Has Apple Created the Perfect Board Game Platform?

andylim writes "recombu.com is running an interesting piece about how Apple has created a 'Jumanji (board game) platform.' The 9.7-inch multi-touch screen is perfect for playing board games at home, and you could use Wi-Fi or 3G to play against other people when you're on your own. What would be really interesting is if you could pair the iPad with iPhones, 'Imagine a Scrabble iPad game that used iPhones as letter holders. You could hold up your iPhone so that no one else could see your letters and when you were ready to make a word on the Scrabble iPad board, you could slide them on to the board by flicking the word tiles off your iPhone.' Now that would be cool."

Comments

Re:Uh, no. They didn't.

[Lumpy]

Problem is most "cardboard" games are getting nutty pricey. I have seen many new ones retailing for $100 or more.

Re:Sure thing

[GasparGMSwordsman]

Napoleon in Europe cost me $80, Diplomacy cost me $60, Settlers of Catan with expansions cost me $180 ($45 x 3 + $15 x 3), Through the Ages costs $70 right now, History of the World was $65. Some of us like good board games. (I own all of those except Through the Ages and History of the World, which a friend owns).

I have not even mentioned any games by Games Workshop. If you include them, the iPad + Phones would be cheaper...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3518/napoleon-in-europe

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/483/diplomacy

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan

http://www.eaglegames.net/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CBG001

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/224/history-of-the-world

Re:Uh, no. They didn't.

[Pojut]

You're missing the point. No one is trying to convince you that it's a good thing. You have made up your mind, and that's cool

Oh, plenty of people on here have tried, lol.

The point is, your opinion isn't necessarily all that meaningful in the context of the use cases of this device.

That is not true at all. I was actually really excited about this thing, because I've been wanting a straight tablet with no keyboard for a while now. It would be quite handy for diagnostics in the garage, great for gaming/browsing the net while watching TV, double as an e-comic reader...pretty much everything I want in a tablet, the iPad offers.

That being said, I'm not paying $500 or more for a locked down device with no expansion, no external ports, and no multitasking. I'll just wait for some other similarly priced (or cheaper!) tablet that doesn't require permission from the company that built it just so I can use whatever program I want.

Am I the target demographic for the iPad? Not since it's details have been released, I'm not. I certainly was, but I'm not now.

Re:Uh, no. They didn't.

[sesshomaru]

I think he meant to say, dedicated board gamers. The kind of people who go to boardgamegeek.com or hang out in the Fantasy Flight forums. People who know the difference between German style boardgames and American style board games.

These are people for whom the board game is the first resort, not the last. People who will deliberately make time for board games. (Think John Locke on Lost.)

Monopoly is a dreadful board game, and I don't understand why anyone ever plays it. Scrabble seems good though.

But seriously, next time you are thinking of playing Monopoly, go out and buy a game of Cosmic Encounter. Then throw your copy of Monopoly in the garbage or the nearest compost heap.