Ngmoco's Young: 'Immersive' iPad Puts Apple In The Living Room

Part of the skepticism surrounding Apple's new iPad tablet comes from the view that it's just one big iPod -- but developers of games for iPhone and iPod Touch say that's not a bad thing. "In many ways it is a large format iPod, but that's in fact what makes it interesting," says Ngmoco's Neil Young, speaking as part of a new Gamasutra feature offering developer perspectives on the device's possibilities. "The display surface is now big enough to be a really engaging and immersive interface, and it's an in-home venue device as much as it's a mobile device," says Young. "I think that Apple just found a way to get into the living rooms without having to build a dedicated game console," he adds. Young says Ngmoco is readying "a lot of support" for the iPad to help it reach the same kind of success as Apple's other iPhone-OS titles. PopCap director of mobile business development Andrew Stein says "having a much bigger, high-resolution screen does get us thinking about the new experiences we could create that just aren't possible on the much smaller iPhone screen." The full Gamasutra feature presents a wide range of interviews with both enthusiastic and skeptical developers who share their plans and perspectives on iPad.