We’re less than 24 hours away from Apple’s event tomorrow, which we’ll be live blogging, and thought it appropriate to have a quick chat with ngmoco’s CEO Neil Young to see what the iPhone game developer thinks about the whole circus.
Techland: What do the folks at ngmoco think Apple will announce?
Neil Young: I think along with the rest of the world, we’re expecting Apple to announce a new Tablet device. We’re also looking forward to the potential of an iPhone OS release.
Techland: If a tablet is announced should the likes of MS, Sony and Nintendo be worried? Have you begun programming for a larger device?
Neil Young: Yes, definitely as well as the manufacturers of Netbooks. Apple has the potential to bring an incredible device into the living rooms & bedrooms of families around the world that can revolutionize both home entertainment & home productivity.
Techland: Would it be much different than the iPhone? One would assume the controls would be the same regardless of screen size, right?
Neil Young: For general touching to select, I would imagine that would be the case – but there is some incredible potential to use more than just 1 finger to interact. There is also a very specific challenge around keyboards – imagine holding a 10″ screen device in your hands and trying to use your thumbs to type – hard to do both, so I’m very interested to see what Apple comes up with there.
Techland: Was this something that you thought would eventually come to fruition? What impact will a larger screen have on existing apps like your games?
Neil Young: For someone like me that has an Apple only home – with Apple TV, iPhones, iPod Touches & Macs – it’s incredibly exciting. As a maker of games for iPhone OS, it means that we can deliver more complete & rich gaming experiences, some of which will undoubtedly have unique features tailored for the device. I think you’ll begin to see experiences that rival those that you would see at home either on your computer or game machine.
Techland: Can they be scaled up? If you weren’t at ngmoco, would you buy one?
Neil Young: 3D games can easily be scaled up, 2D graphics tend to require more work to increase the resolution. I love Apple products, so you can bet your life I’m going to buy one!