sufficient at maintaining the same fluidity as A5 in the iPad 2 due to the Retina screen. that screen is a beast. try playing Metal Storm on an iPad 2 and then switch over to an iPad 3 and you will see what i mean. it's so bad that i decided to return the iPad 3 (luckily i got a full refund since i was within Apple's unofficial 30 day return period) and upgraded to the iPad 4.

finally, at last, Metal Storm plays with the same fluidity as with the iPad 2

[Anti-Lucifer]

I must say the gaming on big iPad 4 isn't as good. Playing games like the room is great on the big retina display but for games like FIFA 13, riptide, any game requiring multi on screen input isn't great on the iPad retina.

The most startling thing about the ipad 4 is the fact even some games stutter. Asphalt 7 seems to be running in a slower frame rate. Galaxy on fire 2 HD still stutters at max res.

I hope iPad 5 will reduce the display bezel width because that would help significantly in the handling department for games.

Th only thing that is ok on the ipad is typing with the undocked keyboard in portrait mode. The iPad mini is just fantastic in portrait typing.