>do kids/parents see that as a gaming device?

It's a "make my kids shut up in the car or in a restaurant" device.

This is the truth. Many kids are still using Nintendo 3DS as a gaming console in conjunction to having a tablet.

unfortunate truth ..

It's especially bothersome to me when parents use "learning" apps to try and pretend that they're being a more productive parent by giving their child an iPad. Perhaps they can do some good, but their effects are also vastly overstated and are no substitute for hands-on physical teaching by parents.

Here is an example study that tries to test the effects of apps vs. parents teaching foreign language words: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20855901

If by apps you mean a watching DVD, which (based on the abstract) was what this studied.

My iPhone now has a bunch of 2D Sonics, Roller Coaster Tycoon Classic, The Binding Of Isaac, a full port of Lego Star Wars, Surgeon Simulator, Minecraft, Hearthstone and a few others. Seems like iOS supports real games to me.

GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas too.

And you can use a Bluetooth controller.

I have an Android phone with a 6 inch screen, switch's screen is only .2" bigger. My phone even has a better resolution.

There's a bunch of "real games". Additionally it also has great board game ports if that's your thing.

Oh, yeah. iOS is pretty much the only platform with half-decent children's edutainment games that aren't 20+ years old.

My youngest stepson (10) just got one for Christmas (secondhand iPad mini 2). He's mostly gaming on it, and he loves it. Bear in mind he has access to an xbox one, too. He doesn't see the iPad as inferior; he certainly did the hudl that he sold in order to part fund the iPad purchase.

Sample size of one and do you really see the xbox one and the ipad mini as equally good game machines?

Games are the number 1 app category in the iOS app store. [1] and smartphone + tablet game market is bigger than either console or PC game market.[2] So people clearly see them as gaming devices.

[1]https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/global-games-market-rea... [2]https://www.statista.com/statistics/270291/popular-categorie...

I don't think mobile games and Xbox games are the same market save for both competing for disposable income. Neither is a fit stand in for the other.

They also compete for a limited amount of time. There are very few console gamers who also don't have a smartphone or tablet with some games on it. They may not explicitly choose to game on their phone over Xbox, and they may acknowledge that they enjoy console games more. But on a given night, maybe they choose to watch tv, and second screen some games on their phone. And if that phone didn't exist, they would have chosen to play on their console. So they aren't equivalent, but they can still substitute for each other, and compete for time/money/attention.

Yes. It's not all about specs.

Gaming in the living room? Xbox wins. Gaming in the bedroom? iPad wins. Gaming on a trip to visit Grandma? iPad wins. Gaming on holiday? iPad wins. Want to play low budget or free casual games? iPad wins.

Obviously a sample size of one - you can disqualify just about every comment anyone makes in such a way, so I'm not sure I see the relevance of it in the context of a discussion explicitly mentioning personal experience? It is of course completely possible that he's the only kid in the world who sees it the way he does.

I don't see them as equal in terms of specs, but I'm not interested in the same things as a 10 year old. I asked my stepson about it this morning, and he gave what I think was a pretty well-reasoned argument off the cuff about it, mostly that the games on the iPad are completely different to those on the xbox, and he prefers the games that are on whichever platform they are on, and he likes the portable nature of the iPad, but the xbox because multiple players can play together. Sounded like a more coherent review of the differences than I've read on some websites.

It's not all about specs, it's about gameplay. I'd actually say I've -enjoyed- playing games on the ZX Spectrum more than some PC games (with infinitely better graphics, sound etc), because I enjoy the game more, and because they could never rely on looking flash to engage you, so they -had- to be excellent games. Technically, there's no way that Manic Miner is a better game than all the FPS that my eldest stepson plays, but I'd take Manic Miner any day of the week.

The games you can get on an iPad are very real games to kids.

Which has lead to the current market of free-to-play (pay-to-win) games and ruined potential most legitimate indie titles to thrive on the platform.

Jeff Minter himself has abandoned iOS altogether, leaving an amazing collection of some of the tightest controlling and most gorgeous retro styled iOS arcade shooters completely defunct like they never existed. (Minotaur Project) [0]

(Let this also be a lesson to back up your iOS stuff, iCloud will not save apps that are removed from the App Store).

[0]: http://minotaurproject.co.uk/blog/?p=376

But as a parent it is hard to find the good games on the ipad, most are crappy pay to win stuff.

Even grown ups.

For me playing has mostly moved into the phone and tablet as I am often on the go.

RTS games are great for touch interfaces.

Can you recommend any good RTS games for iOS?

Personally, I use my iPad for games when I travel (and sometimes during my twice-a-week commute) and at home I play games almost exclusively on PS4. I rarely, if ever, play games on my laptop now, despite having over 300 games on Steam.

You are in for a surprise: https://www.google.com.co/amp/www.cnbc.com/amp/2016/04/22/mo...

There are many beautiful and immersive games for mobile, for example Disney's Castle of Illusion and Star Wars Commander.

Yes.

My house has a PS4, Ps3, Wii-U, a gaming PC, a Vita, and two 3DS machines. My kids spend 90% of their gaming hours on an iPad or phone. The PS4 is my favorite device.

Depends on the parents and the kids. Some kids love to play on their tablets and others prefer 3DS or similar. You can't say that no kids (or teenagers or adults) play on tablets.