how much future-proof is ipod touch (5G) gaming wise?

[nix253]

hey guys. here i'm with another query.

i'm planning to buy an ipod touch (5G) 32 gb in a few days. now i know that i'm not going on any other handheld with some other os because
-it's definitive after searching on net that iOS has simply better games library than any other handheld OS. heck the library is even better than PS Vita despite that it's a dedicated handheld gaming console.

- after using my sister's iphone a bit and already have had a great experience with an ipod classic, nothing has been able to grab me like iOS did. although i'm aware it has it's downsides like mandatory itune interaction, no custom built equaliser etc but i'm not taking it just as a mp3 player but as a whole instantly accessible and portable multimedia solution, in which especially gaming is a priority.

now this is where i'm a little concerned. it's obvious that if you invest into something like this then you want as much bang for your buck as possible with as lasting compatibility with future apps as possible. so like if i buy it now then how long will it support the games that will keep coming in the future? i'm really hoping that atleast it'll be able to play iOS games that'll be released in next couple of years.

 

[SAWYER]

If you want a good deal on a 64 gig 5th gen let me know, I have one for sale in the for sale section

 

[OBLAMA2009]

why not wait a month and git ipad miniS

 

[Red Storm]

Do note that the overwhelming majority of mobile games are really nothing more than quick time wasters, but there are a few actual in depth games here and there. So I guess the first question should be, what kind of games are you looking to play?

 

[bearxor]

The bummer with the latest iPod Touch is that it uses an A5 chip, same as in the 4S. It's still decent, but it's already a year old. That's a dual-core 800mhz-ish processor with a SGX543MP2 and 512MB of RAM. Apple gave the iPhone 5 a bump to a SGX543MP3 for the higher screen resolution, and I think it really made a difference. The 1GB of RAM is also a huge upgrade.

Having said that, it's significantly better that what is in the previous iPod Touch, which was an A4 with 256MB of RAM, essentially a slower clocked version of the chip inside the first iPad. So the 5th gen is a huge step up.

But given Apple's history, the 5th gen will at least be supported for a good 3-4 years, software wise. I'd suspect that Apple won't even spec bump it in 2013, opting for a 2014 bump instead, though I do think they'll stop selling the 4th generation iPod touch within a year. That should get you on just about a 2 year cycle to get the "latest and greatest" hardware.

 

[cronos]

OP, first of all, you have to realize that future proofing electronics is not something realistic in this day and age.

Having said that, the 5th generation Touch is quite a bit of a leap from the previous one (4th gen was released two years ago, last year they only released different colors). It also received the larger screen, same as the iPhone 5 (instead of lagging the tech a year like the rest of the hardware - camera/cpu/etc).

 

[OBLAMA2009]

OP, first of all, you have to realize that future proofing electronics is not something realistic in this day and age.

Having said that, the 5th generation Touch is quite a bit of a leap from the previous one (4th gen was released two years ago, last year they only released different colors). It also received the larger screen, same as the iPhone 5 (instead of lagging the tech a year like the rest of the hardware - camera/cpu/etc).

its also quite a leap in price. if youre gonna spend $300 git ipad mini

 

[bearxor]

iPad mini and iPod touch are essentially identical, hardware-wise. Form factor is the more important choice here.

But yes, if the 8" screen is an option, I'd probably pick it over a iPod touch if the 16GB storage is sufficient enough.

 

[nix253]

thank you very much for the replies people

@sawyer i'm from india so it'll be hard for me to buy an ipod touch from you. but thanks for offering anyway.

@ red storm you're right most mobile games out there are time wasters but there are few which are exclusively available for iOS only which are having the quality, even if not the scale of a console experience. besides like i said i'm gonna be using it as on-the-go overall mutli-media solution. and since game library on iOS is better than anywhere else i'm choosing this platform.
also i read an article somewhere on IGN or Gamespot that devs tend to post or make games for iOS first then for any other platform. maybe it's got something to do with optimisation cuz a rather fixed apple hardware would be running an iOS everytime then android or any other OS because they are used on a varied hardware from different mobile brands.

@ cronos you're probably right. in fact that's why i'm specifically asking for gaming only. i know the way technology is growing, future is actually somewhat unpredictable. but still i like to get as much genuine reassurances as possible from people who are much more invested into gadget micro-analysis than me.

@oblama @bearxor yes form factor matters for me. even if ipad mini is smaller than an ipad it's still large enough not to be called a totally portable device. besides i've my trousers on more than my coat the pocket of which could only let an ipad mini slip in.
i also understand that a few resouce-heavy apps will be available exclusively for ipads. but between ipad and ipod touch/iphone and as much as i've seen things that concern my interests there's almost no difference. although i wouldn't deny that it'd have been a pleasure to play something beautiful like BASTION on a handheld.

 

[nix253]

and yes the price also matters by the way. since i'll be buying things under my national currency the thing is i'd like to have a handheld that could do as much as possible with as much memory that could be available-all within Rs. 30000. and i forgot to mention that i'd also like to save some of that money to buy a budget android phone which i'd like to use for wifi tethering with my ipod occasionally.

 

[SAWYER]

The iPod is great choice and tons of fun and cheap games